Jungle Camp Science: Do-It-Yourself Medicines in Two POW Hospital Camps on the Japanese Burma-Thailand Railway, 1942-45

Since World War II, the medical work performed by Australian prisoners-of-war Lieutenant Colonel A.E. Coates and Lieutenant Colonel E.E. 'Weary' Dunlop, has been widely documented These men worked in rudimentary hospitals sited along the Japanese Burma-Thailand Railway. They were greatly assisted by the inventive contributions of Allied Forces scientists A.J.G.H. Kostermans, G.W. Chapman, and C.J. van Boxtel. Although these scientists' work has been previously documented this article presents a deeper analysis of archived reports revealing ingenuity and inventiveness in response to their captors withholding medical supplies. By focusing on pharmaceutical inventions in two POW hospitals, the 55 Kilo Kohn Kuhn camp (Burma) and the Nakom Paton camp (Thailand), this article reveals the lifesaving collaboration between medical and scientific specialists. The science was not novel. It was the scientists' adaptations to the challenging working environments in the absence of standard laboratory equipment and supplies that was remarkable.