December

Father Christmas Searched Prior to Entering Changi Jail

Once again, Lt Dann, the prison policeman, sporting sunglasses, overseas the ‘search’ of Father Christmas.

‘In order to cope, I believe, most men surrounded themselves in their own personal and protective armour. Mine, as I have already written, was work, an almost obsessive sense of duty; for others it was humour or religious faith; and for nearly all of us, it was the setting of a deadline: ‘home by Christmas’ or ‘home for my wife’s birthday, or some other date of personal significance. In establishing a mental goal to work towards we were focussing on a future life which we could anticipate living and, in the process, attempt to reject the reality of what we were experiencing, deferring our disappointment. Keeping an ‘end point’ in mind, even though deep down we know it was artificial, gave us hope – one of the most powerful weapons in the limited armoury of defence we could own. If we were to not only survive but also remain sane, it was all we could do. ‘

Source: A Doctors War, by Dr Rowley Richards, pg 157, Harper Collins Publishers, 2006.

Thank you: State Library of New South Wales, Mitchell Library Special Collections where this Calendar is archived

The following could be in reference to Lt Dann: ‘We had our fair share of criminals in the camp, petty & otherwise. “Desperate Dan” was a camp identity. He was virtually the CIB squad & had the appearance of a melodrama villain. He was a hard man but did a good job in cleaning up a lot of the crime around the place.”
Source: The Will To Survive pg 163 by Douglas McLaggan