Stanley Warren and the Changi Murals - Postscript

After the final mural was completed Stanley became gravely ill with dysentery and haemorrhaging and it was doubted he woud survive.  Padre Chambers said prayers of intercession for him in front of the mural of the Crucifixion and gradually he recovered.

It turned out that the Colonel-in-Charge if the British PoWs in the camp had asked for Stanley to be transferred back to the hospital in order to complete the murals, thus saving him from being sent to work on the Thai-Burma Railway, something that would probably have killed him off in his weakened state.

In May 1944 the Japanese had transferred the use of the building which contained the chapel into a store, almost completely destroying the mural of St Luke by demolishing a wall.

Both Stanley and Padre Chambers were transferred to Kranji prison.  Tragically in July 1945, just a month before liberation, Chambers intervened when a guard was badly beating a prisoner who was unable to carry a basket of stones.  For his efforts Chambers was so badly beaten himself that he suffered massive internal haemorrhaging and died shortly afterwards despite undergoing an impromptu operation carried out by a secret medical party. `The poor man died very quietly, very bravely', recalled Stanley.

Stanley Warren himself returned to England and took up a post as an Art teacher at a North London school. He assumed that the murals had been demolished or otherwise destroyed. 

However in 1958, the Daily Mirror reported the `rediscovery' of the murals, when distempter was removed from the walls to reveal the outlines of the paintings.  Stanley had not signed any of the paintings, and it was not known if the artist had survived the war, or indeed what nationality he had been.  There was no success in tracking down the anonymous artist until the next year, where the records of the RAF Changi Education Library revealed Stanley as the artist. 

Stanley Warren working on restoration, January 1964

This time the Daily Mirror reported his name, and one breaktime when he was sitting in the staffroom a colleague handed him a copy of the newspaper, and Stanley was shocked to see his painting of the Crucifixion in it.  The RAF, who now used the site, asked him to come and restore the murals.  This presented him with a dilemma.  To return would no doubt stir up very painful memories of his own treatment and the deaths of those close to him. 

I didn't immediately want to come.  I felt that there would be some sort of...trauma.  I'm trying to forget this you know...I tried so hard.  It took years really to eliminate the memories and fears...the long drawn out experience and really waiting for death. over three and a half years, it's a long time to wait to expect death.  And I really tried to forget...But of course I was never able to do that.

However he felt that the painting of the murals had saved his life, so he had a duty to return.  In all he made three trips to work on restoration; in 1963/4, 1982 and 1988.

Stanley Warren died at his home in Bridport, Dorset, in 1992 aged 75.

Today the murals are cared for by the Singapore government and move those who visit them.