Another of the paintings by Leo Rawlings.

In particularly vivid descriptions of Asian labourers, in his memoirs, "And The Dawn Came Up Like Thunder", Rawlings records,"(We) were duly despatched to a transit camp.
It was teeming with dying natives, all in the throes of dysentery and cholera. Coloured and white slept together in the same huts. Clad in rags or even naked, we huddled
together during the cold wet nights. Natives and POWs alike unable to control themselves, emitted vomit and excretia everywhere. Each day a number of POWs who could still
walk were detailed to carry out those men and natives who had died during the night. The smell of death was everywhere, an almost sweet, sickly smell that defied description"
while of a later camp transfer he continues, "In this new camp were many natives; Indians, Malays, Chinese etc., dying from dysentery. Our Jap guard told us that to help or
feed them would be death to us (although by his gun or the disease he did not say). These poor wretches crawled to our feet when the Jap had gone begging for food and water.

There are no cooks in this camp but a quantity of rice and a few vegetables. Two others in our party and myself set to work to make a crude meal. We made more than
was needed for ourselves and then distributed the remainder to our native fellow sufferers. At night we slept alongside them, oblivious of any fear of contaminations,
simply dead weary and exhausted. By morning many of our native companions were dead. That was the only time I ever cooked rice - I hoped it was my last."