| Places | |
|---|---|
| Accession Number | AWM2019.22.32 |
| Collection number | AWM2016.485.1 |
| Collection type | Digitised Collection |
| Record type | Item |
| Item count | 1 |
| Object type | Diary |
| Physical description | 25 Image/s captured |
| Maker |
Burns, Jack Lusby |
| Place made | Japan |
| Date made | 1945 |
| Conflict |
Second World War, 1939-1945 |
| Copying Provisions | Digital format and content protected by copyright. |
| Source credit to | This item has been digitised with funding provided by Commonwealth Government. |
Diary of Jack Lusby Burns, June-August 1945
Description
Diary relating to the Second World War Service of VX39159 Lieutenant Jack Lusby Burns, 1st Independent Company.
This diary is the sixth of six diaries kept by Burns while he was a prisoner of war in Japan. It was written in a prisoner of war camp in Hakodate. In his diary, Burns writes that he moved camps, and that the new camp was not as good as that at Zentsuji. He records the poor quality and small quantity of their rations, being hungry and malnourished, and becoming ill with kidney disease. He also records, keeping rabbits, losing teeth, tasting grilled snake (caught in their garden), and being fed horse bones and food originally intended for pigs. In his entries of August 1945, Burns records the stir among the Japanese officers surrounding the surrender of Japan, and the dramatic increase in rations and friendliness of the guards after the war was declared to be over.