大象传媒

This is Michael Charnaud鈥檚 story: it has been added by Pauline Colcutt (on behalf of the Fernhurst Centre), with permission from the author who understands the terms and conditions of adding his story to the website.

A Childs War (Part Four)

An unusual and true story of a young boy who with his mother became a prisoner of both the Germans and the Japanese May 1942 - August 1945

CHAPTER 2 - PRISONERS OF THE GERMAN NAVY THE THOR AND REGENSBURG (PART TWO)

We were not sorry to leave the 鈥淭hor鈥� with its cramped hot and stuffy living quarters. The crew had been very polite, courteous and as correct as possible, but after all she was a fighting ship, and we as prisoners were very much a secondary priority and a nuisance. On the Regensberg we were to find more space, a more relaxed regime, and also we were coming to terms of just what being a POW was. There was obviously the loss of liberty and we were now in the power of the enemy who could move you and treat you in any manner that was quite out of our control. So far living conditions had been very spartan, but at least the crew were all very helpful in the proper correct spirit of a Western Naval Power. But we were all under no illusions that all this could rapidly change in the future.

All the secret papers and codes kept on the bridge were destroyed by Captain Stratford by being thrown overboard in a perforated steel box. What had not been destroyed was the ordinary routine mail in the hold. Through a gross security breach, involving a 鈥減roverbial cock-up鈥�, a highly secret Intelligence report from the Combined Operations Centre at Wellington, New Zealand, to the C-in-C British Eastern Fleet in Colombo was allowed to be stowed with general mail instead of with the other classified documents . This report showed that the Americans were well aware of increased Japanese activity in the North Pacific long before the attack on Midway on June 4th which was one of the most decisive naval battles of the whole war, and the turning point in the control of the vast Pacific Ocean. Before Midway the Japanese were the dominant Naval power and could dictate events, but thereafter having lost their whole carrier fleet, they were only in a position in future to react to them, making their eventual defeat inevitable.

The knowledge that the Americans had gained of the direction of the Japanese attack could only have come from the cracking of the Japanese Naval code JN25. The mail was transferred from the Thor to the Regensberg but the report did not arrive in Admiral Wenneker鈥檚 office in Tokyo until July 18th almost 6 weeks after the battle of Midway, and it was a further month before he was authorised by Berlin to pass on the information. Immediately after this the American 鈥淯ltra鈥� codebreakers found that there was a complete black out of Japanese radio transmissions until new codes were installed. It was not until late 1943 that the Americans could once again decipher and start reading their new replacements. Had Gumprich on 鈥淭hor鈥� been quicker off the mark, like his colleague Rogge on the Atlantis, in getting vital information to where it was needed fast, and had the German Naval Authorities also been more quickly geared up to utilizing Intelligence reports gleaned from the field of action, things could have been very different at Midway.

I now had a chance to view our new surroundings on the 鈥淩egensburg鈥� more closely. There was first of all far more space and above all much more freedom to move around at will. The women and children were in the aft section in the upper part of a hold towards the stern of the ship that had been converted to take hammocks and other living necessities such as tables and benches. One reached it down a flight of wooden steps through a partially opened hatch cover, and then the interior was lit by very low power bulbs, sufficient to just see, but not to read. At the base of the steps there was a large oil drum filled with drinking water which was topped up daily from which one could help oneself at any time. On one side of the vessel were latrines which being well above the water line worked cleanly and well with sea water without the necessity of pumps. At midday the usual thick wholesome soup and plenty of bread was provided. From the 15th to the 25th May the Regensburg had the Nankin on a very slow gentle tow, more I suspect to keep the ships together whilst work proceeded moving stores, than for actual movement.

On the 15th May there was tremendous activity on deck, with a continual loading of cargo which was being constantly transported from the 鈥淣ankin鈥�, from early dawn to dusk in large inflatable dinghies about 30 ft long that were towed to and fro by the 鈥淩egensburg鈥檚 launches. All the food supplies that had been destined from Australia to the British Army in Burma, were now being utilised as most welcome provisions for the German Navy. Crates of tinned butter, baked beans. spam, fruit cordials, canned fruit and so on were all manhandled into rafts, out of rafts and into the Regensburg鈥檚 holds. As a kid I never stopped drinking Rose鈥檚 Lime cordial and to this day if ever offered it at a party my mind flashes back to the 鈥淩egensburg鈥� and the crates of it stacked up in the hold at the end from where we slept. The cases of ammunition and cordite on board the 鈥淣ankin鈥� were systematically dropped overboard to be consigned to the depths of the ocean, and this also helped lighten the damaged vessel which had only a temporary patch close to the waterline. Also jettisoned were a large number of bales of wool into the ocean to help lighten the ship which were also used as target practice from the 鈥淭hor鈥檚鈥� machine guns. Some bales of wool were however brought onto the Regensburg and stowed in the hold below where our quarters were.

This transfer of cargo went on continuously whilst we were aboard. As we sat there in the midst of the great Southern Indian Ocean the Germans would laugh and taunt us as to where the Royal Navy was whilst all this was going on, but the middle of the Ocean is a place of limitless vastness as they well knew in the days long before orbiting satellites!

Two mornings later we were given a welcome treat - we were informed that each day some passengers would be ferried back to the 鈥淣ankin鈥� from where they could spend about a quarter of an hour and gather as many goods as they could carry from their cabins. I did not return to the ship, Mother did, she retrieved a load of warm clothing, sweaters, and most importantly her sewing materials, all of which she squashed into two large kitbags and which were afterwards to prove absolutely invaluable in the cold winters that we were to endure in Japan. With needle and cotton she also was forever altering clothes to fit me as I grew . Also with her knitting needles she would be perpetually unpicking old sweaters and re 鈥� knitting them into new garments. Mother had always been an exceptionally good needlewoman making intricate embroideries back home, but now her manual dexterity would prove to be an invaluable asset in adapting to new circumstances.

Back on the Regensburg, I had made friends with the Germans and who let me and Howard go forehead to visit the men in their quarters at any time. In the afternoons the women too were allowed to join their husbands and friends in the forehead. Needless to say they were always welcomed by all the other crews and there were very pleasant social gatherings. The men were housed in the bows in two hatches, the officers in No.2 hatch, and men in No.3. The Lascars had been returned to help work the Nankin and stayed permanently on our old ship. We found there were a lot of other crews already installed prior to our arrival from ships that had been sunk by the 鈥淭hor鈥�. They were:-

Wellpark sunk March 30th 1 man killed
Willesden sunk April 1st 2 men killed
Aust (Norwegian) sunk April 3rd
Kirkpool sunk April 10th 16 men killed

The first three were all attacked in the same manner as the attack on our ship, with the Arado seaplane being able in all cases to tear away the ships aerial so that no messages could be sent. In the case of the Kirkpool however, the attack came at night when they were suddenly shelled from only about half a mile away with the full force of her guns. As she was carrying coal, the cargo helped to absorb the shock of the fire, and she continued steaming with men jumping into the sea as the vessel continued its way. After the action attempts were made to collect survivors, but being strung out over a huge distance at night, half the crew were casualties and were either drowned or killed in action.

As on other British ships, most of the crews came from Tyneside and they all had that typical Geordie cheerfulness, stoicism and quiet endurance and were to prove later the most wonderful and staunchly loyal friends that I could ever have wished for. The youngest crew member was a boy just turned 16 years who had lied about his age to join as cooks assistant. Tim Melia was tall and well built with a very white complexion and long curly jet black air giving him quite a Spanish appearance. Poor Tim had been caught forehead when the action started, and a shell blew off one buttock completely, and also caused some damage to a tendon so that when he stood up, his left leg would not straighten, yet it would when he sat with both legs at right angles to his body. He had very good treatment on the raider by the naval surgeon, and this continued on the Regensburg, and finally when the ship reached Yokohama, the Germans had his skin grafted over the wound in a Japanese hospital not far from the harbour where he was later to witness the final end of the 鈥淭hor鈥�. But to the end of his days in captivity he had a constant slow suppuration from his groin, which gave him great anxiety. Another Tynesider who was later to become a very close good friend was a 20year old seaman Alfie Round who with his Geordie mates were to become so good and supportive, in a years time when I was taken away from Mother and lived for two years with the men.

As mentioned above to get to the men鈥檚 section on the 鈥淩egensburg鈥� one had to pass through steel mesh doors one on either side of the mid section. Each had a guard posted with a tommy gun and beyond that was a white line over which the men were not allowed to pass, but I and young Howard Guy could at any time if we asked the guards, who generally speaking were all very friendly. Few spoke English but I soon became very adept at sign language and with a few words of German could easily make myself understood. On either side of the bridge as well, were mounted machine guns, which the only time I saw them fire was at floating bales of wool or at the odd shark that had been tempted close by with some food. Occasionally they would get one and then its tail would be cut off and strung up on the rigging as a trophy. They also had baited lines set out for this purpose. There were about a dozen tails like that strung up!

Also constantly flying around in a most graceful manner was an enormously winged Royal albatross. He flew round and about gliding in the breeze, hardly moving his wings yet all the same covering a vast area all around. Later when we were underway he would lie about 30 or 40 ft away from the bridge, constantly keeping his position in the slipstream of the ship and viewing us with a steady beady eye. The Germans never once dared to fire at him, obviously someone must have read Coleridge鈥檚 鈥楻ime of the Ancient Mariner!鈥� One day whilst the cargo was being transferred we had a visit of a school of about four whales. They passed repeatedly between the two vessels, and eventually pushed off never to be seen again.

The Germans were for the most part very human and polite. The only completely obnoxious individual who was also a confirmed fanatical Nazi was the Chief Engineer. I once was invited to his cabin which was amidships,

鈥淵ou see how steadily we are advancing鈥� he would gloat, and then continue, 鈥� in Africa it will not be long before we have the Suez Canal and then that will have cut the British Empire in two. In Russia we are advancing and now are so close to all the oil in the Caucasus. Once we have that we will be unbeatable. Already we have the whole of Europe, and with the oil we will then finish off England once and for all. With our U-boats no supplies can get through anyway . It is just a matter of time鈥�

He would puff out his chest and there was little that we could say to answer him. Little did he know that by the end of the year, Rommel would be defeated by Montgomery at El Alamein, Stalingrad would hold and would become a mincing machine that ground down the whole invincible German Army, and the battle of the Atlantic would start to be won with radar, airpower and the cracking of The Enigma Naval Codes all causing havoc to the U-Boat flotillas, and all the time the ever increasing power of the RAF Bomber Command would wreck unimaginable destruction over the cities of Germany. The Chief Engineer had a lot to learn in the not too distant future of the full horror of war that the Nazis had started.
Apart from this isolated fanatic, most of the crew were pleasant, and there were only very minimal rules to obey. When I woke up I could go out on deck into the warm mellow air. Breakfast was served at 8 am with unlimited black bread, jam honey and coffee. Dinner was usually a nourishing and tasty stew served with potatoes from the Nankin, which everyone helped peel. There was also a dessert of tinned prunes or peaches etc. Tea was at 5.00 pm again with unlimited bread , margarine and tinned meat and real tea. All the food of course was courtesy from the Nankin鈥檚 cargo! There was no set time for bedding down. The dim lights in the hold were on constantly so it was immaterial what timed one turned in. Out on deck at night, the stars were brilliant in the inky blackness of the night with the huge Southern Cross riding high above us, a wonderful spectacle to witness from the depths of the Southern Indian Ocean, thousands of miles away from any city lights. Forehead in the men鈥檚 quarters the Norwegians from the Aust had an accordion, two banjos and a violin, and would make up a band, and there would be a good deal of singing far into the night.

Eventually on the 27th May we were visited by the Raider again; this time to replenish stores from the Nankin, after which on the 28th it sailed off with the Nankin. The Regensburg meanwhile steamed South West for two days. The albatross glided close to the bridge scarcely moving a wing but keeping a steady watchful eye on us only going off periodically to do some fishing by dipping down to the ocean. On the third day, the 31st May, at about midday we made a rendezvous with a ship, strangely still wearing its normal buff coloured peacetime paint. The sea at the time was fairly choppy with quite a brisk wind under a bright blue sky, but in spite of this a fuel hose was run out, supported by buoys from our new arrival to the Regensburg, which took on extra fuel. The new ship was the 鈥淒resden鈥�, and in turn she also took on a whole load of food supplies from Regensburg. This continued all afternoon with rafts of cargo being ferried over.

Finally very late in the evening at dusk - at very short notice all the Nankin鈥檚 first and second class passengers, including the Service Officers, Capt. Stratford, the Purser, Chief Steward and Stewardess, and cadet Crocker, together with twenty merchant seamen mostly from from the British tramps were hurriedly put into floats with their belongings and transported about twenty at a time. The weather was quite rough with a strong south westerly wind, and the women and children were all hoisted in baskets at either end. It was 10 o鈥檆lock at night before the final transfer took place. The women and children myself included, all bedded down for the night in the dining saloon on the floor. Next morning by 8.30 am the Regensburg had completed the re-fuelling, and a few hours later departed, returning to the Nankin and eventually she arrived in Yokohama 16 days after us, although at the time no one was aware of where we were heading.

Cont/鈥� see A Child鈥檚 War Part Five

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