Philip Meninsky (born 1919 in Fulham, England, died in 2007) was the son of

Bernard Meninsky Bernard Meninsky (25 July 1891–12 February 1950) was a painter of figures and landscapes in oils, watercolour and gouache, a draughtsman and a teacher.. Biography Early life and education Meninsky was born in Konotop, Ukraine, where his fathe ...

. Despite an early passion for art, at his father's wish, he initially trained as an accountant, before being called up for National Service. After a first posting to Scotland, he was then sent to the Far East where he was captured in 1942 after the

fall of Singapore The Fall of Singapore, also known as the Battle of Singapore,; ta, சிங்கப்பூரின் வீழ்ச்சி; ja, シンガポールの戦い took place in the South–East Asian theatre of the Pacific War. The Empire of ...

. He spent the next three years working on the Death Railway where he recorded the lives of POWs by secretly making detailed drawings of camp life. These drawings were subsequently used as evidence in the trials of war criminals. At one point, rendered skeletal by starvation, he developed tropical ulcers on his legs, and was transferred to Chunkai hospital camp, where his limbs were saved from amputation by Edward Dunlop and Major

Arthur Moon Major Arthur Moon (17 May 1902 – 28 October 1973) was an Australian army doctor who saved the lives of dozens of Far East prisoners of war as the Thailand-Burma Railway was being constructed during World War II. Early life Moon was born on ...

. His work from this period is largely held by the

Imperial War Museum Imperial War Museums (IWM) is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, the museum was intended to record the civil and military ...

in London, England, but there is at least one in the

State Library of Victoria State Library Victoria (SLV) is the state library of Victoria, Australia. Located in Melbourne, it was established in 1854 as the Melbourne Public Library, making it Australia's oldest public library and one of the first free libraries in the ...

in Australia, and the Australian War Memorial. Together with the works of

Jack Bridger Chalker Jack Bridger Chalker (10 October 1918 – 15 November 2014), was a British artist and teacher best known for his work recording the lives of the prisoners of war building the Burma Railway during World War II. Biography Chalker was born in Lon ...

Ashley George Old Ashley George Old (born 1913, d. 2001) was an artist best known for documenting the lives of prisoners of war forced to construct the Thailand-Burma Railway. During World War II he was stationed in Singapore, and when it fell to the Japanese in F ...

and Ronald Searle these drawings and paintings form a unique record of this dark time in human history. Old and Meninsky were reunited in 1995 after 50 years as guests of the Imperial War Museum for an exhibition ''Victory in the Far East'' – held 15 August to 15 December 1995.''Legion – The Journal of the British Legion'' Vol. 16 No.4

References

External links

Surrey Comet Obituary
World War II artists World War II prisoners of war held by Japan 1919 births 2007 deaths British war artists Imperial War Museum Burma Railway prisoners British people of Jewish descent {{UK-artist-stub