Papers relating to service with the Public Works Department, Malaya, 1937-1959; including war service in the Indian Engineers, 1942-1945, office diaries, 1946-1959, and cine-films of PWD road building and Merdeka celebrations.
Dates
- Creation: [1937-1959]
Extent
6 boxes
Language of Materials
- English
Preferred Citation
Oxford, Bodleian Libraries [followed by shelfmark and folio or page reference, e.g. MSS. Ind. Ocn. s. 317].
Full range of shelfmarks:
MSS. Ind. Ocn. s. 317
Collection ID (for staff)
CMD ID 4993
Biographical / Historical
William Peter Winston (fl 1914-1985) joined the Colonial Service in 1937 and was posted to the Public Works Department of Pontian and then to Johore Bahru, Malaya. He served in Johore Nahru as Engineer-in-Charge until the Japanese occupation of Malaya in 1942. For the rest of the war he served in, and later commanded, 151 Indian Railway Construction Company I. E. rising by 1945 to the rank of Acting Major; the company was principally employed on the construction of the Rangapahar Base in Assam. After the war he transferred to the British military administration of Malaya. After Malayan independence in 1957 he remained as State Engineer for Kedah and Perlis. In 1959 he married Dr. Thora Oehlers and shortly afterwards retired from the Colonial Service.
Other Finding Aids
Listed as no. 744 in Manuscript Collections in Rhodes House Library Oxford, Accessions 1978-1994 (Oxford, Bodleian Library, 1996). A handlist is also available in the library reading room.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The papers were donated to the library by W.P. Winston in June 1987.
Subject
- Title
- Papers of W.P. Winston 1937-1959
- Status
- Published
- Author
- Paul Davidson
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Bodleian Libraries Repository
Weston Library
Broad Street
Oxford OX1 3BG United Kingdom
specialcollections.enquiries@bodleian.ox.ac.uk