Val Hinton, wife of Cecil Hinton, and their daughter Gladys Constantine, talk about Cecil’s experiences as a PoW during World War 2. Cecil was held prisoner in Changi for 3 and half years. Val and Cecil were married after he returned from the war and Val talks about what it was like living with a man who had been so severely traumatized by his war experiences. Both Val and Gladys recall the severe health problems Cecil brought back from the war and the nightmares he suffered on a regular basis. Val and Gladys also talk about Cecil’s struggle, and failure, to get housing after the war and his fight to get a TPI pension, which was not paid until after he had passed away.

This interview took place on 5 May 2017 in Sydney and was conducted by Dr Allison Cadzow with Craig Greene as part of the Australian Research Council-funded research project Serving our Country: a history of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the defence of Australia.

The interview recording above is made available to be viewed here by permission of the interviewee(s), Valerie Hinton and Gladys Constantine. The recording may not be copied, reproduced or communicated in whole or in part without the prior permission of the interviewee(s). Requests for permission for use of this material should be made to the Serving our Country research project: our contact details.

• Return to Valerie Hinton or Gladys Constantine’s participant page.

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