Former Allied prisoners of war (POWs), recently released from Japanese captivity, arrive in Colombo, Ceylon (Sri Lanka) en route to the UK.

Troops waiting on a barge. Men coming down a gangway, presumably from the HMS Monowai. Men waiting on barge. Close-up of Lance Corporal F E Mills of Manchester, of 1st Battalion the Manchester Regiment, captured at the fall of Singapore in February 1942. Men walk along a covered jetty with naval officers and military policemen in attendance. Men on a barge; some of their number appear to be civilians. Three young children, supervised by British women, play on a verandah at Echelon Barracks. Men queue at a window for the issue of clothing and other kit.

Notes

This group of POWs is possibly the same group seen embarking at Rangoon in JFU 314. See related items.

The ship carrying the POWs is identified on the dopesheet as the 'Monoway'. This is probably the HMS Monowai (formerly HMNZS Monowai, SS Monowai and originally P&O's SS Razmack) which served as an armed merchant cruiser and then as a Landing Ship Infantry (Large), in which guise she took part in the Normandy landings.

The dopesheet states that these men were visited aboard ship by figures including Lady Moore (wife of Sir Henry Monck-Mason Moore, Governor of Ceylon), Major-General Sparkes, General Officer Commanding Ceylon, and a Sir John and Lady Tarbutt. The dopesheet also remarks that many of these men were suffering from beri-beri due to malnutrition.