RAF CHAPLAINCY
THEY SERVED THEIR GENERATION: THE REVEREND ALAN GILES
THE FALL OF SINGAPORE AND IMPRISONMENT 1942
“… the senior Chaplain out there at the time was Alan Giles and, obviously the Air Force was having to get out, he decided that the Chaplains who would go first would be the ones who were married, and then next the ones who were engaged and that left me- because I was neither married nor engaged- and himself. Of course, he was married, he had his own family out there but of course he stayed behind.”
or less in the dark and we’ d pass him little bits of things to eat and so forth. And I remember one day I asked him was there anything special he wanted. He said‘ Yes, I want my prayer book.’ So next time we went to the loo we took a prayer book with us and passed it through. He was in there about 4 or 5 days but I don’ t think anybody knows why to this day.”
Padre Giles could have left Singapore with his family, but, having seen them safely onto the ship, he went back to his post. He and Padre Goss, who is quoted above, along with Padres Rorke, Wanless and Tucker became prisoners of the Japanese.
Speaking of their time as prisoners, Padre Goss recalls an episode when Padre Giles was put into solitary confinement:
“ Yes, Alan Giles was suddenly hauled in and we all got very frightened and I’ m sure he did too. He really didn’ t know what it was for and I don’ t think we’ ve discovered even to this day. But I think it was something to do with, possibly, preaching at one of these services. They may have thought he said something which he shouldn’ t have said. Anyway they hauled him in. Rather sensibly he put his cassock on before he went to the head office and I don’ t think they hit him at all-surprisingly. They shouted at him a good deal, shouted at him and then put him in prison, right underneath one of these sentry points in the wall. They had a little box under there and he was locked in. But there was a tiny little flap in the door and fortunately just near to it there was a loo. So we used to go to the loo and then slip round the corner, hoping we wouldn’ t be spotted and we could talk to him through there. He was all by himself more
16 February 1942: Japanese forces take control of the British‘ Gibraltar of the East’.
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