Forgotten Tales of Ornithology Behind Bars: ‘The Role of Birds in WWII’

Specimens collected by Madoc featured in our museum [top]. A replica cover of An Introduction to Malayan Birds by Guy Charles Madoc [left]. Photograph of Guy Charles Madoc [right].

In the Museum’s Heritage Gallery, a showcase features an extraordinary story of a bird book that was conceived under remarkable circumstances. This is the story of Guy Charles Madoc, a prisoner of war during World War II. Using stolen paper and a secret typewriter, he produced a one-of-a-kind book ‘An Introduction to Malayan Birds’ while detained at Changi Prison. With a print run of only one, the 146-page book is one of the earliest bird books to target a layman audience for this region. He was helped by fellow internees B. David Molesworth (illustrations), and Carl A. Gibson-Hill (appendices), former Director of the Raffles Museum. Specimens and illustrations by these incredible individuals are still featured in the gallery today.

‘The Role of Birds in WWII’ by Nicholas Milton.

This story is featured in a new book by Nicholas Milton, a military and natural historian. ‘The Role of Birds in WWII’ chronicles the unique stories of birds and bird-lovers in World War II. With a focus on British history, the book is not just about homing pigeons. The work features stories of birdwatchers and their lives during the war. Be it counting seabirds while looking for U-boats or filming birds as a way of coping with the war. The book details how birds affected the war, from military personnel to prisoners of war.

The Museum’s Associate Director, Dr Tan Swee Hee, helped to curate the exhibit featuring Madoc’s story. He shares his account of the making of the exhibit and how LKCNHM was involved in helping Mr Milton write his new book:

Madoc’s book on Malayan birds is an uplifting story that the gallery planning team uncovered while doing research on Singapore’s natural history during the Japanese occupation. During the installation of the gallery showcases, we had the privilege of hosting Fenella Madoc-Davis, daughter of Guy Charles Madoc, when she paid a visit to the museum. It was also certainly exhilarating to see and hold the one and only original typewritten book, ‘An Introduction to Malayan Birds’ in our hands. One can only imagine the hardship and difficulties that had to be endured when the book was put together.

Replica pages from the original manuscript on display with a prop typewriter.

Mr Nicholas Milton contacted me in February 2021 to ask whether I could link him up with Ms Fenella, which I did. He was conducting research on ornithology during World War Two and wanted to learn more about the Madoc episode. Despite the global COVID-19 pandemic that put a hiatus on many aspects of life, Nicholas nevertheless soldiered on and his book, ‘The Role of Bird in World War Two: How Ornithology Helped to Win the War’ was published this year after two years of labour.

The Madoc story is carried in Chapter 6, ‘Birds Behind Barbed Wire’. It contained stories about ornithologists that were active during the war in Singapore, and particularly that of Gibson-Hill. He was offered a job as an Assistant Curator of the Raffles Museum just four days before Singapore fell to the Japanese. The museum was renamed the Syonan Hakubutsu Kan and the book carries intriguing accounts of Gibson-Hill’s exchanges with the new director of the museum, Professor Hidezo Tanakadate. It makes for a fascinating read. One can only admire Gibson-Hill’s tenacity and boldness when he treated his new ‘boss’ in an “insolent-manner”.

Other chapters of the book regale the reader with quaint stories of tenacious ornithologists who were determined not to let the war interrupt their beloved activity. Whether they were counting birds while watching out for U-boats, or as a coping mechanism from a demanding boss like Winston Churchill, this book presents a unique perspective of this field from a bellicose period in our history.

Book your tickets to visit our Heritage Gallery which includes a showcase on Madoc’s story: tinyurl.com/LKCNHMTickets  

Learn more about ‘The Role of Birds in WWII’ by Nicholas Milton here.

Photos by Wu Ningjing.