This collection comprises a book of sketches by English artist Ronald Searle and letters between Searle and fellow soldier Henry 'Lofty' Cannon.
The sketches were produced while Searle and Cannon were prisoners of war on the Thai-Burma railway and at Changi prison camp during World War II (1943-46). They depict scenes of camp life, showing the hardship of life as a POW and highlighting Lofty Cannon’s medical service to fellow POWs.
Searle kept his sketches safe by hiding them under the mattresses of prisoners suffering from cholera. He took the surviving drawings home with him after he was liberated in 1945. They were published in The Naked Island (1951), written by fellow POW Russell Braddon.
The sketches within the State Library’s collection were given with great gratitude by Ronald Searle to Lofty Cannon. This can be seen in Searle's comment to Lofty in a letter from 30 August 1946: 'I know, as you do, that you helped to save my life and made my existence under that net almost bearable. Believe me, Lofty, I’ve praised the stars that brought you to that ward many times.' | 
