After the Capitulation

Singapore, 15 February 1942 — After the capitulation

This had been a very upsetting and distressing time for us. We were hungry, dishevelled and extremely tired. We were assembled into groups and paraded before the Japanese General-in-Charge, who gave us a speech on what was expected of us all and saying that “only the fittest will survive”.

We were then marched through Singapore. We witnessed horror and the most terrible scenes that sickened us to our stomachs. There were dead bodies everywhere: an Indian Sikh soldier was lying across a hedge with his body removed. We knew then what type of life we were in for.

Eventually, we arrived in Singapore barracks and were set up into groups to form working parties. Our aim was to clean up Singapore and repair the bomb-damaged roofs and buildings. Food and water were very scarce. We endured this the best we could. Even under these conditions our spirits were high. The work was hard, but generally we were treated quite well.

We stayed at the barracks for ten months and then we were once again regrouped and a party of about forty of us were destined for Taiwan. This was when the rot really set in: we were herded like animals into the hold of the ship where we were held until landing. Conditions were appalling. The food we were given was rotten and decayed and the drinking water was foul, as were the latrine buckets. There was a lot of sickness among us. We were left covered in our own vomit and suffering from extreme pain, fever and diarrhoea. Dysentery was rife. We were left like this for about six or seven days and were not allowed out of the hold until we reached Taiwan. It was extremely difficult for us to keep track of the time: we had no watches or such like and hardly knew what the days were.

After landing we were marched for a day until we reached our destination where we were put into sections and settled into huts. We were told that we were going to work as drillers in the copper mines at Kingasaki. The weather was freezing cold and we had no clothes. Our boots had been confiscated and were given Japanese rubber shoes called Tabis. By then most of us were sick, weak and half-starved. Once we were settled into our respective huts we were sorted into difference groups to work in the mine. Eventually we were given some food — one small can of rice and a cup of water. We were so hungry and tired. We lay on our bunks and went to sleep.

After what seemed like just minutes, we were woken by Japanese guards shouting and screaming. It must have been early, as it was just breaking light, and we were lined up into groups and led down to the mine head. To reach the mine head we had to walk up and down about 147 stone steps. Some of us were so weak that we faltered in our walking and when we did we got a rifle butt in our backs. Once we reached the mine we were given tools and pneumatic drills. The only way to reach the working face was to crawl through small channels and it was my job to drill the face of the seams. Conditions in this area were putrid with wet acid slime, it was very hot and there was little air. Once we had finished drilling we had to set the charges and blast, then move in once again and clear the stones with picks and baskets. We did this for 12 hours, day in, day out. On one occasion about ten others and I were pulled out of the mine. There had been an accident in another part of the mine where it had fallen in and buried some of our chaps. It was horrible. One body was pulled out that had been crushed to pieces and another three were killed. What happened to them after that we never knew.

As the days and weeks went on things were very bad. The guards-in-charge and officers-in-charge were sadistic, vile creatures who inflicted beatings and atrocities without any cause. If they thought you had not worked hard enough, and that was often, they would beat the hell out of you. One day I can recall vividly was when I was drilling in the mine. The drill I was using was very heavy and as I did not have the strength to hold it, I dropped it and it broke a part of the machine. For this I got a real thrashing from the guard. When we finished our shift and came out of the mine we were lined up and checked by the officer-in-charge. The guard who had beaten me reported the incident to the officer saying that I had deliberately broken the drill. The office-in-charge pulled me out of line, screaming and shouting abuse. He punched and kicked me until I fell to the ground and then drew his sword. I knew my end had come and I am sure it would have had it not been for another officer shouting to him to stop.

This treatment went on every day, working 12 to 14 hours in the mine. We would come out of the mine in the dark, get back to our huts after trying to clean ourselves and would get our heads down to sleep. Half an hour later we would be woken by the guards screaming and shouting and we would be made to parade outside in the freezing cold and we would be made to run round the camp for half an hour. Most of us were naked. When we fell down we were beaten with the butt of a rifle. The well being and state of health of all the prisoners was sickening and degrading. Many suffered from Beriberi, ringworm, dysentery and were covered in lice and sores. Their bones stuck through what flesh they had left on them as a result of starvation and violent abuse. Many died and we buried them over the hill.

This went on for nearly two and a half years — every day, every night. The only solace I got was by thinking of my wife and kids at home — it gave me the strength to survive.

One morning, having come out of the mine and walked back up the steps there was an air raid and we were dispersed. For once, we had hope. It was rumoured that they were Chinese planes. I think they got the wind up. Then, one morning we were paraded outside and about 200 of us were sorted out and told we were going to be moved to Japan. We were taken to a small port, where we boarded a trampship called the ‘Di Nichi Mary’. We were herded into the hold of the ship. The state of the ship was deplorable, the stench was horrific and the only sanitation we had was large buckets. We were issued with some food and water, which was putrid. The voyage took about five days in astronomical conditions. Most of the men had dysentery and were very ill with sickness. The roll of the ship on the sea only exacerbated the situation and many poor souls perished. The lad lying next to me dies and he was left there for about four or five days until we docked on the island of Kyoshu.

It was freezing cold and we were put in an old warehouse for the night. We huddled in a group of five to keep warm, as we only had two blankets between us, and tried to sleep. Next morning we were woken by the usual screaming and shouting and taken to a siding and loaded on open rail trucks. We travelled for about eight hours and were then marched to a camp in a small town, which I think was called Ominie. We were put into huts. They were surprisingly quite clean and respectable with reasonable sleeping places, and we were fed rice and cod tea. This too was reasonably good. We were paraded outside and told that we would have to work very hard. Our objective was to divert the river away from the town before the monsoons arrived, and we had to do this by digging a new river bed some three to four miles long, 20ft deep and 500 yards wide.
At first, things didn’t seem too bad: the weather had improved and it was getting warmer. However, soon the beatings began again. Once again we were told that we weren’t working hard enough even though we were still working 10-12 hours a day and Beri Beri was taking its toll, together with dysentery and dingy-fever. A fellow prisoner was an Australia doctor and when the men started going down with the fever, about two weeks after we arrived, he diagnosed it as spinal meningitis and reported it to the Japanese officers. The sealed the camp off and would not come anywhere near us. Our food was brought to the camp gate and left until we collected it. The infected men were isolated to another hut and attended by our own doctor and a volunteer. They looked after them the best they could without any form of medication. The Japanese doctors issued us with face masks to combat any further cases and after a couple of months it seemed to have petered out. We were sent back to work digging and carrying rocks and loading trucks. Many, many men died here, not only because of disease but from the cruelty endured daily. One man who particularly stays in my mind was a massive 6’8” ex champion wrestler of the Southern Command who died in an appalling state. It still chokes me today to remember what that poor soul was like at the end.

One day 20 guards and 2 officers came to us. They were very angry, pushing and beating us for no reason. We were all paraded on the camp grounds and, by way of a Japanese interpreter, were told that two prisoners had tried to escape. These lads were then brought out and in front of us they were literally beaten to death. We could do nothing except stand and watch this barbaric sight, sickened to our stomachs and horrified that this sort of thing could happen to any of us. We went back to our back feeling totally gutted and frightened for our lives.

The monsoons arrived and it rained for about two and a half days. Once the rains eased off we went outside to find all f our work had been washed away. However, the town had been spared of any damage.

After a few months we were reassembled and were put onto trains. The condition of the trains was quite good and actually had comfortable cushioned seats, these were much appreciated. We were not told of our destination and all blinds were drawn as we travelled through the night. At one stage we stopped at a station but were kept inside and to our great surprise guards provided us with rice, bread rolls and hot tea. You could not blame us for being suspicious and we wondered what was going on. Eventually, we arrived at a railway siding point and were checked. We were told that we would be working in the coal mines at Kawasaki.

The camp at Kawasaki was an old Japanese hostel. We were sorted into working groups and allotted our sleeping quarters. Other prisoners who were already at the camp told us it was a very hard camp. In fact it turned out to be a very well organised camp and the food was better than we had had at previous camps. The brutality and harshness of the guards and the work masters were still in evidence. We worked in the mines in shifts of 10 hours. Although the condition of the mine was reasonably good the work was very hard as the coal face workings were very antiquated and every day there were minor accidents. The usual bullying and beatings continued and as the weeks’ went on things gradually got worse. Once again, we were told we weren’t working hard enough.

One morning, having finished the nightshift, washed the dirt off and eaten our bowl of rice and tea, we had just lain down to try to sleep when a guard walked past our door. He started screaming and shouting and after a few minutes was joined by another guard, who lined us up in front of the guard room. Our mistake had been that we had not bowed to the guard. I knew what was coming next and whispered to the chap next to me to remove his glasses. Before he was able to do so, the guard swiped him across the face breaking his glasses and cutting his face. One by one we all received the same t5reatment — and all because we hadn’t bowed to him. This sort of thing was going on day after day.

One day when we were drilling on the coal face there was a blow out, which had been caused by pockets of gas, and the roof and face of the mine collapsed burying several of us under the earth and rocks. My legs and back wee injured and I was in a great deal of pain. When we were eventually brought out of the mine and taken back to camp I was laid down by the lads outside the guard house where the officer and guards came to look at me. They started kicking me to try to make me get up, but I was unable to do so because of the intense pain I was suffering. I couldn’t even move. One of our own men t5ried to intervene but he got a belting! I was taken to a small hut-like medical room, put on a bed and examined by a Japanese doctor. My legs were quite swollen and painful by this time and the doctor agreed that I should stay in the medical unit until I was better and fit for work. I was in the hut for about eight days after which I was given a job on top of the mine servicing the trucks and tools. This was much easier work and we did not have guards with us — we had civilian Hanchos (foremen) who were much more understanding. The food to seemed to be getting a bit better.

One day a gang of us were assembled in the camp and issued with picks and shovels. We were taken to a small hillside at the side of the camp and told to dig tunnels down and into the hill. We were told to hurry (Haku-Haku) and it was very important. This started us all thinking — we had heard rumours that something was happening. It gave us great courage and strength and after the work was finished there seemed to be a strange air about the place. Suddenly we were told that there would be no work in the mine and after two days we were informed that the work in the mine had been postponed for a while. The wires were starting to buzz.

Eventually the day arrived. We woke to a very strange quietness and when we went into the grounds thee was no sight of the guards — they were all gone. We went down to the guard house, but that to was empty and there was not a soul to be seen. An Australian officer in the camp had told us that the war could possibly be over and after two days it was confirmed. IT WAS ALL OVER. It was very strange, after all the years of suffering and abuse we had received, we all felt quite calm and if anything just quiet. Most of us were in a sorry state of health and all we could think about was getting home and getting fit and well. It was a great feeling!

We had suffered this brutality and humility for over three years — but we were alive, unlike many of our colleagues and friends. There, but for the grace of God, lay I.

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