VJ80 August 2025: Surrender Story #2 - Sgt Cyril Gilbert.
- Stu Lloyd
- Aug 15
- 2 min read
In World War 2, over 22,000 Aussies were taken as prisoners of war, mostly in the fall of Singapore. They endured a hellish 3.5 years of captivity under the Japanese, with around 8000 dying in captivity. Then came August 15, 1945: the Japanese surrender, the end of the war. Finally!
Going home meant different things for different soldiers.
One of those lucky to make it home from the Thai-Burma Death Railway was Lance Sgt Cyril Gilbert of the Australian 8th Division, who'd had a torrid time in the worst upper reaches of the railway, where he 'celebrated' his 19th birthday. He was with eight of his mates and they had nine sardines. You might think, OK, it's your birthday, you have the extra one. But no. "We spent half an hour arguing over how that extra sardine was cut into equal pieces ... 'His piece is bigger', 'A bit more for Larry' and so on ... until everyone was happy it was equally divided."
Such were the hunger levels and the desire to survive and not die in that hellhole.
On his release, back in Queensland, it was a different matter: "For two years it was wine, women and song, and I never sang a note!" he tells as he nurses another cold Tiger Beer on a commemoration visit to Singapore. Around the house, he said, "I would always be looking in the fridge for more food, having meals in between meals in between meals."
80 years since VJ Day — hear the voices of those who lived it.
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