大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People's War site by Louise Angell of the CSV Action Desk at 大象传媒 Radio Derby on behalf of George Herbert Gregory. The author understands the sites terms and conditions.

I left England as a young man and boarded the Dominion March ship. I left my girlfriend Elsie Hart behind - she later beame my wife. I went abroad with the 137 RA Regiment. I was a driver and put in charge of a light aid detachment lorry.
Some of us were in the Union Jack Club in Singapore (Dec. 1941) when the Japanese air force attacked and sank the Prince of Wales and the Repulse in the harbour. Soon after that we were ordered up country to defend the peninsular. The 137 Regiment and others only got up to the Thailand boarder before being overrun by the Japanese army. We had not got time to 'settle down' when explosions and gunfire sent us back to Kuala Lumpar where we tried to reform only to see the large tanks being carried by helicopters going overhead to block the only road back. Whilst we were on the run the artillery were trying to stop the advance of the army. I can just remember crossing a big bridge which was blown up. At this stage I cannot recall the commandants name but I remember him giving the order 'every man for himself.'
I remember a river and someone got a line across and we must have collected what rations we could and escaped through a plantation and into the jungle.
By this time we were very tired and lay down in the thick undergrowth only to find the next morning we had been living on a soldier ants nest and were all covered in big lumps. I often dream about this still. a small party of us carried on 3 days later after hacking our way through thick forest. We could not see the sky and had no compass and came more or less to the same spot. By this time almost all our rations had gone. I can remember having some steralizing tablets and that's all. For the next 18 or 19 days most of our food was grass and berries. I think we came across some wild banana trees from time to time and the natives used to drop us some coconuts when we came across any.
After a while we came across some Ghurka soldiers. I think that if we had not met them we would never have found our way to the coast. The officer in charge could speak English and promised to take us out of the jungle as long as we disposed of our rifles and ammunitions. They did say the officers could keep their revolvers in case of an emergency. Just before we got to the edge of the jungle the Gurkha Officer came to us and told us to stay put. We did not know this at the time, but we were behind enemy lines and the Japanese soldiers we're guarding a bridge we had to cross.
It seemed like the soldiers had left us but after about 30 or 40 minutes (we were pleased with the rest) we heard a lot of squeals and shouting and their air was filled with screams then the officers came and told us to follow again. It was a sight I shall never forget. There were dead Japanese soldiers all over the place. some of the ghurkas had noses, some had ears round their necks.
The officer told us which way to get to the coast and to keep a sharp look out for Japanese soldiers. By this time it was 15th Feb and Singapore had fallen. We did see some soldiers on a bamboo structured lookout on a tea plantation. I can only remember about 8 or 9 of us being together at this time with only 1 revolver between us. We sheltered in a small thicket until it was dark. We saw two Japanese coming up the path to the lookout. They passed so close I could have legged them down. When the guards had changed we waited until dark and then set off again. I do not know how it happenned but when it was light enough I found myself sitting on a large boulder in the countryside with no idea what to do. Again this is something that often comes back to me at night. A party of us (most of them on the photo below) got to the coast and managed to get a large rowing boat. We heard aircraft and soon found out they were japanese. Two of them started firing at us and cut the boat in two. I could not swim a stroke but Bill Routeledge managed to tie me to a bamboo structure in the sea the locals used to catch fish. At low tide they would come and empty the fish out.
The next day, we that were left managed to get them to take us across to Sumatra in their boat. As far as I can remember another boat came after us with blowing whistles and shouting. When they caught up with us the man in charge explained to us that we had got the main boat with the net on. They dropped us off and I can't remember too well what happenned next. We were taken to a convent and they gave us food and clothes and allowed us to wash. A plane that was supposed to be picking us up and taking us to Australia was very small so it only took the officers and left us. I know we all got sick with malaria and then the Japanese caught up with us. The next thing I remember we were all on a barge boat, standing room only, no toilets only old drums. We were on this boat for about a month. When we got to Japan we were thrown on one side for dead, to ill to go on. We finished up at the YMCA and this is where I was beaten. When we recovered enough we were sent on working parties loading coal, sugar or rice or cement. It was when we were on these parties that Sergent Malony got his back broken. I kept him alive for quite a long time by feeding him eggs and dried milk that I stole from the Japanese kitchens. Eventially he passed away. Several of us got beaten up as we were caught stealing food but after a while we used to tuck flour and sugar into socks and tie them to the top of our thigh so when the Japanese searched us they never found the stolen food. We managed to get a charcoal burner off one of the Japanese ladies who lived close to our camp. We used this to cook pancakes from the stolen food. One day I was caught by the japanese guard (ge was the one who broke my back later on). He took us to the camp commandant. We we extremely scared as we thought they were going to shoot us. Instead he asked us to make some pancakes for him and we were told off and ordered to work in the Japanese cook house. We lost about 100 prisoners who had entered the camp. About 142 men remained. One of the Americans was caught stealing and the Japanese ordered him to dig a hole outside the camp, kicked him into it and buried him. One day as I was cooking rice a one of the Japanese came in and started shouting at me and told me to bow to him. He told me to do it again and picked up an axe. I took it off himand asked to see the Commandant. He pulled his sword out and swung it at me. All I can remember after that was blood running down my face as i tried to stop him hitting me again. After that I must have passed out. George Bell found me but I was in a coma for weeks and no-one expected me to survive. Towards the end of the war we were told by the yanks who dropped leaflets in August 1945 that the atomic bomb was to be dropped. They said to cover up as much as possible. We were on a working party digging a shelter on the hillside for one of the bigshots in Japan when the atomic bomb was dropped. We watched from the shelter. Day was turned into night and there were black and purple clouds. When the USA personnel came and took us away from the YMCA the devastation was unbelievable. I am not sure how many prisoners died as a result of the bomb but I know that Nagasaki was flattened.
We were finally taken to Canada. I was there with another friend I made, George Bullock. Talking to some other people we met in Canada we found out they used to live in Belper. Small world! I lost contact with George Bell and Bob Vincent until about 5 or 6 years ago. We still talk about what happenned all those years ago and I think how lucky we are to have made it as thousands did not.
I arrived home in december 1945. I attended the Derbyshire Royal Infirmary many times and had several operations on my back. I still have nightmares about those terrible years in Japan. I was one of the lucky few that survived.

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