Author(s): Desmond Jackson

Reference

From the horror of a prison camp on the Thai-Burma railway to a tender act of remembrance in Hobart, A Smile for Micky is a true tale of friendship, endurance, suffering and tribute. Author, Desmond Jackson, was a prisoner of war for three and a half years under the Japanese. Twenty-five years later, he felt compelled to write about events he witnessed during that terrible time: events that no one there could forget. His fellow prisoner, artist and friend, Jack Chalker, painted the watercolours especially for the book. In his foreword to the book, Cameron Forbes, author of Hellfire: The Story of Australia, Japan and the Prisoners of War, says: "Desmond Jackson is a man of grace and strength, wrote this requiem for Micky Hallam some time ago. The publication of it is to be welcomed. A Smile for Micky is a small gem, beautifully illustrated." Intimately involved as the Medical Officer at the time, Sir Edward 'Weary' Dunlop said in a letter to the author: "I was deeply interested in your account of that shocking beat-up..." Published posthumously, this is a book with a message that endures from generation to generation: that war is brutal and futile.
It epitomizes the cry: Lest We Forget. A Smile for Micky is a small gem, beautifully illustrated by prisoner of war and artist Jack Chalker. It is an indictment of the behavior of the Japanese and a celebration of Micky Hallam, concluding with a poignant act of remembrance by his mates. - Cameron Forbes