Please feel free to leave a comment below on the artwork showcased on this site.
23 Comments
Heather Fitzpatrick-Morgan - 10 November 2011
The whole family enjoyed seeing the experiences of Uncle Des come to life. I remember him visiting our family ‘The Cannons’ in Burnley and he would always leave us lovely drawings as a memento of his vist. These images are more powerful and really detailed the guns, ships and planes are engineering drawing quality. The architectural detail is excellent too as is the action. Brilliant, well done.
Thanks for the feedback Heather, hopefully you can spread this to your friends, work mates, family and other contacts.
It is quite amazing that this art work was done prior to dad going to art school to ‘learn’ how to draw, he was an industrial chemist at this time.
I think his father or grandfather were artistic so it is ‘in the blood’ and has been passed down to Graham and Ruth and some other nieces and nephews.
Dad told me he did the paintings ‘to keep my sanity’ and I guess that is why most are a light hearted look at Changi life as a POW.
I keep discovering more little hidden things in some of his drawings, keep looking.
I am very touched on this Hong Kong Rememberace weekend In Ottawa. The Japanese gave an official apology to all the Canadian POW’s this week. Many relatives and a few survivors of the War Camps all say it is a little late. I am so pleased at what your family has put together on my cosin by marriage. I really did not realize all that these men went through. I have a print of Des’s given to us by cousin Hugh at one of the reunions. Hope to see all my Australian Cousins at the next reunion Sally
Thanks Sally, yes, these guys, and most I guess in WW2 were in their late teens early twenties when they were thrown into this bloodshed. Dad often told us ‘I painted to keep my sanity’. I guess that is why a lot of the figures are well built, plump, pink, clothing is pretty good as well as the food. This would have been a complete contrast to the reality around him, but who wants to live in it and then drill it in even more by painting those sad images. Dad used his humour and art well before ‘art therapy’ was even thought of. Also, some of the guys would go into ward Z or X of the hospital tents, which was the last stop before death, to provide humour and it is recorded that they were told off by the medical officer for the noise (laughter) these men had created through the sick and dying. This was well before the advent of ‘laughter doctors’ who go to our hospitals now and do valuable work among the young and dying.
It’s amazing the amount of theatre programs they wrote and acted out. Some of the POW’s were professional actors, musicians, directors, women impersonators. You can view some of these figures in ‘caricatures & portraits’.
Cheers for now and please spread the word of the site among your email and facebook contacts.
Keith
Thank you
I read Keiths article in the Naional ex prisoner of war association, newsletter. I looked at the images with interest, for I am researching into the life of my uncle Jack Salt 30HAA who was forced to work on the Burma Railway. The images and written information are extremely moving. Therefore, thank you again for sharing the information with us.
Hi Kathryn, our family is keen for this website to be better known, so if you can email friends with it, put it on facebook, etc that would be great. Dad drew a telling pen drawing entitled ‘Fancy Dress Ball’ under ‘Contemplating the Future’. In it, one guy is dressed as a Prisoner of War from Changi, the other guests are asking ‘where is this…Changi anyway?’ Lest we forget.
For your interest, you may want to contact your local council, MP, RSL, etc to find out how they are going to commemorate the Fall of Singapore, 70th Anniversary next month on 15 Feb 2012.
One thing I am glad of that dad did many of his paintings in humor, not so depressing.
Excellent Cartoon work! I myself am a Cartoonist since a teenager, and i greatly admire his witty humor and unique style! My own Father was a Dutch POW in Java, and my Family still has a pencil sketch done of him by a fellow prisoner in 1945 who didn’t survive like my Dad did… We will have this special memento in our Family for generations to come, it is priceless!
Thank you for this Insightful look into your dads work I am an ex navyman having served 20 years I am one of the administrators of the RAN cooks site and we have in 700 plus members with 350 of them on line so i will get this link put on our site.
The link was sent to me from one of our members from Tassy I will ensure that Pass it on to all on my list I have not had the chance to look at the whole site in its entirety . But i will do tonight .I work in the RSL villas in angle Park here in Adelaide I volunteer 2 days a week and i perform a variety of roles at the home my wife also volunteers also she teaches computer to the residents and they love it .
With your permission Can i please copy and paste some of the art work of your dad for some of the residents and to be used in our Quarterly newsletter . I have seen some of your dads work before and i have a feeling it maybe in one of my many books .
The books i am referring to are SOLDIERING ON STAND EASY and JUNGLE WARFARE there are many cartoons in these books and no doubt some of your dads maybe in these I have a full collection of the RAN and RAAF books as well i will look through them tonight .
In conclusion i would like to commend all involved in setting up this webpage it is a fitting tribute to your dad and a real labour of love an admiration Well done all
Best wishes
Wayne Quinn
Yes you have our permsission to copy some images for your newsletter and for the residents also as long as you acknowledge the work: “Des Bettany’s artwork is reproduced with kind permission of his family. To see more images, refer to http://www.changipowart.com”
Like you we also live in Adelaide.
I am very interested in the books you mention and am aware dad gave a lot of his works away. If you find any of his work, could you please advise through the website or to me direct. I will advise you of my email address.
Keep up the great work you are doing and thank you for your kind comments.
Cheers,
These are absolutely wonderful. Thank you so much for sharing the Website. I am President of the Ulverstone RSL Sub Branch, in N W Tasmania and have sent the site address onto one of my surviving POW’s and to several rellies of those POW’s who are no longer with us. I know one POW who would have been rapt to see them, had he been alive. He spent 14months in Changi, 14 months on the Thai/Burma railway and 14months in a coal mine in Nagasaki and still lived to 88yrs! His sense of humour was what got him through his ordeals. The surviving POW mentioned above, was 16 when he was a prisoner in Changi and is 86yrs now. I rang to tell him about the site and he gave me his email address, can you believe that! So proud of the adaptability of our old soldiers!
Libby
Thanks Libby for spreading the word. The idea is to get these images out that have been in dad’s cupboard up to now and to let other generations know of what occured. I’d be really interested in feedback from your friend who was a POW.
These very moving drawings brought back memories of my father in law who was a Changi POW until being shipped to Sandakan in Borneo. A number of the stories he told of Changi have been replicated in Des Bettany’s drawings.
What a pity these men are no longer with us to tell us more.
Thank you Don for your kind comments, I totally agree it is a pity that many of these men are gone. I have thousands of questions to ask dad about some of the art work that I don’t understand the humour in it, there may well have been hidden messages that the Japanese couldn’t pick up in it. Please share with others.
I’ve just finished looking at all your father’s drawings and reading the information on your website. An article in The Advertiser ‘Lost World of War’ with the web address, and a sneak preview of 2 drawings, peaked my interest. My father was forced into labour in Germany during the war, but I know only a little of what those ‘prisoners’ experienced. So I think it’s wonderful that you and your family are sharing this special legacy left by a talented man, your father – Thank you so much.
Breaking and exciting news, a grand daughter of an ex POW who lived in Wales has realized that some of Des Bettany’s artwork done in Changi,was given to her grandfather, Sgt W.W. Sowter. Scanned copies of this have been forwarded and can now be seen on the site under ‘caricatures and portraits’.
Should you have any such artwork, please make contact to enable a scanned copy can be uploaded onto this site.
Thank you,
Thank you for allowing me to use one of your father’s drawings on the front cover of the April edition of the newsletter of the McLaren Vale RSL Sub Branch. I will email you a copy when I have finished it. Your Website is fantastic.
My Grandfather was a POW at Changi also after the fall of Singapore till the end of the war. He worked part of the time as a medical orderly I believe with Weary Dunlop. The cartoon showing the search with the POW hiding a gun behind his back caught my eye. It reminded me of a story I learnt, that once he was hiding a pistol under his bed when a search was launched in his quarters. He was standing by his bed with a recent photo of his wife and 8 kids that had been sent to him. The commander saw it and stood by him talking about his own family. The others stayed away from them while searching. When the others had finished they then left without touching his bed. This photo was credited with saving his life!
Thanks for the website. I will pass the link to other members of the family. They will be very interested.
Thanks for that story about your grandfather Daniel.I wonder how many other similar stories have been shared. I’d love to here them.
I did hear 2 weeks ago of a POW of the Japanese who was an artist. The person in charge of the camp pointed out places of interest to paint from, such as the top of some ridges, but made it clear that he must take a particular guard with him. The guard was elderly, and each time they got out the gate, the guard would hand his rifle to the POW to carry ‘too heavy’. Upon return, the POW would hand it back before re entering he gates.
My late father was a Changi POW medic captured at the fall of Singapore, Robert George Gregson, known as George, NX25185, 10th Field Amb. This collection of art which is now preserved in electronic form for all to see and appreciate is a testament to the humour, (and pain suffered), by a generation of courageous and tough blokes who survived experiences we cannot even imagine.
Dad seldom spoke of his time as a POW and this exhibition helps to fill in some way my understanding of that time.
Thanks for sharing these most wonderful memories and stories in the great artworks.
Thank you for your comments about your late dad and the art work. These men surely went through hell as you suggest and at such a young age. Dad seldom talked about his time either in Changi, but later in his life a few stories were revealed.
The whole family enjoyed seeing the experiences of Uncle Des come to life. I remember him visiting our family ‘The Cannons’ in Burnley and he would always leave us lovely drawings as a memento of his vist. These images are more powerful and really detailed the guns, ships and planes are engineering drawing quality. The architectural detail is excellent too as is the action. Brilliant, well done.
Thanks for the feedback Heather, hopefully you can spread this to your friends, work mates, family and other contacts.
It is quite amazing that this art work was done prior to dad going to art school to ‘learn’ how to draw, he was an industrial chemist at this time.
I think his father or grandfather were artistic so it is ‘in the blood’ and has been passed down to Graham and Ruth and some other nieces and nephews.
Dad told me he did the paintings ‘to keep my sanity’ and I guess that is why most are a light hearted look at Changi life as a POW.
I keep discovering more little hidden things in some of his drawings, keep looking.
I am very touched on this Hong Kong Rememberace weekend In Ottawa. The Japanese gave an official apology to all the Canadian POW’s this week. Many relatives and a few survivors of the War Camps all say it is a little late. I am so pleased at what your family has put together on my cosin by marriage. I really did not realize all that these men went through. I have a print of Des’s given to us by cousin Hugh at one of the reunions. Hope to see all my Australian Cousins at the next reunion Sally
Thanks Sally, yes, these guys, and most I guess in WW2 were in their late teens early twenties when they were thrown into this bloodshed. Dad often told us ‘I painted to keep my sanity’. I guess that is why a lot of the figures are well built, plump, pink, clothing is pretty good as well as the food. This would have been a complete contrast to the reality around him, but who wants to live in it and then drill it in even more by painting those sad images. Dad used his humour and art well before ‘art therapy’ was even thought of. Also, some of the guys would go into ward Z or X of the hospital tents, which was the last stop before death, to provide humour and it is recorded that they were told off by the medical officer for the noise (laughter) these men had created through the sick and dying. This was well before the advent of ‘laughter doctors’ who go to our hospitals now and do valuable work among the young and dying.
It’s amazing the amount of theatre programs they wrote and acted out. Some of the POW’s were professional actors, musicians, directors, women impersonators. You can view some of these figures in ‘caricatures & portraits’.
Cheers for now and please spread the word of the site among your email and facebook contacts.
Keith
Thank you
I read Keiths article in the Naional ex prisoner of war association, newsletter. I looked at the images with interest, for I am researching into the life of my uncle Jack Salt 30HAA who was forced to work on the Burma Railway. The images and written information are extremely moving. Therefore, thank you again for sharing the information with us.
Hi Kathryn, our family is keen for this website to be better known, so if you can email friends with it, put it on facebook, etc that would be great. Dad drew a telling pen drawing entitled ‘Fancy Dress Ball’ under ‘Contemplating the Future’. In it, one guy is dressed as a Prisoner of War from Changi, the other guests are asking ‘where is this…Changi anyway?’ Lest we forget.
For your interest, you may want to contact your local council, MP, RSL, etc to find out how they are going to commemorate the Fall of Singapore, 70th Anniversary next month on 15 Feb 2012.
One thing I am glad of that dad did many of his paintings in humor, not so depressing.
Excellent Cartoon work! I myself am a Cartoonist since a teenager, and i greatly admire his witty humor and unique style! My own Father was a Dutch POW in Java, and my Family still has a pencil sketch done of him by a fellow prisoner in 1945 who didn’t survive like my Dad did… We will have this special memento in our Family for generations to come, it is priceless!
Thank you for this Insightful look into your dads work I am an ex navyman having served 20 years I am one of the administrators of the RAN cooks site and we have in 700 plus members with 350 of them on line so i will get this link put on our site.
The link was sent to me from one of our members from Tassy I will ensure that Pass it on to all on my list I have not had the chance to look at the whole site in its entirety . But i will do tonight .I work in the RSL villas in angle Park here in Adelaide I volunteer 2 days a week and i perform a variety of roles at the home my wife also volunteers also she teaches computer to the residents and they love it .
With your permission Can i please copy and paste some of the art work of your dad for some of the residents and to be used in our Quarterly newsletter . I have seen some of your dads work before and i have a feeling it maybe in one of my many books .
The books i am referring to are SOLDIERING ON STAND EASY and JUNGLE WARFARE there are many cartoons in these books and no doubt some of your dads maybe in these I have a full collection of the RAN and RAAF books as well i will look through them tonight .
In conclusion i would like to commend all involved in setting up this webpage it is a fitting tribute to your dad and a real labour of love an admiration Well done all
Best wishes
Wayne Quinn
Hi Wayne,
Yes you have our permsission to copy some images for your newsletter and for the residents also as long as you acknowledge the work: “Des Bettany’s artwork is reproduced with kind permission of his family. To see more images, refer to http://www.changipowart.com”
Like you we also live in Adelaide.
I am very interested in the books you mention and am aware dad gave a lot of his works away. If you find any of his work, could you please advise through the website or to me direct. I will advise you of my email address.
Keep up the great work you are doing and thank you for your kind comments.
Cheers,
Keith
great drawings.
Lest We Forget
Thanks Mick for your encouragement,
Keith
These are absolutely wonderful. Thank you so much for sharing the Website. I am President of the Ulverstone RSL Sub Branch, in N W Tasmania and have sent the site address onto one of my surviving POW’s and to several rellies of those POW’s who are no longer with us. I know one POW who would have been rapt to see them, had he been alive. He spent 14months in Changi, 14 months on the Thai/Burma railway and 14months in a coal mine in Nagasaki and still lived to 88yrs! His sense of humour was what got him through his ordeals. The surviving POW mentioned above, was 16 when he was a prisoner in Changi and is 86yrs now. I rang to tell him about the site and he gave me his email address, can you believe that! So proud of the adaptability of our old soldiers!
Libby
Thanks Libby for spreading the word. The idea is to get these images out that have been in dad’s cupboard up to now and to let other generations know of what occured. I’d be really interested in feedback from your friend who was a POW.
These very moving drawings brought back memories of my father in law who was a Changi POW until being shipped to Sandakan in Borneo. A number of the stories he told of Changi have been replicated in Des Bettany’s drawings.
What a pity these men are no longer with us to tell us more.
Thank you Don for your kind comments, I totally agree it is a pity that many of these men are gone. I have thousands of questions to ask dad about some of the art work that I don’t understand the humour in it, there may well have been hidden messages that the Japanese couldn’t pick up in it. Please share with others.
I’ve just finished looking at all your father’s drawings and reading the information on your website. An article in The Advertiser ‘Lost World of War’ with the web address, and a sneak preview of 2 drawings, peaked my interest. My father was forced into labour in Germany during the war, but I know only a little of what those ‘prisoners’ experienced. So I think it’s wonderful that you and your family are sharing this special legacy left by a talented man, your father – Thank you so much.
Yes, dad was the same, didn’t say much about his time in WW2 but I’m so glad he painted, we have a bit of an insight
Breaking and exciting news, a grand daughter of an ex POW who lived in Wales has realized that some of Des Bettany’s artwork done in Changi,was given to her grandfather, Sgt W.W. Sowter. Scanned copies of this have been forwarded and can now be seen on the site under ‘caricatures and portraits’.
Should you have any such artwork, please make contact to enable a scanned copy can be uploaded onto this site.
Thank you,
Keith Bettany
Keith
Thank you for allowing me to use one of your father’s drawings on the front cover of the April edition of the newsletter of the McLaren Vale RSL Sub Branch. I will email you a copy when I have finished it. Your Website is fantastic.
John Gyepes
Secretary
McLaren Vale RSL Sub Branch
Keith,
My Grandfather was a POW at Changi also after the fall of Singapore till the end of the war. He worked part of the time as a medical orderly I believe with Weary Dunlop. The cartoon showing the search with the POW hiding a gun behind his back caught my eye. It reminded me of a story I learnt, that once he was hiding a pistol under his bed when a search was launched in his quarters. He was standing by his bed with a recent photo of his wife and 8 kids that had been sent to him. The commander saw it and stood by him talking about his own family. The others stayed away from them while searching. When the others had finished they then left without touching his bed. This photo was credited with saving his life!
Thanks for the website. I will pass the link to other members of the family. They will be very interested.
Thanks for that story about your grandfather Daniel.I wonder how many other similar stories have been shared. I’d love to here them.
I did hear 2 weeks ago of a POW of the Japanese who was an artist. The person in charge of the camp pointed out places of interest to paint from, such as the top of some ridges, but made it clear that he must take a particular guard with him. The guard was elderly, and each time they got out the gate, the guard would hand his rifle to the POW to carry ‘too heavy’. Upon return, the POW would hand it back before re entering he gates.
My late father was a Changi POW medic captured at the fall of Singapore, Robert George Gregson, known as George, NX25185, 10th Field Amb. This collection of art which is now preserved in electronic form for all to see and appreciate is a testament to the humour, (and pain suffered), by a generation of courageous and tough blokes who survived experiences we cannot even imagine.
Dad seldom spoke of his time as a POW and this exhibition helps to fill in some way my understanding of that time.
Thanks for sharing these most wonderful memories and stories in the great artworks.
Thank you for your comments about your late dad and the art work. These men surely went through hell as you suggest and at such a young age. Dad seldom talked about his time either in Changi, but later in his life a few stories were revealed.