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MITCHELL, R. KEITH: : Forty-two Months in Durance Vile: Prisoner of the Japanese

LONDON.ROBERT HALE LIMITED,1997.

ISBN 0709060041.

UK,slim 8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn,2nd imp. [Complete number line 2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3.] FINE/FINE.No owner inscrptn and no price- clip to dw/dj. Bright,crisp,clean,glossy laminated,b/w photographic illustrated front panel of dw/dj, with b/w lettering; with negligible shelf-wear or creasing to edges and corners - no nicks or tears present.Top+fore-edges bright and clean; contents bright,tight,clean,solid and sound - pristine - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corners,appears unread - apart from my own collation.Publisher's bright,crisp,clean, sharp-cornered,original plain black cloth boards with bright,crisp,blocked silver gilt letters to spine/backstrip and immaculate plain maroon endpapers.UK,slim 8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn,10-253pp [paginated] includes a prologue,28 chapters and an unpaginated epilogue,4pp contemporary b/w auto+ biographical photographs,8 b/w maps+ diagrams interspersed throughout the text and the book; plus [unpaginated] half-title+title pages,a conents list/table with acknowledgements to its verso,an illustrations list/table with a maps list/table to its verso. 'Forty-two Months in Durance Vile' is one man's fascinatingly detailed account of his experiences as a prisoner of the Japanese. After having narrowly missed being drafted to the Siam-Burma railroad,signalman Mitchell found himself bound for Japan.The Japs had demanded 900 men for an overseas force.After a three-week voyage in sordid filth and discomfort,beset at one stage by torpedoes,the ship docked at the southern island of Kyushu.Here the force was split and some 500 men continued by rail to Hakodate on the northern island of Hokkaido. After a few days the newcomers were moved to Yakumo on Volcano Bay,where their task was levelling and firming agricultural land for an airfield. In late October a further move took them to Muroran where work consisted of slave labour at the furnaces of the Wanishi Iron and Steel Corporation near the prison camp.Conditions were bad: huts infested with vermin and parasitic insects; inadequate clothing for the semi-arctic winter; poor food; a great deal of illness and much brutality from guards and civilians.After the second winter a final move was made to the mountainous centre of the island at Ashibetsu, where the work was mainly on a local coal-mine. Despite the unbelievable hardship and brutality they experienced the prisoners' courage, ingenuity and humour never failed.This remarkable account,based on diaries,hidden from the Japanese,portrays day-to-day life in astonishing detail and makes truly compulsive reading. As a fitting postscript the camp commander and five guards were tried for war crimes.The commander was hanged in 1946 and the guards variously sentenced to long terms of imprisonment. Please contact seller,because of the weight/value of this item for correct, insured shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page! N.B. ALL buyers please note,stocks' actual shipping/P+p costs are adjusted and any difference is refunded,after order's receipt and before the order's despatch,especially if the item(s) are offered either P+p included/FREE.  ** N.B. US/Canada customers please be aware: Standard AIRMAIL postage from UK to these destinations can now cost more than the price of the book! If speed is not of the essence,then Economy rate is recommended - at approx. anything from a 1/3rd to 1/2 of the standard AIR quote/rate - sometimes arriving sooner than the 42 days - but not always. **

UK,slim 8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn,2nd imp.
Not SIGNED.

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