My father was a Japanese prisoner-of-war after the fall of Singapore in 1942. He was the first Allied Officer to escape and make his way back to India. He was awarded the Military Cross for that. My previous posts about him are given below. He died in 1988 leaving a handwritten manuscript. It was my mother who saw to it that it was converted into a Word document which could be considered for publication. However, this was not easy since his debriefing files were marked “Secret” and were not to be released for 50 years until 1992. The original documents had been distributed to all the Allied countries in 1942 but they all had the 50-year secrecy classification. In any event we eventually found the debriefing report in 2005 in a Singapore archive of Australian War documents.
My Army brother (Ravi) finally managed to get the manuscript published by Lancer in 2010. I think this publication represented a “mission completed” for my mother who died in 2013.
First Allied POW escape from Singapore in 1942
Remembering an escape from Singapore — 75 years on
Mark Pillai
However my Navy brother (Sampath) has put together the back story with maps and the context surrounding my father’s exploits into a fascinating talk he gave at the Bangalore International Centre in May 2022.
So here is my father’s story, as told by my brother Sampath.
This is a an escape story. It is the story of escape from a Japanese Prisoner of War camp in Singapore to India across coastal waters and Malayan and Burmese jungles.
Capt Mark Pillai was a Bombay Sapper officer in Malaya when Singapore fell and the Allies surrendered. This is the story of his escape from the Changi POW camp in 1942. He was 31 years old at the time and he was accompanied by an Indian medical officer and an Indian civilian acquaintance.
It is an inspirational story of escape. Escape stories frequently tend to chronologically list events without adequately conveying the fears and apprehension or the anxiety and the hardships that soldiers endure, nor the will and inspiration they galvanise in doing so. This is a compelling story, simply told, which brings to life the meaning of escape from captivity in enemy territory in an age long gone.
It is a story of understated bravery and gallantry, where three Indians made a daily tryst with destiny over a protracted period of time, attempting as it were to do their duty as they saw it, in an effort to live to fight another day when both the big picture and the tactical situation seemed hopeless.
It is a story of hope which reveals the stubborn spirit of humanity and courage that epitomizes good soldiers anywhere when they turn adversity into opportunity and inspire others to do the same.
Mark Pillai was awarded the Military Cross by Field Marshal Archibald Wavell for his gallantry.
The k2p blog 