Orange City Library to host author Stuart Lloyd for book 'A Bleeding Slaughterhouse' on Alexandra Hospital Massacre event

"The Alexandra Hospital Massacre was a rabbit hole that I happened to stumble across about 14 years ago after I'd heard about the event and was left feeling intrigued," Mr Lloyd said.

"Researching satisfied my curiosity as it went on, though, more importantly, I think it also brings a closure to the topic because I think there are modern relatives who were somewhat needing that closure."

Then known as the British Military Hospital, hundreds of on-site victims - defenseless war patients and innocent medical staff - were engulfed by Japanese forces, before being gunned down in cold blood.

"Only five out of 200 patients and medics are known to have survived the second massacre," Mr Lloyd said.

"And I've interviewed two survivors, tracked down relatives, and found unpublished diaries and memoirs to give voice to what actually happened in the hospital, and how this horrific episode still haunts us 80 years later."

The historic Valentines Day heavy-shelling-and-merciless-war- crimes event, known now as the 'Alexandra Hospital Massacre', has largely remained a mystery since its unfolding over February 14 and 15 in 1942.

Though, after a decade of ruthless research, Mr Lloyd's book will now shine a light on formerly unknown happenings; breaking secrets wide open from "the living hell" that was.

"It took over 10-years of painstaking detective work to solve this 'whodunnit', [but] I've finally cracked it," Mr Lloyd said.

"[And] while my research was forensic, my intention as a storyteller was to help us to know the often colourful characters, on both sides, caught up in this perfect storm. So, it's a story about humanity and inhumanity."

With two of the massacre's survivors originally from the Central West, stories hold strong local ties within, where Mr Lloyd's book recounts the memories of Aussie diggers John 'Jack' Slater, a former mining engineer from Bathurst, and Mudgee's Lieutenant Harry Woods.

"Some living relatives of key characters in the story didn't actually know that their father or grandfather had been remotely involved in the event, they just knew that they were Prisoners of War in Singapore," Mr Lloyd explained.

"So, it's a sensitive thing in a way because one of the points in the book is that suffering never ends with surrender ... we say the second world war ended in 1945, but its still going on in some peoples' heads - and there's still this internal turmoil for family members with trying to understand their post-wartime relatives and their behaviours, for example.

"It's been 80 years since the [Alexandra Hospital Massacre] event, but the tentacles of war are still out there; it's still very fresh and very raw for a lot of people."

Another survivor in the book, Norman Bryer, also recounts his feelings from the event, referring to it as a "nightmare" from one of the excerpts within.

"I didn't really think I could escape my awful plight, but I didn't want to be slaughtered like a sheep," Royal Air Force survivor, Sergeant Norman Bryer recounted.

"It was worse than any nightmare I ever had and worse than the most fearful ordeal I had ever imagined could happen."

With the best-selling author, and now Orange resident, saying his book isn't "just about a gory body count", it also covers conspiracy theories amidst lively medical characters, a $3-million-dollar subversion, and several other violations surround crimes of war at the time.

"This story-driven account drips with human spirit as we get to know the key characters on both sides, and their fluctuating fortunes in the war and after," Mr Lloyd said.

"There's something for everyone in this: a construction corruption scandal, Asian colonial eccentricity, CIA conspiracy theories, mystery disappearances of witnesses and evidence, [and] battlefield action aplenty. Juicy stuff - but all true."

Set to appear at Orange City Library at 5.30pm on Tuesday, February 15, Stuart Lloyd - also hailed as "the perfect storyteller" - will give a full rundown on his latest book, bring the pages of A Bleeding Slaughterhouse to life.

Online bookings can be made via the eventbrite website, or register for the COVID-safe event with OCL by phoning (02) 6393 8132.