Changi University

After the capture of Singapore by the Japanese during World War II, all allied prisoners of war (PoWs) were sent to Changi Prison which for the PoWs included part of the adjacent military Selerang Barracks. Allied civilian prisoners, men, women and children were kept inside the Changi Prison, while the PoWs were kept in the surrounding barracks.

The 15 Feb 1942 surrender resulted in the imprisoning of over 45,000 allied prisoners of war, including approximately 15,000 Australian PoWs. Due to the large number of PoWs and interned civilian prisoners, there was a need to maintain morale and mitigate boredom.

An education program was initiated within 4 days[1] of the allied capitulation. Within 3 weeks of the men becoming PoWs and moving to Changi as prisoners, Brigadier Harold Burfield Taylor of AIF Headquarters initiated an extensive range of education classes for the PoWs. The AIF Education Unit was unofficially dubbed the "Changi University" by PoWs and others. Taylor became known as the Chancellor. Captain Adrian Curlewis, a Barrister, was one of the key people who implement the program, became known Dean of Law.

A booklet from the War Office in London, “The Soldier’s Welfare”, had been issued in 1941 and sent to all unit welfare officers. It offered suggestions for sports and games, entertainment, and education.[2] While the booklet was targeted at enlisted men on active service, its advice was particularly pertinent to PoWs. Changi PoWs began using sport, entertainment and the extensive education of "Changi University" organised with its well resourced library.

Seralang Barracks Changi, before WW2, designed for 600, housed thousands of PoWs.

The AIF Education unit was set up to provide education to and resources for the PoWs. It was open to all allied PoWs. The scant records that have survived show over 2,000 students at an early stage and 9,000 at its peak.[3]

Although an integrated whole, the library and the "Changi University" course work will be dealt with separately below due to the different operations.

Some allied men initially produced a newspaper with sketches and news for their section of the prison camp. This declined as men were transferred to work gangs away from Singapore.

The following tabular timeline shows the rapid reduction in men able to take part in education, sport or entertainment activities at Changi. The "Changi University" was depopulated by men being sent away on work parties. While it continued, it did so under increasingly trying circumstances. The table has been compiled from records held at the Australian War Memorial,[9][10] but number are approximate as some inflows of men were not been recorded nor were some of the deaths at Changi.

Changi University engaged with over 9,000 PoWs. It provided courses at many levels and taught about 400 men to read proficiently.[13] Despite some initial reluctance, many disadvantaged men eventually undertook to learn to read or to significantly improve their reading from a basic standard.

Lieutenant Hugh Wearing left school at 15 during the depression to do labouring work to put food on the table at home. He had a basic education and was initially reluctant to join the Changi courses. He eventually did start a course and later moved to Kuching where he continued studies. On the evacuation ship back to Australia the army education service, typed up reports so Hugh and other men like him were able to receive their PoW Matriculation on their return to Australia. With this recognition Hugh attended University.

James Clavell said "Changi became my university instead of my prison. … Among the inmates there were experts in all walks of life — the high and the low roads. I studied and absorbed everything I could from physics to counterfeiting, but most of all I learned the art of surviving."[14]

There were 2 other notable PoW education programs in Asia. These were at Hong Kong and at Kuching.

PoWs in Hong Kong obtained benefits of a similar but smaller program initiated by the senior education officer Major W. de B. Wood who had previously been a barrister. Major Charles Boxer, the British intelligence chief in Hong Kong before the war lectured at an academic level on the early Portuguese and Dutch maritime empires in which he was the world expert. Senior businessmen and bankers lectured on business and economics. There were courses in several languages including:

• Spanish;
• Cantonese;
• Urdu.

There were also lectures on, eastern philosophy, art appreciation, yacht building, and weather forecasting.

"Kuching University" in Sarawak started by Frank Bell was run on a similar basis to "Changi University". It was augmented by Australian officers and men sent as part of work parties from Changi Camp. The well educated officers helped build a more extensive program of education. This education program came under considerable pressure in 1944 when paper and writing material was confiscated and gatherings banned. The "Kuching University" also continued to the Japanese surrender under trying circumstances.[15]

• Selarang Barracks incident
• Double Tenth Incident
• SGH War Memorial
• AGH Rostrum Club at Changi
• Far East prisoners of war
• King Rat (Clavell novel)
• Burma Railway
• Hell ship
• Sandakan Death Marches

• Downer, Alexander 'Alick' Russell (1942–1945). Government in Two Worlds: An Introductory Survey of the Governments of Britain and Australia. Changi University – via Australian War Memorial.