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Auction Location:
Melbourne
Date:
12-Oct-2004
Lot No.
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Description:
An historically important Union Jack flag from Changi Prison Camp bearing the signatures of a large number of camp prisoners whose service records are attached with the associated documentation, together with the signature of lady Edwina Mountbatten, 365 x 178 cm. Prior to the outbreak of the Second World War, the flag, measuring 14 feet by 8 feet, was flown over the Palace of the Sultan of Johore. When, shortly after the attack on pearl harbour, the Japanese overran the Malayan Peninsula the flag was taken by retreating Australian army Captain Ken Parsons, from the 2/3 motor Ambulance Company, to keep it out of enemy hands. In February 1942 Captain Parsons, along with 130,000 thousand Allied troops, was captured by the Japanese following the fall of Singapore, with the help of fellow officers Lieutenants Dunne and Weller and with the assistance of Major Robert Dick, a senior medical officer, the group ensured that the flag was hidden from the Japanese for the following three and a half years, until they were liberated at the infamous Changi Prison in August 1945
Estimate:
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Price:
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Category:
Militaria & Weapons: Uniforms, Kit, & Field Equipment