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Copy of a diary by Oppenheim describing the retreat of the army to Singapore, the city's surrender and his escape initially by sail boat to Sumatra, Sri Lanka and then Bombay. The diary is anonymous, but Mortimer Hay, who also participated in the escape, has identified its author as Oppeneheim, based upon internal evidence and comparisons of its manuscript with Oppenheim's handwriting. For Hay's account see RCMS 103/12/4.

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This is a copy of a diary describing Hay’s active service during the Malayan campaign, beginning with his joining the battery in mid-Dec. 1941. He saw action at Kuala Selangor and during the siege of Singapore. After its surrender, he escaped by ship on 16 Feb., reaching Sumatra on 21 Feb. and then Sri Lanka on 1 Mar. 1942. See RCMS 103/12/3 for another account of the same escape written by H.R. Oppenheim (21 sheets).

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240 x 191 mm. View from the roadway looking towards a large tree behind which stands an unidentified European bungalow and a circular, open-sided summer house.

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241 x 188 mm. View looking along an unidentified village street in Sumatra. On the left is an impressive house built from wooden panels with decorative inlay work and with a thatched roof with upturned pointed gables.

Scope and Contents From the Fonds: The collection was originally housed in seven boxes, four of which were specially made with individual slots for slides. These were numbered 3, 6, 10 and 11 and the remaining boxes were unnumbered. Presumably these formed part of a larger collection, but nothing is known of the original owner or the fate of any other boxes. For conservation reasons, the collection has since been re-boxed. The captions given are normally those which appear on the slides themselves. They have been used as...

Scope and Contents From the Fonds: A collection of albums, containing captioned black and white photographs, taken by one, or more, people travelling in the same group. The albums form a photographic account of a six-month long touring holiday.Of the albums, the first ten are all of the same style and manufacture and each has an embossed title on the front. They follow the journey chronologically. The remaining two contain a smaller selection of images from the same journey, again in chronological order. They are...

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275 x 194 mm. General view of Emmahaven and the surrounding inlet. Now known as Telukbayur, the harbour is situated four miles south of the town of Padang.

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274 x 205 mm. View looking along a wharf at Emmahaven, with a steam vessel moored in the foreground.

Scope and Contents From the Fonds: This is a private album, measuring 260 x 230 mm, containing photographs of various formats taken by an amateur, supplemented by landscapes bought from commercial studios. Most images are captioned in white ink and captions have been recorded as found. They may include language which is offensive, inaccurate or inappropriate. The captions have been retained to reflect the context of the collection's creation. A number of photographs are missing, although their captions remain. The...

Scope and Contents From the Fonds: This is a private album, measuring 260 x 230 mm, containing photographs of various formats taken by an amateur, supplemented by landscapes bought from commercial studios. Most images are captioned in white ink and captions have been recorded as found. They may include language which is offensive, inaccurate or inappropriate. The captions have been retained to reflect the context of the collection's creation. A number of photographs are missing, although their captions remain. The...

Scope and Contents Ross escaped from Singapore by the ship ‘Kuala’ on 13 Feb. 1942 and eventually reached England in May 1942. The extract refers to the period when he was joined by Sub. Lieutenant Alexander Woodrow Stuart Sim of the R.N.V.R. and others after the ship was sunk by the Japanese on 14 Feb. Ross parted company with Sim on the Dutch island of Sinkep on 25 Feb. where the latter was awaiting treatment for a wound. The file is accompanied by a letter from M. E. Cook to the Ministry of Defence...

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354 x 267 mm. A view looking across the Binjai River (the town of Binjai is situated 12 miles west of Medan) with the ferry moored at the bank in the foreground. A small pony trap stands on the ferry which is constructed from two canoes covered by a wooden platform. The vessel which crosses by means of the line running from bank to bank.

Scope and Contents From the Fonds: This is a private album, measuring 260 x 230 mm, containing photographs of various formats taken by an amateur, supplemented by landscapes bought from commercial studios. Most images are captioned in white ink and captions have been recorded as found. They may include language which is offensive, inaccurate or inappropriate. The captions have been retained to reflect the context of the collection's creation. A number of photographs are missing, although their captions remain. The...

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352 x 267 mm. A view looking across the river towards bungalows situated in a clearing on the far side. Two white uniformed Europeans are seated in a pony trap at the ford, while other figures watch the photographer from the bank. Balawen Deli lies at the mouth of the Deli River 15 miles north of Medan near Labuan Deli. The Soengal River has not been traced and is either possibly another name for the Deli, a tributary of that river, or a mis-spelling of the Sarangan River.

Scope and Contents From the Fonds: This is a private album, measuring 260 x 230 mm, containing photographs of various formats taken by an amateur, supplemented by landscapes bought from commercial studios. Most images are captioned in white ink and captions have been recorded as found. They may include language which is offensive, inaccurate or inappropriate. The captions have been retained to reflect the context of the collection's creation. A number of photographs are missing, although their captions remain. The...

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A collection of loose prints, mostly measuring approximately 190 x 140 mm, with typewritten captions pasted to the reverse. The collection contains general views of landscape and architecture in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Brunei and Borneo.

Scope and Contents Arranged by area, then by country (including a few which are not members of the Commonwealth):The Mediterranean 30Cyprus 11Gibraltar 3Malta 16Middle East 3Jordan 1Palestine 2Indian Sub-Continent 81General 1Bangladesh 4Bhutan 2India 51Nepal 1Pakistan 16Sri Lanka 6South East Asia 58Brunei 5Indonesia 1Malaysia 43Singapore 9East Asia 33China 3Hong Kong 29Korea ...

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166 x 110 mm. View from the Hooge Pad (High Path) looking towards the entrance of Government House. This view looks past the rusticated stone sentry posts towards the central block of the house, with two wings with colonnades flanking this building to the left and right.

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354 x 267 mm. Showing a group of Battak men, women and children posed in front of a house. Precise location of Low Melgup is unidentified.

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353 x 267 mm. Showing a group of labourers at the edge of a tobacco field, with a long thatched building in the background. This is probably the Padana Djirmin Estate, a small plantation of 666 acres (in 1887) in the Selesse District. Owned by the Langkat Plantations Company and managed by A. Menzies.

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354 x 268 mm. A group photograph of Javanese men, women and children (probably tobacco estate workers) posed against a background of vegetation.

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287 x 231 mm. Showing a group of Kling (Tamil) men, women and children posed against a background of forest vegetation. Wright (1910) records a Bindjey Estate under the ownership of the Bindjey [i.e. Binjai] Tobacco Company. This company was not established until 1907 however, so this photograph would have been taken when the plantation was under an earlier owner.

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55 x 83 mm.

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55 x 83 mm.

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213 x 166 mm. View showing part of the buildings seen in the preceding print, with the harbour beyond at right.