To hell and back: Former Wingham resident survives four years as a prisoner of war

At the age of 20 Bob Rowsell was living a peaceful life, working at Percy Bird's grocery store in Isabella Street.
The year was 1940 and Bob's life was about to change drastically when in November he joined the Australian Infantry Force and the 16th Hunter River Lancers Wingham Troop.
In less than twelve months he would be taken by the Japanese as a Prisoner of War (POW) and experience the disease, deprivation and brutality of some of the most infamous POW camps in history.
For four years Bob endured the inhumane conditions of three different camps and while hundreds died around him he survived the ordeal eventually returning to the same job he had left behind at Percy Bird's grocery store.
Bob was sent to Singapore and, as he explains, "the Japs were advancing all around us."
On the 15th of February 1942 Bob was taken as a POW and forced to march to the now infamous Changi POW camp.
It was there that Bob spent his 21st birthday labouring from dawn to dark "cutting a hill down until it was wide enough for the Japs to build a shrine on it" he explained.
After levelling the hill, Allied Prisoners were then forced to carry a large tree trunk up to the top to complete the shrine.
"The tree trunk was about 60 feet long and when laid down, the circumference came up to my waist height - believe me, it was a heavy load," Bob said.
The brutality of the Japanese guards has been widely documented and for Bob, now 82 years old, the details remain clear in his mind.
"Most of the men in the camp came down with malaria or dysentery but they were still required to work. The whole time I was in the camps I didn't know when I was going to get a hiding but you copped one for any little thing.
Men were forced to kneel with broken glass behind their knees and if they relaxed, the glass would dig into them.
Sometimes we were forced to stand with big boulders over our heads and when we couldn't hold them any longer the full weight would come crashing down on your head," Bob explained.
The horror of the Changi camp was unbelievable, yet worse was still to come when he was sent to the infamous Hellfire Pass, frequently referred to as one of the most notorious segments of the Thai-Burma Death Railway.
Prisoners worked day and night to cut through a high ridge and construct the railway line through the ridge and conditions were appalling.

Hellfire Pass got its name from the night shift when bamboo flares were put along the cutting walls so there was enough light to work by but to the men entering the pass at night it looked like you were going into the gates of hell.
It took four months to complete the job at Hellfire Pass and there were only 21 survivors of the original 480 men that started the job.
When asked how he survived such an ordeal when so many others died Bob simply said: "It was luck and a little bit of help from up top but mostly I didn't want to get beaten. Also, once you had the thought of hopelessness in your head, you didn't survive."
"When you got to your tent after work you nearly always found your bed floating.
I had malaria most of the time with Dysentery and Berri Berri. The whole time you were working, there were guards standing over you and one I vividly remember had a length of bamboo which he had split in three strands and plaited so it had three sharp edges," he said.
From the steamy tropical conditions at Hellfire Pass Bob was then sent to Japan where he would be forced to work long hours deep under the earth working in a copper mine. The voyage to Japan was on a crowded, dilapidated boat but somehow Bob made it to Japan, enduring typhoons and allied bombing along the way.
During his time in Japan Bob experienced an extremely cold winter with temperatures falling to minus 20c and, with only light canvas shoes and thin blankets, many of the allied prisoners did not survive.
From these freezing conditions, prisoners would be forced to travel deep underground to work in the mines, where temperatures could be as high as 50c. These extreme temperature changes and lack of food were to take their toll and there were many more deaths.
By July 1945 air raids over Japan were common.
"One day, on our way to work in the mines, the sky was black with Allied Forces planes," Bob said.
The raids were continuous and, eventually, the Japanese were defeated and planes then began dropping food for the starving POWs.
After four years of living hell Bob was soon on his way back home again.
"To see my own family again was the best day of my life and when we caught the train from Sydney to Wingham I knew I was really home," he said.
After returning to Wingham Bob resumed work at Percy Bird's grocery store and, in 1946, he married Patricia Sullivan whose father was managing the Bank of NSW in Wingham. Their first three children were born in Wingham and they had a fourth child after moving to Young in 1952.
"It was hard to settle back into life at home - I just had to put it (the experience) out of my mind," he said.
Now 82 and living with his wife in Sydney the horrific memories of the POW camps are still fresh in his mind but he has found strength in the journey that two of his children made recently to Hellfire Pass.
"My son Noel and daughter Barbara visited Hellfire Pass and came back completely different people once they saw the place and what we had to do," he said.

POW dies one day after 83rd birthday  (article from Wingham Chronicle)
Tuesday, 16 November 2004

AFTER surviving four years as a prisoner of war in some of the most notorious camps of World War II, former Wingham resident Bob Rowsell has died after suffering a stroke â€" the day after his 83rd birthday.

As people across the nation stopped to remember those killed in war this year was a particularly difficult time for the Rowsell family after only recently losing Bob.

Wingham Chronicle readers may remember his story from a February edition which traced his four years spent suffering the disease, deprivation and brutality of some of the most infamous POW camps in history.

He survived three different camps and while hundreds died around him he managed to survive the ordeal eventually returning to the same job he left behind in Wingham at Percy Bird's grocery store.

Following his capture by the Japanese he was marched to the Changi POW camp where he spent his 21st birthday building a huge shrine into the side of a hill for the Japanese guards to worship at.

The brutality of the Japanese guards has been widely documented and from talking with Bob in February it was obvious the details remained clear in his memory.

"Most of the men in the camps came down with malaria or dysentery but they were still required to work and you copped a hiding for any little thing.

"Men were forced to kneel with broken glass behind their knees and sometimes we were forced to stand with big boulders over our heads â€" when we couldn't hold them any longer the full weight would come crashing down on our heads," he said.

The horror of the Changi camp was unbelievable but worse was yet to come when he was sent to the infamous Hellfire Pass also referred to as the Thai-Burma Death Railway.

Prisoners worked day and night to cut through a high ridge and construct the railway line through the ridge and conditions were appaling.

Hellfire Pass got its name from the night shift when bamboo flares were put along the cutting walls so the men could work night and day but to the men entering the pass it looked like entering the gates of hell.

It took four months to complete the job at Hellfire Pass and of the 480 men that started the job there were only 21 survivors.

From hell back home again

Break story here from steamy jungles to freezing???

From the steamy tropical conditions at Hellfire Pass Bob was then sent to Japan where he was forced to work long hours deep underground in a copper mine but first he had to make it to Japan on an overcrowded, dilapidated boat under allied fire.

From freezing conditions as low as minus 20c above ground to deep underground in the mines where temperatures climbed to 50c and only thin canvas shoes and blankets many did not survive the ordeal.

By July 1945 allied air raids over Japan were common and after four years of living hell Bob was soon on his way back home again.

"To see my own family again was the best day of my life and when we caught the train from Sydney to Wingham I knew I was really home again."

Remarkably, after returning to Wingham, he resumed work at Percy Bird's grocery store. He married Patricia Sullivan whose father was managing the Bank of NSW in Wingham and here their first three children were born. Another child was born after they moved to Young in 1952.

Speaking at Bob's funeral his son Noel said:

"Bob and Pat became great travellers in their retirement, almost but not quite circumnavigating Australia on successive trips but never away from home and family for very long.

" The family home at Doonside would be a popular gathering point for the extended family and the biggest and best events in recent years were the respective 80th birthdays of Bob and Pat and their 50th Wedding Anniversary.

 " As Bob's faith proved crucial in sustaining him throughout his years as a POW, so he and Pat enjoyed a wonderful spiritual relationship throughout their marriage, celebrating their faith at the Anglican Church at Doonside.

Speaking to the Chronicle after the funeral he added:

" Unfortunately, there is an ever-decreasing circle of World War Two veterans who remain with us and I hope your readers continue to applaud and appreciate the sacrifice these wonderful men gave for us, in order for us to have the lifestyle we so richly enjoy today."