John Mennie
| John George Mennie | |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | 'Jack' |
| Born | 26 November 1911 Aberdeen, Scotland |
| Died | 24 August 1982 (aged 70) Blair Atholl, Scotland |
| Allegiance |
 United Kingdom
|
| Service/branch |
 British Army
|
| Years of service | 1940-1947 |
| Rank | Lance Bombardier |
| Unit | Royal Artillery |
| Battles/wars | |
| Other work | Art teacher |
John ('Jack') George Mennie, A.R.M.S. D.A.(ABDN). ARMS., (26 November 1911 in Aberdeen – 24 August 1982 in Tirinie, Blair Athol, Perthshire) was a Scottish artist who came to public attention in 2011 for his many contemporaneous drawings of his life as a prisoner of war during the Japanese occupation of Singapore and Thailand in World War II. The drawings were made in secret depicting scenes of daily life and personalities in the camps in Singapore and Thailand, working on the Death railway. They also uniquely documented the Selarang Square Squeeze when some 17,000 prisoners were forced to crowd in the barracks square for nearly five days with little water and no sanitation until they signed a 'promise not to escape'.
Mennie's drawings were donated to the archive at the Imperial War Museum, but came to wider public notice when a selection from a separate source were featured on an episode of the BBC television programme Antiques Roadshow, filmed on 18 September 2011 at Manchester.
John Mennie was born at 28 Clarence Street, Aberdeen, Scotland, on 26 November 1911 to Robert and Margaret Mennie. He was known to family and friends as Jack. He trained at Gray's School of Art in Aberdeen and at Westminster School of Art in London. After graduation he worked as a commercial artist in London for eight years until he enlisted in the army in 1940.
Mennie joined the Royal Artillery in 1940 and was posted in September 1941 to Singapore. ( No 1604539 in the 2nd Highland A.A. regiment, H.K.S.R.A. ) By the time of his capture on 15 February 1942 he had been promoted to Lance Bombardier. He was captured when Singapore surrendered to the Japanese forces in February 1942 and he was a prisoner of war until August 1945. He was demobbed in 1946 and returned to Aberdeen.
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