[Post 1632] Working With The Enemy To Save Singapore’s Scientific Treasures In WW2 | War At The Gardens - Part 1

Summary

Singapore, 1942. As Japanese troops seize the island, British botanist EJH Corner fears that the collections of the Botanic Gardens and Raffles Museum will be lost forever. To protect them, he approaches the Japanese to form an unlikely alliance.

Under Japanese scientist Hidezo Tanakadate, Corner and a handful of colleagues are allowed to continue their research work. Meanwhile, other Europeans are interned in camps, or sent to the Siam-Burma Death Railway to face death and disease.

The arrival of the influential Marquis Tokugawa who takes over the Museum & Gardens brings a powerful new patron with ambitions of his own. But despite his freedom, what price will Corner pay to protect the collections?

Through archives, animated re-enactments and expert accounts, WAR AT THE GARDENS relives a little-known story of science and survival in Singapore’s WW2 occupation - through a remarkable group who have been largely forgotten by history.