A Boy’s War

Title: A Boy’s War
Author: David Michell
Major Themes: China, Concentration Camps, Eric Liddell, David Michell, World War II
Synopsis: When he went to boarding school in China as a 6-year-old, David Michell had no idea that he would end up in a concentration camp for several years.

A few years ago, I bought several biographies from someone. Most were about people I recognized, which is why I bought them, but she also had A Boy’s War by David Michell. I did not recognize this book, but it looked like an interesting one so I bought it with the others. When it came and I read the back cover blurb, I was intrigued to discover that this person had been in the same concentration camp where Eric Liddell died. It took me a year to get to it, but I’ve finally read the book this week.

David Michell’s parents were missionaries in China when he was born. When he was six years old, he was sent across the country to Chefoo to attend boarding school with his sister. A year or two after he arrived there, the Japanese took over that part of China and all the children and staff from the school were interned in several large houses. This lasted for several months or a year, and then they were removed to the Weihsien concentration camp along with around 1,000 other people from many different nationalities. Here David spent the rest of the war with very little contact with his parents.

David tells the story of life in a Japanese concentration camp from the point of view of a young child. He occasionally saw awful things happen, but for the most part had a fairly happy, sheltered life. The adults did all they could to care for the children. There are a number of amusing stories about how black market food was brought in from outside and how messages were carried back and forth. One of the most interesting chapters to me, especially since we watched Chariots of Fire recently, was the chapter about Eric Liddell and David’s interactions with him.

Though A Boy’s War is not told in a very gripping way, but rather in a matter-of-fact tone, I found it quite interesting. It is a comparatively gentle story about life in a concentration camp. It is a good resource to go along with a study of China, World War II, or missionaries. This book would probably be best for strong readers about 10 or 12 years old on up, as younger ones or those who are not good readers will have a hard time handling the writing style. 

WARNING: A few times, mention is made of a person being electrocuted or beaten in the camp, but for the most part David tells what he saw, which was fairly gentle.

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