Title
The Defence Medal
Year/Period
1939-1945
Region
Singapore
Material
Dimension
Object size: 12.0 x 3.8 x 0.6 cm
Accession No.
2018-00109
Collection of
Credit Line
Gift of the late Mrs Grace Lim nee Oh Kim Neo and her family
This Defence Medal could have been awarded to Mrs Leh Oorloff for the help rendered to the Prisoners-of-War (POWs). Mrs Oorloff was the eldest daughter of Oh Ghee Choo (founder of the United Pharmacy) and Chong Kim Lian, and she was the wife of an Eurasian doctor, Dr Arthur Felix Oorloff. During the Japanese Occupation, she took shelter with her Japanese aunt, Yoshi Takanoga, and remained safe enough to help the POWs. She sneaked in food, including homemade condensed milk, and medical supplies to the POWs at the Sime Road camp, and supplied nuts (ground into powder) mixed with crushed vitamin tablets, to help the prisoners fight against beri-beri.
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