Black Sun, Red Moon
Page 31
Sincerely,
Rory Marron
The origins of
Black Sun, Red Moon: A Novel of Java
and Merdeka Rising.
Some years ago, while I was living in Japan, my father sent me a copy of an article published in the London Daily Telegraph newspaper entitled ‘Old soldier returns surrender sword’. I was intrigued by a reference to ‘an extraordinary incident after the surrender, when Japanese troops were re-armed by the British to help them liberate the Java internment camps’. That single sentence fired my curiosity, which led me to research and, eventually, to write my story. The newspaper article is reproduced in full on my website (see below). Black Sun, Red Moon and Merdeka Rising are fiction. The violence, deaths and valour on Java in 1945-46 are fact.
RM
For more background information, research-related and contemporary photographs and additional maps please visit:
www.rorymarron.com