A Cool Head in Hell

Dr Harry Silman’s WW2 diaries, detailing life as a POW tending to fellow combatants during forced labour on the Burma Railway. Edited with historical context.

‘A first-hand account of major events in the Second World War, rich with personal anecdotes and stories of friendship and faith.’ – Jewish Telegraph

Harry Silman (1910–2005) served with the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers during World War Two, attaining the rank of Captain. In 1942 his division was diverted to Singapore, arriving just days before the Allied surrender there; he spent the rest of the war as a POW, tending to ill and dying men. His postwar years in England were spent in general practice as a beloved physician in Leeds. Jacqueline Passman taught in both mainstream and deaf education. The discovery of her father’s wartime diary sparked her interest in the experiences of POWs in the Far East, and she gives regular talks on this subject.