In the Shadow of the Rising Sun

In February 1942, nine-year-old Olga and her family were in Singapore when the city fell to the Japanese Imperial Army in the biggest defeat in history of the British Forces. Turned back at an evacuation ship’s gangway as the bombs fell, Olga and her parents and siblings were forced to hide out until, captured by Japanese soldiers, the were sent on a forced march to the notorious Changi Prison. Three years of captivity followed.


Three years of disease, malnutrition, deprivation and oppression in Changi and Sime Road. Now in her nineties, Olga’s inspirational story of survival is testament to the power of hope and the resilience of the human spirit.