A Town Like Alice

At the conclusion of World War II Jean Paget decides to return to Malaya and build a well for the people of the village that sheltered her and several other British expatriates after the Japanese invasion. When taken prisoner, the men were immediately transferred to a prison camp but the women and children go on a forced march, one that never seems to end as no camp commander will take them in. Along the way, many will die but Jean befriends an Australian soldier, Joe Harman, himself a prisoner who does his best to help the women by providing them with bits of food and medicine. Harman oversteps however and the cruel Japanese camp commander has him nailed to a tree. Jean never forgot the brave Australian who helped her and the others but she isn't prepared for the news she receives when she returns to the Malayan village.