大象传媒

On 6 August 1945 the American used their latest device - an atomic bomb - upon Hiroshima. My wife Minna, writing on the following day, had nothing to say about this: On 9 August the Americans dropped a second atomic bomb: on Nagasaki. It was a long time before I learned that a large proportion of the population were Christians - Roman Catholics. Minna had nothing to say about this either and I noticed no qualms among my fellow-soldiers.

We had read the horror-stories about Japanese brutality towards Allied prisoners, European women and children. We were told that the enemy proposed to slaughter them all if Allied forces invaded the Japanese mainland. Most of us felt that the Japanese hardly counted as human beings. 'Monkeys in trousers' was a popular definition. Any lingering moral doubts were nullified by the hope that this event would hurry our deliverance from the Army. I heard no immediate speculation about the effect this new weapon would have upon future wars. Those doubts came a little later.

10 August: 'My very dearest. Is it really true that the Japs have surrendered? Darling, darling, let it be true. Make me believe that death and destruction have come to an end, that we shall meet in a world at peace and, perhaps, sooner than we had hoped. Your latest letter made me so happy. I do hope my letters about my holiday-experiences will show you that I have emerged from the abyss of despair.'

Minna had shunned the May V-E day celebrations. V-J day found her in the midst: 'I had a ticket for a Prom at the Albert Hall and went up with the Batleys in their car, James, Norma and two friends. I met Richard (her new friend, a Roman Catholic priest) at the concert and afterwards he guided me round the streets to see the fun. Buckingham Palace looked splendid with floodlights and there were lots of fireworks, dancing, shouting and bonfires.

At 11 pm I went with the Batleys to St.Thomas's Hospital, admiring the view from the roof. St. Paul's looked splendid with two searchlights across the top and you could see miles round. After the sightseeing we raided the kitchen! Norma's friends are nurses there and none of us had had a bite since leaving home in the afternoon. It was 12.30 a.m. before we started home and people were still dancing in the streets of Whyteleafe when we passed just before two o'clock.

'Hurry, hurry home. Meanwhile consider yourself violently hugged and waltzed several times round the room and kissed completely breathless...

BECAUSE THE WAR IS OVER!!!!

In haste - your Minna.'

She, surely, like every thinking person, must be considering the implications of the atomic bombs.

I remember nothing of V-J day celebrations in Rome - were there any? But some days later I had written to her: 'I know that hundreds of Allied soldiers' lives will be spared if the Japanese surrender quickly. I know too that the greatest power which man has yet discovered has immediately been turned to destroy his fellow-man. We have saved hundreds of thousands of lives now, but in ten years' time shall we consider the bargain to be a good one? The Brave New World of Aldous Huxley marches rapidly upon us. But such matters cannot be discussed in letters. We need our long, deep-delving talks of long ago.'

The 'official' Japanese surrender came on 15 August.

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