大象传媒

We landed in Japan on December 1st (I believe). I was to spend the next 2 years and 3 months working on the docks at Hakodate; followed by 6 months digging coal in a drift mine at Mitsubishi Bil Bie.

We were lined up on the Quay for a customs check still dressed in our tropical `uniforms', with the icy wind and sleet lashing at us, for hours. We had few possessions by this stage but each man's kit was thoroughly inspected - even our precious playing cards were individually stamped. We then travelled by train and ferry to Hakodate and to the start of what can only be described as slave labour. At every stop Japanese civilians had lined up to look at us; galling though this was, we had finally been given a meal of clean white rice and warm clothing.

The years that followed were extremely hard. We worked more than ten hours a day on poor rations - thin gruel was the norm with a cup of rice. Very occasionally the gruel contained pieces of rotten horses head or, on one occasion rabbit. If herring was on the menu it usually stank and one fish would be shared between three men, cards were cut to see who had what piece - the eye balls were also eaten. Initially we worked as coolies on the docks, unloading cargoes of everything from salt, cement, boxes of salmon or baskets of coal. By this time we were all suffering from scabies and the salt and the cement dust got into our wounds when bags were dropped on to our backs. Treatment for scabies was rough and ready - medical orderlies would scrape off the scabs and pus until the blood flowed cleanly. Septic ulcers were a problem, chest conditions, dysentry and conditions caused by malnutrition, such as beri beri, were some of the many complaints we suffered from. Our guards were no longer the front line troops we had been accustomed to and beatings became even more common and more brutal, continuing until you could not stand. We would struggle to our feet and be beaten down again time after time. On average, I suppose I received a beating once a month, mainly for stealing food or coal. Our bodies were gradually being destroyed but our spirit never was. We always believed that the Allies would win the war, it just took rather longer than we expected. To survive we stole anything and everything we could get our hands on. On our way to work we passed Shinto shrines on which food was left for the ancestors - it made a welcome addition to our diet. We made life as difficult as we could for our guards. It was considered to be the duty of every man to steal coal. We hid it in our clothing or our food boxes. During one summer we had accumulated so much that the ceiling of one of the huts collapsed under the weight. One winter evening we were met by the whole of the guard when we returned to camp for yet another surprise inspection. In the confusion of forming ranks, coal was passed to the back row where it was tipped into the snow and covered by the scuffing of feet. When spring arrived the snow melted revealing a long line of coal.

Winters were very severe, snow often reaching head height, temperatures rarely got above freezing and water in the bay would freeze. Blizzards were common. In contrast summers were extemely hot and equally unpleasant. One major advantage was that for the first time in months we had dry clothing.

Although sabotage was not often discussed it became second nature. The Japanese may have got themselves cheap labour but efficient we were not. If you felt you could get away with messing up a job you did so. If you were caught you were beaten but these acts of defiance raised morale. In early 1945, our electricians relaid underground cables over large parts of the docks so badly that the `life span' of the docks was compromised. In some area the ground was live and you could get a nasty shock. Men were also put to `work' on the maintenance of gun boats, which gave them another opportunity for a spot of sabotage and which considerably shortened the useful life of these boats. The reward for `co-operating' was an apple a day.

If you could not work, your rations would be cut in half, which meant death. At night rats would run over you as you slept, men who died in the night would provide a meal for the rodents. You slept in all your clothes to try to keep warm. Lice and fleas were your constant companions.

We finished the war in a coal mine at Mitsu Bishi Bil Bie. The mine was wet and very dangerous. We often worked in cuttings so low that we had to sit to work the coal. The mine was old with rotten timbers and on one occasion we narrowly escaped being crushed by a rock fall. Men at the face had heard timbers creaking and despite being beaten back by the guards we vacated the mine just in time.

The British were by far the largest contingent in the camp although there were about a dozen Australians and some Americans. During our imprisonment we received four and a half Red Cross parcels. At the end of the war stores of Red Cross parcels were found in the camp, they contained many medicines which would have saved lives.

My fathers' memoirs finish at this point. The following paragraphs are compiled from talks I had with him.

Before the war ended the prisoners were detailed to dig trenches around the perimeter of the camp and it was noted that large quantities of fuel were being delivered. The prisoners were convinced that they had dug their own graves.

When the bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki the guards were demented with grief. However they did not take out their anger on the POWs.

The prisoners woke up one morning to find that the guards had left during the night. Shortly after that the Americans dropped leaflets informing them that the war was at an end but that they were to remain in the camp until the Americans arrived. This order was not obeyed. In the meantime rations were dropped to them. Unfortunately the crates exploded when they hit the ground and local civilians benefited as much as the prisoners because of the inaccuracy of the drops.

Some ten days passed and they had still not been relieved so they commandeered a train to take them down to the docks and met up with the Americans.

Initially they were taken to the Phillipines where they were given medical treatment; they then boarded ships which took them to Vancouver. Subsequently they travelled by train across Canada before embarking on a ship to England. Doctors and nurses travelled with them. During that time they were `fattened up' so that they looked a lot healthier by the time they reached home. My fathers' one complaint was that the Americans served rice pudding for their first meal on board ship, apparently it all ended up over the side.

My father returned to civvi street and for the next few years battled with what we would now describe as post traumatic stress disorder. He had numerous jobs but could not settle and finally rejoined the Air Force. The structure and discipline within the Air Force helped him overcome his mental stress but then his health gave way. He had a kidney removed which had been damaged in a beating when he was a POW and then was found to have cancer, which was later attributed to his war time service. He then established a successful career with school meals until, in the seventies, he had his first heart attack, followed by a minor stroke. He lived until he was eighty, medication keeping his heart problems under control. During the year before he died he became clinically depressed, this was party due to the death of my mother but also was due to his experiences so many years before in Hakodate. He would have flash backs when he relived those experiences - he told me he could see it, smell it and feel it. Many of his health problems were due to the privation he suffered whilst a prisoner (remember he was just 19 when he was captured, the age when young men are developing physically). Like many JPOWs who survived he suffered all his life because of the abuses of the Japanese. Personally, he could not forgive the men at whose hands he had been abused, but he was able to make friends with the young Japanese he came into contact with.

漏 Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.