SCOTLAND FEPOW TRUST · HISTORY & EDUCATION
Scottish FEPOW History & Education
Understanding what happened — and why it must never be forgotten.
1941
JAPAN ENTERS THE WAR
140,000
ALLIED POWS IN THE FAR EAST
3½ yrs
YEARS OF CAPTIVITY
1945
LIBERATION
Their Story Deserves to be Told
The Scotland FEPOW Trust exists to preserve and share the history of Scottish Far East Prisoners of War — the men who served, suffered and survived some of the worst conditions of the Second World War. This section brings together the historical context, the campaigns, the camps and the human stories behind those years of captivity.
From the fall of Singapore to the Death Railway; from the sinking of the Hellships to the long silence that followed liberation — explore the full history here.
Scottish Far East Prisoners of War pictured together at their camp — one of the few surviving photographs from the years of captivity.
THE CONTEXT
The War in the Pacific
On 7 December 1941 Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. The following morning, Japanese forces invaded Malaya and bombed Hong Kong. Within weeks, the Pacific War had engulfed hundreds of thousands of Allied soldiers — many of them Scottish. To understand the FEPOW story, you must first understand the war that created it.
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The attack on Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941 — the opening blow of the Pacific War that would draw thousands of Scottish soldiers into Japanese captivity.
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Allied troops on the march during the defence of Malaya and Singapore, early 1942, in the weeks before the largest surrender in British military history.
Watch above: ‘Attack on Pearl Harbour and Malaya’ — how the Pacific War began and the road that led to the fall of Singapore.
EXPLORE HISTORY & EDUCATION
01
The Pacific War
How Japan's entry into the Second World War in December 1941 changed everything — and drew thousands of Scottish soldiers into a conflict on the other side of the world.
02
The Fall of Singapore
15 February 1942 — the largest surrender in British military history. How the "impregnable fortress" fell, and what happened to the 80,000 men who laid down their arms.
03
Life as a FEPOW
Changi, the Death Railway, Hellfire Pass, the Hellships, disease and liberation — the full story of what Far East Prisoners of War endured across three and a half years of captivity.
04
The Scottish Regiments
The Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders, Gordon Highlanders and Royal Scots — the Scottish regiments who fought in the Far East and whose men became FEPOWs.
05
Watch & Learn
Documentaries, archive footage, interviews and testimonies. Hear the story of the FEPOWs in their own words and through the lens of those who filmed it.
06
Roll of Honour
A record of the Scottish Far East Prisoners of War — the men who served, the men who were lost, and the men who came home changed forever.
Watch above: ‘No Prisoners — Fall of Singapore’ — first-hand testimony preserving the memories of those who lived through the Far East campaign.
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If we do not tell their stories, they will be forgotten. And they cannot be forgotten.
SERENA GEAR — FOUNDER, SCOTLAND FEPOW TRUST