The Happiness Box

Today is ANZAC Day- the day when we commemorate all those who served and died for Australia in battle from World War I up until the present. It's 98 years today that the first ANZAC (Australia and New Zealand Army Corps) soldiers arrived on the beaches of Gallipoli, Turkey in 1915.

Today I read a book. Now, that's nothing unusual, but this book is special. It's called The Happiness Box.

The Happiness Box was written in 1942 by Sgt David Griffin, an Australian solider who was a Prisoner of War by the Japanese in Singapore. I first came across it last year when I was in Singapore and took the Changi World War Two tour.
Basically, in 1942, some of the POWs wanted to make Christmas gifts for the children who were interned in the prisons alongside them. Some of them made toys, but David Griffin, knowing he had no talent for making toys, decided to write a book for the children instead.

The Happiness Box tells the story of three friends- Martin the Monkey, Wobbley the Frog and Winston the Chi Chak (a Malayan lizard) who live together in a little house in the jungle.

A Chi Chak... pretty much a gekko

All the presents had to be checked by the Japanese. And when they saw that one of the characters was called Winston, they became suspicious that the book was actually a code for the Allies (you know, Winston... Winston Churchill. Get it?).
Some of the POWs managed to grab the book, and they hid it in an ammunition container and buried it somewhere in the grounds of the prison camp. After the war, they dug the book up and took it back to Australia, where it made its way to the State Library of NSW.

It's a sweet little book, but it's really amazing to read it and know what the author went through, why he was writing the book and the people he was writing the book for- children living imprisoned in a crowded and awful gaol.

It's only been available for public purchase since 1991. I assume you can buy it in Australia... I'd never seen it or heard of it (I don't think) until I went to Singapore, but our tour guide said it was a pretty big sale for tour groups and visitors.

The best example I can think of to sum up the essence of the book, is this quote. All you have to know is that Martin, Wobbley and Winston found a box in the jungle. Inside were 3 books, one for each of them.

Then Winston, who was very clever, said, "I will tell you what they mean. They mean that we three must go out into the world and teach our neighbours how to be clever, industrious and kind, so that they can all be as happy as we." 

I think that pretty much says it all.

Lest we forget.