page_title: Far East prisoners of war
section_title: FEPOW War Artists
hierarchical_section_title: Far East prisoners of war / FEPOW War Artists
caption_attribution_description: English: Bridge over the River Kwai image: four prisoners-of-war carry are large log across the River Kwai, waist deep in water. Behind and above them the wooden struts of the bridge are visible, with hills in the background.
context_page_description: Far East prisoners of war is a term used in the United Kingdom to describe former British and Commonwealth prisoners of war held in the Far East during the Second World War. The term is also used as the initialism FEPOW, or as the abbreviation Far East POWs.
context_section_description: Life in the POW camps was recorded at great risk to themselves by artists such as Jack Bridger Chalker, Philip Meninsky, Ashley George Old and Ronald Searle. Human hair was often used for brushes, plant juices and blood for paint, and toilet paper as the "canvas". Some of their works were used as evidence in the trials of Japanese war criminals.
  The Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine undertook a study of British Far East POW medical art subsequent to a FEPOW oral history.
  An exhibition 'Secret Art of Survival - Creativity and ingenuity of British Far East prisoners of war, 1942 - 1945' was held at Victoria Gallery and Museum, University of Liverpool from 25 October 2019 - 20 June 2020.
caption: Bridge over the River Kwai by Leo Rawlings; four prisoners-of-war carry a large log across the River Kwai, waist deep in water
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