‘Thou Shalt Not Kill’: Missionaries in Asia during the World Wars, 1914-1946

This collection contains first hand accounts by missionaries attached to The Propagation of the Gospel (SPG) both during peacetime and the turmoil of the World Wars. The SPG was a Church of England missionary organisation active across the world in the spreading of Christianity during the colonial period.

The subject matter largely pertains to SPG missionaries' experience of Japanese expansionism during the Second World War. Missionaries had a range of penal punishments brought against them, including internment, house arrest, and assignment to work camps. Others attached to the SPG fled their assigned countries by any means necessary. As such, the collection offers both personal experiences of the Second World War, as well as how the SPG as an organisation coped with its intrusion. Missionaries’ accounts from Japan, Burma (modern day Myanmar), China, Singapore, and Malaysia are the main focus of the collection.

The senior of the four men read out to me in English, "You are arrested on suspicion under the provisions of the safety of the Realm Act". I thought "Oh"

Bishop S. Heaslett, Bishop S. Heaslett's account of his war experiences, 1941-1942; img 6

Insights

World War Notes and Armistice Pamphlets' include a plane spotter's guide from World War Two. The recorded sightings within it include times, dates, directions, distances, and times of 'all clear'.

The USPG missionaries working in Asia often found themselves in the wrong place when World War Two broke-out. Their wartime reports are from Myanmar, China, Japan, Malaysia, and Singapore.

The Asian missionaries' reports reveal a range of experiences. Some describe evacuation and moving to escape military advances, others include experiences of capture and internment.

SPG - Staff and The War' covers two different periods. The Wartime Committee Minute Book describes how the SPG adapted to World War Two; the list of staff locations also covers 1918-1939.