大象传媒

My dad was in the regular army when he was about 17陆. He was in the Cambridgeshire Regiment although he lived in Lowestoft. I was born in 1933. During the war we lived in Darsham. My dad was stationed in Bury St Edmunds and Mum and I went to live near the barracks.

I was about 8 when my dad was posted abroad. Mum took different jobs and I went to live with my grandparents in Westleton.

Dad was captured on Valentine鈥檚 Day 1940 and was taken to a Japanese Prisoner of War Camp.

I was 12 or 13 when Dad came home and he told me some terrible stories.

He worked on the railway and every time anyone stopped for a rest he was beaten. They were given a handful of raw rice to eat and when the man next to him complained that it wasn鈥檛 even cooked, a Japanese soldier knocked it out of his hand. They drank dirty water from the river. There was a lot of disease, but dad was fit and survived. Dad was lined up three times to be shot, but each time they stopped firing before they got to him.

He came home when he was 33 to Roehampton Hospital. I don鈥檛 remember visiting him there.

During the four years he was a prisoner of War we didn鈥檛 know whether he was alive or dead. It had a terrible effect on mother who was a diabetic. She started smoking 40 cigarettes a day and didn鈥檛 eat properly. Eventually she went to hospital and we didn鈥檛 recognise her.

When she recovered, we went to a cottage in Reydon near Southwold and began to get ready for Dad to come home.

One day while she was washing her hair the latch went and mum said 鈥淒on鈥檛 answer that,鈥� but I did. It was Dad. He said, 鈥淚t鈥檚 George鈥� 鈥� don鈥檛 you recognise me?鈥� Mum said 鈥淚 thought you were coming in a day or two!鈥�

Dad didn鈥檛 know who I was. He had last seen me when I was 8. Now I was a young woman. He thought I was Ivy, my mother鈥檚 sister.

He said 鈥淲here鈥檚 the baby then?鈥�. The baby was now 4 and asleep in bed. He went over and kissed her and shook my hand.

We were very happy after that and dad had 20 more years.

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