A FORMER Mayoress of Winchester has written about her time in a Japanese Prisoner-of-War camp in Indonesia.
Alice Aernout is living her retirement years peacefully in her Old Alresford thatched home.
She is known for her art and sculpture, her love of gardens as well as for her earlier position as ex-Mayoress of Winchester.
What many do not know, is that she spent her early years in the most desperate circumstances in a PoW camp in Indonesia.
She has now recorded her story for members of her family to learn about.
Alice said: "It was an extraordinary time. My mother had been living happily with my father and two young children on a tea plantation in Jakarta when suddenly war started – and their world ended.
"My mother, along with my brother and me, ended up in a Japanese prisoner of war camp under the most vicious camp commandant.
"It was just astonishing that my mother managed to keep both her young children alive in truly desperate circumstances.
"After our years in the camp, when the war ended, we found my father had survived in another camp.
"Sadly, that was not the end of the drama because, after we had once again set up a happy family home, on one fateful evening my father was suddenly shot dead by a sniper.
"That was the end of our time in Indonesia and we arrived back in Holland with absolutely nothing.”
Alice eventually married and settled in Hampshire, rarely discussing her early years.
The full story is published in Alice’s small book which she has dedicated to her mother who, against all odds, kept her young family alive through such desperate years.
Alice has published the book privately for her family, but copies are available for sale at Six West, 6 West St, Alresford SO24 9AT.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here