Changi Photographer George Aspinalls Rec

Even before he became a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese in Singapore in 1942, George Aspinall was nicknamed ‘Changi’ Aspinall by his 2/30th Battalion mates. At lights-out time in Birdwood Camp, this teenage Australian soldier was invariably ‘down at Changi Village’ helping to process photographs he had taken with a hidden camera of his friends in their new and exotic tropical surroundings.

After captivity, that hobby became a private obsession, leading George to take secret photographs in the Changi area and on the Thai/Burma Railway. He processed these photographs on the spot using smuggled chemicals. This resulted in a unique visual diary of captivity. Originally published in 1984, this story with its graphic photographs has been widely praised.