KUCHING: For Anne Read, 73, walking through Kuching is a journey through her late father’s quiet endurance during one of the darkest chapters in Sarawak’s history.
Her father, Arthur Hugh Peters Humphrey — known to the family as Hugh — was a British civilian internee serving in Labuan when he was captured by Japanese forces on New Year’s Day in 1942.
After being detained in Brunei and Jesselton (now Kota Kinabalu), he was transferred to the Batu Lintang POW camp in mid-August 1942, where he remained until liberation.
Throughout his captivity, Hugh secretly kept a detailed diary, risking severe punishment by the Kempeitai (Japanese military police) if discovered.
“On the day of liberation, he managed to get it out, and he transcribed it during his retirement,” Anne said, adding that a copy is now preserved at the Imperial War Museum in London.
“It’s so comprehensive. But he couldn’t write too much about what he suffered at the hands of the Kempeitai because taking notes was already a huge risk.”
The diary documented the brutal conditions endured by internees. Anne recalled what he father said: “The POWs are fit for either the hospital or the grave, yet they are forced to provide working parties out of the camp and to do hard labour.”
Despite the hardship, Anne noted that her father rarely spoke about the trauma later in life. Following the war, Hugh resumed his civil service career in Kuala Lumpur, where Anne was later born.
Though he cherished memories of the local people and revisited Labuan in 1986, he never returned to Kuching, a decision Anne believes was rooted in lingering pain.
Anne and her husband, John Read, visited Kuching to attend a wreath-laying ceremony at the Sarawak World War II Liberation Monument near the Pending Hawker Centre.
The visit held deep personal significance as Sept 10 marked the 25th anniversary of Hugh’s passing in 2001 at the age of 90. The date fell just a day before Sarawak’s official liberation anniversary.
“I was able to go to the Batu Lintang POW Memorial and lay a wreath,” Anne shared.
“He was lucky to have survived three and a half years in captivity.
“However, news of what happened to his friends and colleagues in Labuan greatly saddened him, tempering his joy upon liberation. It was a source of deep sorrow that stayed with him.”
