Half a Banana: The Diary of a Gurkha Officer, 1942-45

Join Richard and David Kemmis Betty as they recount their father’s experiences as a British Indian Army officer imprisoned in Singapore during the Second World War.

Peter Kemmis Betty was a young officer serving in the 2nd King Edward VII’s Own Gurkha Rifles when he was captured by the Japanese in 1942.

Rather than being sent to the infamous Thai-Burma railway, Peter and his lifelong friend Alec Ogilvie were held for over three years in Singapore’s Changi camp. Together, they oversaw the gardens that helped keep 17,000 Allied prisoners of war alive, all while trying to preserve a sense of dignity and normality behind the barbed wire.

Drawing from their father’s diary - republished to mark the 80th anniversary of VJ-Day - Richard and David Kemmis Betty will highlight the resilience of the thousands who found themselves prisoners of the Imperial Japanese Armed Forces during the campaign in the Far East. The diary is raw, honest, and surprisingly hopeful, with many glimmers of humanity amid the brutality of war.

About the speakers

The diary will be recounted by Peter Kemmis Betty’s sons Richard and David Kemmis Betty.