Changes & Chances
Chapter 20 The Miracle of St George’s Chapel
Since the 50th anniversary of the end of the War in the Pacific there has been renewed interest in the Far East Prisoners of War (FEPOWs). For some reason the British FEPOWs have been more vocal than Australian, American or Dutch. Among a number of moving stories from these horrible war years the most inspiring one has strong links with All Saints. I have been sent two different POW memoirs which refer to the Tanjung Priok chapel and the memorial windows. John Baxter’s personal memoirs, No Picnic, and Meg Parkes’ Notify Alec Rattray, based on the diaries of her father, A A Duncan, are now treasured acquisitions of church archives. The latter book contains a picture of the chapel published during the war in a Japanese propaganda newspaper and a map of the camp, showing the position of the chapel. As well, in the church archives was found an article from The Westralian about the building of the chapel, published in April 1946. It was written by T W Bindeman, a military chaplain:
From this time Tandjong Priok Prisoner-of- War Camp was a series of coolie camps, in normal time used by the coolies employed as labourers at the nearby docks. It was encircled with barbed wire inseparable from prison life. Many thousands of Allies prisoners, British, Dutch, American, Australian and natives from many of the colonies of these countries, passed through this camp. Gordon Highlanders, Hussars, Sikhs, Gurkhas, heroes from Dunkirk, survivors from the Repulse, Prince of Wales, Houston, Perth and officers and men from famous units of all services of almost all Allied countries mixed together at various times, relating incidents and episodes now famous in history.
In the centre of the Camp, which was divided into about 14 sub-camps, each housing some hundreds prisoners of war, stood, perhaps, the most beautiful of all churches erected by Australians under such circumstances. Designed by an Australian officer of an engineer unit, and constructed by Australians under his command, it was further adorned by appointments made by technicians of nearly every unit, which passed through. All prisoners assisted in reclaiming waste land around it, transforming it into a beautiful park where tropical plants grew and flourished, a veritable oasis in the desert.
Receiving some assistance from a Nipponese commandant, rather less unfriendly than most, in the shape of certain materials necessary, the adage making reference to the giving of an inch and the taking of a mile was never more clearly demonstrated. This church was unique in that it was probably the only church built by Australians – or any nationality for that matter – who were prisoners, when it was possible to use such suitable material as cement and dressed timber.
Permission was sought for a very modest amount; this was granted with true Oriental magnanimity. The “inch” was secured: the “mile” was never difficult to the real Digger. Daily work parties went to and from the docks, never returning empty-handed. Of course, only the best was good enough for such a project. When accosted by conscientious guards, the jealously-guarded “permit”, gained by characteristic foresight from the Commandant, was confidently displayed, and difficult situations negotiated. “Chronic weaklings” – when compelled to work for the Nips – were transformed into pocket Hercules when they trudged into camp with something for the church. (And, of course, articles not even remotely connected with any church found their way into camp, carried thither confidently past the most ferocious guard.)
The Church itself, magnificent in its conception and harmonious in its appointments was truly a work of art and a lasting tribute to those connected with it. Of all the appointments, however, perhaps the greatest work of art was the stained glass window. A commander of the British navy (Commander H.C. Upton, who now lives in Sussex, England), whose ship had been sunk in the early hectic days of the Japanese invasion, relieved the boredom of prison life by painting, on ordinary glass, designs incorporating the traditions and the ideals of the Allied Nations. When completed, this artistic contribution was installed in the window frames. The subject matter, so obvious to the Occidental, apparently passed over the heads of the Oriental guards. Indeed, one camp commandant congratulated the artist on his work, and solicited his help in painting pictures for him.
So important and imposing did this church become in the life of the camp that on more than one occasion new guards passing it for the first time when a service was in progress presented arms. Moreover, when Japanese photographers from Tokyo, seeking material for propaganda purposes, visited Java, they visited this church and secure photographs, one at least of which appeared in “Nippon Times”, a newspaper printed in English and widely distributed throughout the whole East Asia.
The Tandjong Priok Church was left intact when the camp was evacuated in 1943. Despite the wish to the contrary, the Tandjong Priok church was completely demolished. The windows, which bear the arms of Great Britain, U.S.A., Australia and Holland, were placed in All Saints’ Church Djakarta on either side of the altar.
A Scottish POW, Captain Atholl Duncan, at the time wrote a fond account of the chapel:
The site that was chosen was at one end of the football pitch where the locust trees with their scarlet blossoms and overhanging shady foliage provided shelter from the blazing heat of the tropical sun, and work was begun early in April 1942. The walls of the chapel were made of reinforced concrete with the north side left open in the shape of a gothic arch whilst the south wall had two windows let into it which were later to contain stained glass window designs incorporating the figure of St George of England and the flags of all the nationalities of the prisoners in Priok; inside the chapel there was an altar covered with sarong cloth and carved wood candlesticks on each side of a crucifix, teak wood polished with talcum powder and brown boot polish being used for the altar and its fittings. Outside, a concrete pulpit was erected and small shrubs, palms and flowers were planted all round the chapel and pulpit whilst the grass in front was cut short. Every Sunday, weather permitting service was held at 10 am and the congregation led by a choir sang popular psalms and hymns and then listened to a short sermon by either of our two padres, the Rev. Harper–Holcroft and the Rev. Phillips. Both the padres were excellent men for the job and would preach a short sermon which everybody could understand bringing out points that they had noticed during the previous week whilst going around the sub-camps. In addition to the service, communion was held every Sunday at 8 am and 11 am and a Toc H group held meetings in the evening. There was a serene charm about the whole of the chapel area which was not to be found anywhere else in the camp and I used to look forward to the service each week as a great source of spiritual comfort.
It is nothing less than a miracle of God’s grace how a group of half-starved prisoners built a beautiful sanctuary out of scavenged junk and even more how this chapel raised the morale of men surrounded by humiliation, squalor and death. I know of several cases where, fifty years after these events, tough old survivors have been brought to tears by news that the memorial windows from St George’s have been preserved at All Saints.
Since the 50th anniversary of the end of the War in the Pacific there has been renewed interest in the Far East Prisoners of War (FEPOWs). For some reason the British FEPOWs have been more vocal than Australian, American or Dutch. Among a number of moving stories from these horrible war years the most inspiring one has strong links with All Saints. I have been sent two different POW memoirs which refer to the Tanjung Priok chapel and the memorial windows. John Baxter’s personal memoirs, No Picnic, and Meg Parkes’ Notify Alec Rattray, based on the diaries of her father, A A Duncan, are now treasured acquisitions of church archives. The latter book contains a picture of the chapel published during the war in a Japanese propaganda newspaper and a map of the camp, showing the position of the chapel. As well, in the church archives was found an article from The Westralian about the building of the chapel, published in April 1946. It was written by T W Bindeman, a military chaplain:
From this time Tandjong Priok Prisoner-of- War Camp was a series of coolie camps, in normal time used by the coolies employed as labourers at the nearby docks. It was encircled with barbed wire inseparable from prison life. Many thousands of Allies prisoners, British, Dutch, American, Australian and natives from many of the colonies of these countries, passed through this camp. Gordon Highlanders, Hussars, Sikhs, Gurkhas, heroes from Dunkirk, survivors from the Repulse, Prince of Wales, Houston, Perth and officers and men from famous units of all services of almost all Allied countries mixed together at various times, relating incidents and episodes now famous in history.
In the centre of the Camp, which was divided into about 14 sub-camps, each housing some hundreds prisoners of war, stood, perhaps, the most beautiful of all churches erected by Australians under such circumstances. Designed by an Australian officer of an engineer unit, and constructed by Australians under his command, it was further adorned by appointments made by technicians of nearly every unit, which passed through. All prisoners assisted in reclaiming waste land around it, transforming it into a beautiful park where tropical plants grew and flourished, a veritable oasis in the desert.
Receiving some assistance from a Nipponese commandant, rather less unfriendly than most, in the shape of certain materials necessary, the adage making reference to the giving of an inch and the taking of a mile was never more clearly demonstrated. This church was unique in that it was probably the only church built by Australians – or any nationality for that matter – who were prisoners, when it was possible to use such suitable material as cement and dressed timber.
Permission was sought for a very modest amount; this was granted with true Oriental magnanimity. The “inch” was secured: the “mile” was never difficult to the real Digger. Daily work parties went to and from the docks, never returning empty-handed. Of course, only the best was good enough for such a project. When accosted by conscientious guards, the jealously-guarded “permit”, gained by characteristic foresight from the Commandant, was confidently displayed, and difficult situations negotiated. “Chronic weaklings” – when compelled to work for the Nips – were transformed into pocket Hercules when they trudged into camp with something for the church. (And, of course, articles not even remotely connected with any church found their way into camp, carried thither confidently past the most ferocious guard.)
The Church itself, magnificent in its conception and harmonious in its appointments was truly a work of art and a lasting tribute to those connected with it. Of all the appointments, however, perhaps the greatest work of art was the stained glass window. A commander of the British navy (Commander H.C. Upton, who now lives in Sussex, England), whose ship had been sunk in the early hectic days of the Japanese invasion, relieved the boredom of prison life by painting, on ordinary glass, designs incorporating the traditions and the ideals of the Allied Nations. When completed, this artistic contribution was installed in the window frames. The subject matter, so obvious to the Occidental, apparently passed over the heads of the Oriental guards. Indeed, one camp commandant congratulated the artist on his work, and solicited his help in painting pictures for him.
So important and imposing did this church become in the life of the camp that on more than one occasion new guards passing it for the first time when a service was in progress presented arms. Moreover, when Japanese photographers from Tokyo, seeking material for propaganda purposes, visited Java, they visited this church and secure photographs, one at least of which appeared in “Nippon Times”, a newspaper printed in English and widely distributed throughout the whole East Asia.
The Tandjong Priok Church was left intact when the camp was evacuated in 1943. Despite the wish to the contrary, the Tandjong Priok church was completely demolished. The windows, which bear the arms of Great Britain, U.S.A., Australia and Holland, were placed in All Saints’ Church Djakarta on either side of the altar.
A Scottish POW, Captain Atholl Duncan, at the time wrote a fond account of the chapel:
The site that was chosen was at one end of the football pitch where the locust trees with their scarlet blossoms and overhanging shady foliage provided shelter from the blazing heat of the tropical sun, and work was begun early in April 1942. The walls of the chapel were made of reinforced concrete with the north side left open in the shape of a gothic arch whilst the south wall had two windows let into it which were later to contain stained glass window designs incorporating the figure of St George of England and the flags of all the nationalities of the prisoners in Priok; inside the chapel there was an altar covered with sarong cloth and carved wood candlesticks on each side of a crucifix, teak wood polished with talcum powder and brown boot polish being used for the altar and its fittings. Outside, a concrete pulpit was erected and small shrubs, palms and flowers were planted all round the chapel and pulpit whilst the grass in front was cut short. Every Sunday, weather permitting service was held at 10 am and the congregation led by a choir sang popular psalms and hymns and then listened to a short sermon by either of our two padres, the Rev. Harper–Holcroft and the Rev. Phillips. Both the padres were excellent men for the job and would preach a short sermon which everybody could understand bringing out points that they had noticed during the previous week whilst going around the sub-camps. In addition to the service, communion was held every Sunday at 8 am and 11 am and a Toc H group held meetings in the evening. There was a serene charm about the whole of the chapel area which was not to be found anywhere else in the camp and I used to look forward to the service each week as a great source of spiritual comfort.
It is nothing less than a miracle of God’s grace how a group of half-starved prisoners built a beautiful sanctuary out of scavenged junk and even more how this chapel raised the morale of men surrounded by humiliation, squalor and death. I know of several cases where, fifty years after these events, tough old survivors have been brought to tears by news that the memorial windows from St George’s have been preserved at All Saints.