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Australia

Private Phillip Bernstein was born on the 28 June 1903 in St Georges East, London, England. He was of Jewish decent and the third child of a family of five children. His father Morris Bernstein was a baker by trade and Phillip followed in his father’s footsteps also becoming a baker as his occupation.

At the age of 20, Philip immigrated to Australia, leaving England on 9 November 1923, travelling on board the vessel 'Berrima’ under the name Phillip ‘Burns’, and being signed on as a registered seaman 'Baker'. He was discharged from the ship on its arrival at Melbourne, Victoria, on the 31 December 1923.

Phillip married Lilian Alma De Kuyper on 14 April 1927. Philip and Lilian resided in South Yarra where they had four children the first of which died in infancy.
Shortly following the outbreak of the Second World War (WW2), Phillip enlisted on 6 September 1940, initially with the 19th Reserve MT Company at Royal Park, Melbourne, and then later, on 29 January 1941, transferring to the 1st Field Bakery Company, 8th Division, 2nd AIF.

According to the Australian War Memorial records of the 2nd Echelon Malaya, the 8th Division boarded HMT Queen Mary (QX1) on the 2 February 1941, with the ship departing from Sydney on the 4 February for Malaya, with Private Phillip Bernstein on board.
Upon arrival in Malaya on the 18 February 1941, it is likely Phillip proceeded with the rest of the 8th Division by train to barracks at Kuala Lumpur where they remained until early 1942. It would appear from official records that the 1st Field Bakery used a combination of ‘Perkins Steam Pipe ovens, Aldershot ovens, and improvised ovens constructed from retrieved materials throughout their time in Malaya. If nothing else the Australian infantry was well known for their innovation and improvisation.

From information recorded within the diary of a comrade in the 1st Field Bakery Company, [Private Francis Russell James Day] Philip Bernstein was the captain of the 1st Field Bakery's cricket team in Malaya around 1st August 1941. Some in the Bakery nicknamed him "Doctor Cyclops" - presumably because of the thickness of his glasses, and maybe combined with his height - at 6’3 he was a very distinguished character.

Phillip probably never mentioned theses details to anyone at home. In fact typically, like most of his generation, Phillip never spoke of his war experiences to anyone after the war ended and he eventually returned home.
While in Malaya, it is also alleged Phillip apparently partied a little too hard and was charged with causing a disturbance, during a night when (to quote one of the bakers) "a couple of the boys had a party the other night and one of them didn’t get to bed very long when he got out again and reckoned, he was still on the boat." It wasn't necessarily Philip though - three other men copped similar charges.

On 19 May 1941 Phillip was one of the headline acts reportedly singing a solo and performing in a quartet during a camp concert the unit put on (for itself anyway).
On the 8 December 1941 the Japanese Imperial Forces invaded northern Malaya and quickly advanced southward. The strength of the 8th Division on 31 December 1941 was 14,398 against the invading Japanese force of 26,000. The Allied forces were hopelessly outnumbered.

Records indicate that on the 9 January 1942, the 1st Field Bakery Company were ordered to evacuate from Kuala Lumpur. - arriving in Singapore on 11 January. Somewhat ironically (given that this would be where the 1st Field Bakery would be imprisoned only a week later), on 26 January 1942, the 1st Field Bakery Company is ordered by the Malaya Command to set up a bakery in the Garrison School at ‘Changi’, however were instead eventually relocated to Bukit Panjang.

On the 8 February 1942 it is reported that the 1st Field Bakery Company is impacted by Japanese aerial bombing with four casualties being evacuated to hospital. Thereafter the unit becomes part of the GBD reserve fighting battalion.
The 8th Division were given the task of defending the prime invasion points on the north side of the island, in a terrain dominated by mangrove swamps and forest. From 3rd February 1942, the Australian positions were shelled by Japanese artillery. Shelling and air attacks intensified over the next five days, destroying communications between Allied units and their commanders.

On the 16 February 1942 the official War Diary of the 1st Field Bakery Company records that the order was received to ‘lay down arms’, and Private Phillip Bernstein, along with the rest of the 8th Division and Allied Forces, was taken prisoner and sent to Selarang Barracks at Changi.

These barracks were built to house 1,000 prisoners so it was grossly overcrowded with the 15,000 prisoners that were now camped there. The official War Diary of the 1st Field Bakery unit notes that by 20 February 1942 a wrecked workshop is selected for a Bakery within the prison and on 1 March 1942 “bread is produced for the first time in the AIF POW Camp Changi”.

It is noted in Phillip’s service records that he was declared “missing” on 16th July 1942 of which his family were duly notified. A year later on 9th July 1943 it is recorded that Phillip was a “prisoner of war” – indicating that for twelve months Phillip’s family had no idea if he was alive and if he was, where he may be.

It is believed that Private Philip Bernstein may have been in Changi for about a month, after which he was moved out of Changi to Bukit Timah (Singapore). He returned to Changi in October 1942. Philip had his appendix out while in Malaya, and suffered from malaria, a fractured kneecap, renal colic, and other illnesses while in Changi.

From April 1943 large work parties began to be sent out from Changi to other camps to work on projects. For the purpose of maintaining accurate records each group was given a letter of the alphabet. “A” Force was sent to Burma with Forces “B” to “E” being sent to Borneo, Japan and Eastern Thailand. “F” Force consisted of 7,000 men, of which 3,662 were Australians, the others were British and Dutch.

Most of the men of “F” Force were already suffering from sickness such as dysentery. The purpose of this force was to assist in the construction of the 415km Burma-Thailand Railway linking Bangkok with Rangoon. The railway was constructed simultaneously from both ends...Thanbyuzyat in Burma and Nong Pladuk in Thailand. Philip was sent in one of these parties to work on the railway.
Private Phillip Bernstein was one of five bakers to leave Changi for the Burma Thailand Railway with Train IV, F Force, on 21 April 1943. This journey was very tough - he'd spend more than ninety hours crammed with 28 other men in a steel railroad rice truck, though they would be let out occasionally at rest stops. Train IV (with some other F Force trains) was destined for a camp called Shimo Songkurai (No 1 Camp), but some of the bakers (and men from other units) would have dropped out of the 300-kilometre march needed to get there.

At least three of the bakers made it to the camp. Others, ended up at a camp called Nieke and later moved to another of the Songkurai camps (No 2). “F” Force worked in the area just north of Konkoita right up to just north of Three Pagoda Pass. Konkoita was the meeting point of the railway on 16 October 1943. They had the job of constructing a stretch of about 60kms of railway. At Songkurai they worked on a 15km stretch which included the famous wooden bridge across the river Kwai...Songkurai Bridge. This area was the most isolated of western Thailand. The work itself was grueling and dangerous.

Changi prison was liberated on the 5th of September 1945. Phillip was repatriated from Singapore on 18 September 1945, embarking on the ship MV Duntroon. He disembarked in Sydney Australia on 7 October 1945, arriving back in Victoria on 13 October 1945. He was discharged from the Army on 17 January 1946.

Phillip Bernstein’s name appears, along with 23 others from the 1st Field Bakery 2nd AIF, on the Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial located in Ballarat, Victoria. Of the 48 officers and men listed as serving with the 1st Field Bakery, 2nd AIF in WW2 nearly half (46%) not return home and died while in captivity as prisoners of war.

The National Prisoners of War Memorial was opened on 6 February 2004 at the Botanic Gardens in Ballarat, Victoria. It was built ‘to acknowledge the pain and suffering that all POWs endured during their time in captivity, to commemorate the thousands of mates left behind and to acknowledge the sacrifice of families during wartime’. It is the only memorial in Australia dedicated to ex-POWs.

For his service in WW2, Phillip Bernstein was awarded the Australia Service Medal 1939-45, Defence Medal, War Medal 1939-1945, 1939-1945 Star, and the Pacific Star.

Having survived the trauma and atrocities associated with his confinement and captivity as a POW during the second world war, Private Phillip Bernstein died on 26 Oct 1956 aged 53, survived by his wife, son and two daughters, all now deceased. His name however stands remembered.