Magic at War

This final  blog  in the series (of four  blogs)  tells the incredible wartime experiences of Fergus Anckorn, an amateur magician who used magic to survive captivity and slavery as a POW in the Far East during World War Two. The Japanese Trick   A major concern of the POWs moved to the camps at Nong Pladuk was their proximity to an engineering complex and storage depot, known as Hashimoto’s, which was a potential target for Allied bombers. Fergus Anckorn ended up living perilously close to the complex.   “My hut and its air raid trench were about ten yards from the edge of Hashimoto’s yard and I felt sure I’d get killed by our own bombers.”   By comparison with other camps, the work was basic, but the conditions were horrible, and the guards were bullies.   Nong Pladuk POW Camp, Thailand (Source: IWM) To brighten things up in the camp the POWs started a concert party, called the Harboured Lights, which Anckorn joined.    In mid-February ...

The third of four blogs telling the incredible wartime experiences of Fergus Anckorn, an amateur magician who used magic to survive captivity and slavery as a POW in the Far East during World War Two.   Recuperating at Chungkai   After Fergus Anckorn received burns injuries while forced to build the Wampoo Viaduct on the Thai-Burma Railway, medical staff sent him to a convalescent camp at Chungkai. He arrived there in around April 1943.   Like most other POW camps in Thailand, Chungkai was overcrowded and the living arrangements were primitive. The Japanese sent sick POWs there to either die or recuperate. Survivors, once healed, were put to work nearby, or sent ‘up country’ to build the railway. This is a description of Chungkai by one of its occupants: “In the huts, conditions were terrible. Most men were unable to move through weakness. They were without clothing. Bedding  consisted  of perhaps a rice sack,  millions of flies and bedbugs, and running wit...