Beyond the Call

Chapter 7
Prisoners of War - 1945

Throughout the months of 1944, American forces had been gradually taking control of islands in the Pacific with one objective in mind: the invasion of Japan. Plans for this eventuality had been drafted at the 2nd Quebec Conference of Allied leaders in September^[1013] and as the weeks and months passed, the Americans advanced closer to the Japanese home islands. Securing Saipan and Guam during the summer meant that airfields would soon be available to handle the large bombers needed for concentrated air attacks. In late November, this phase of the war began with the first B-29 raids on Tokyo. U.S. aircraft carriers also moved into strategic positions allowing navy planes to attack targets in Japan and Hong Kong. So, as the new year began, the air war was to intensify.

In January, 1945, U.S. naval planes began heavy attacks on Hong Kong where air defences were now reported to be “almost non-existent.”^[1014]  A month later similar air raids focused on the Tokyo-Yokohama area, and by the end of February, B-29 bombing runs over Tokyo were complementing the naval air attacks originating from an American carrier task force. On March 9-10, a major fire-bombing raid on the Tokyo area killed over 80,000 people and obliterated large sections of the city. Throughout the rest of the month heavy bombing raids were carried out on other cities in southern Japan.^[1015]  In mid-April, there was another major fire-bombing of Tokyo, Kawasaki and Yokohama, with devastating results.^[1016]  By the end of May both the ports of Yokohama and Tokyo had ceased to function because all the facilities had been destroyed.^[1017]

The successes of the bombing raids were well reported in newspapers around the world. In Canada, however, celebration of such events was muted by concern over the safety of Canadian prisoners of war being held in the Tokyo area and other industrial centres. Protests to the Japanese government against this “violation of international convention” (i.e. locating prison camps in industrial areas) went unheeded.^[1018]  It was reported that air crews were briefed about the locations of POW camps, a point later supported by discussions with American flight crews. Dispatch rider Jim Mitchell recalled talking to a couple of pilots after his liberation.

The first thing I said was I saw you up there and I swear to God I thought you were going to hit us. And he says, I’ll tell you something, did you not see us up there before? I said all we could see was vapour trails, we couldn’t hear you…. He said, we were taking pictures of all you guys; we knew you were there…you had nothing to worry about.^[1019]

On June 22, 1945, the U.S. gained control of Okinawa, less than 600 kilometres south of Japan, and plans for the occupation of the home islands were being finalized. The bombing raids continued, expanding into the northern industrial areas. Thousands of allied aircraft were now flying regular missions to all parts of Japan.^[1020]

The atomic bombs detonated over Hiroshima on August 6 and Nagasaki on August 9 brought the war to an end. Japan agreed to the terms of capitulation on August 14 and the next day, Emperor Hirohito went on Japanese radio to broadcast his message of surrender.

Sham Shui Po Camp, January, 1945

As Ray Squires recorded, “Air raids are certainly the big news.”^[1021]  On the 15th and 16th they were particularly heavy, with damage to the camp and some POWs wounded by shrapnel.^[1022] 

About 400 planes over today, an all day raid; in one go 80 dive bombers attacked ships in front of us. The Nips are really standing to their A.A. guns; in this wave saw 3 Americans shot down in a few seconds. 2 in flames, one bailed out in a flaming chute. Possibly 10 percent of planes got hits on targets. The aerial torpedoes are not as accurate as the water ones. One bomber dropped about 60 yds from our dysentery ward. Many Pom Pom burst in the camp, none causing serious casualties, though they came through the roofs.^[1023]

While air raids were the noteworthy events of January, other aspects of life at Sham Shui Po continued on as before. The daily routines followed a set schedule:

0630 Reveille

0800 Morning Roll Call

0830 Breakfast

1230 Lunch

1700 Supper

1800 Evening Roll Call

2130 Retire to Huts

2200 Lights Out^[1024]

Prisoners performed their regularly assigned fatigue duties around the camp or in the hospital, and work parties were taken out of camp to take on tasks ordered by their Japanese captors. At the end of February, there was an allocation of Red Cross parcels, plus the one and only distribution of personal packages from Canada.^[1025]  Ray Squires wrote:

A very big day today, we rec’d our comfort parcels. It was our first luxuries in 40 months. The gum, toilet soap were in fine shape. I shall try and trade my mouth organ for cigs. 8 of us pooled our smokes but Reg [Kerr] was the only one who scored, he rec’d 300 Consols. Some of the boys failed to get any. The officers who rec’d about 5000 cigs apiece donated 22,000 to us so we each got 100.^[1026]

Over 500 parcels, most of them consisting of cigarettes, were given to the 300 Canadians in camp. They had been shipped from Canada in 1942, so had obviously spent many months being held by the Japanese before the decision was made to distribute them to the POWs. Many of the personal packages were addressed to men who had been sent to Japan or who had died. The British Liaison Officer at Sham Shui Po decided that they should be “divided generally throughout the camp without reference or preference to Canadians.”^[1027]  Included in the Red Cross parcels were about 400 new phonograph records, which provided both listening pleasure and a source for the band leaders to prepare new tunes. Even though large concerts were no longer practical, small numbers of band members played regularly in the various huts throughout the camp.^[1028]  Early in March, another batch of Red Cross parcels was distributed. These were very timely because the fish ration had been stopped, meaning there was no meat protein in the men’s diet. Daily rations at the time consisted of 14 ounces of rice, 1 ounce of beans, 1 ounce of oil, 1.7 ounces of sugar, 4 ounces of vegetables, and tea.^[1029]

In addition to the parcels from home, a small number of letters continued to come into camp. Ray Squires was one of the lucky few, receiving an air mail card on February 27.^[1030]  By March, however, very little mail was being delivered. It also seems apparent that no outgoing letters from Hong Kong were permitted during the last seven months of the war. The end of March also saw a halt to the regular bingo games that had entertained the men for the past few months. The library, however, continued to function, with over 3700 titles available.^[1031]  It’s unlikely that reading was on many of the POWs’ minds, because early in April the bombing raids resumed. “Carpet bombing” of the island by B-29s was reported^[1032] and a Canadian officer was injured during one of these raids.^[1033]

Another disruption for the Canadian POWs came at the end of the month when operation of the camp hospital was taken over by the British. The Canadian medical officers were moved and the orderlies, including Larry Dowling and Ray Squires, were “relieved of Hospital duties.”^[1034]  This meant they were now available for regular work parties and Ray soon found himself out digging tunnels.

On work Parties nearly every day. The one known as N. 4 is wrecking my sinus. We go out in the morning 7:30, work till noon with (crushed rice) one five minute break (in tunnel), chow [for?]  lunch and quit at 2:30. The tunnels are being made in a soft rotten rock which frequently caves in and is never cribbed unless cave ins make work impossible. We work in there with picks and open peanut oil lamps, very smoky. Men’s morale is amazingly good.^[1035]

In June he was sent into Kowloon, “for tunnel digging duty.” He and the rest of the crew stayed at the Central British School Hospital during the five weeks he was on this particular work party.^[1036]  Tony Grimston also remembered being forced to do tunnel work, as were Wally Normand and Larry Dowling.^[1037]  It was apparently a tough assignment as many of the men lost considerable weight, although Ray saw his drop by only seven pounds.^[1038]

Less than a month after the work crew returned to Sham Shui Po, rumours began to circulate that Japan was calling it quits.^[1039]  Ray Squires recalled,

The first thing we heard was that they dropped an atomic bomb and I promptly said, “There’s no way because nobody’s figured out how to split the atom, and it’s just an impossibility and it didn’t happen.” But the Japanese were suddenly very solicitous to our welfare and they brought in a truckload of water buffalo meat….And we cooked it up, just stewed meat with quite a lot of fat in it and there was, oh, I imagine there’d be 3 or 4,000 pounds of it, or 2 or 3,000 anyway because it was a truckload of hind quarters and front quarters, all we could eat….And the next morning everybody had violent diarrhea and you couldn’t get into the outside toilet.^[1040]

Official word of the surrender was communicated on August 16 to the senior British officer, who then took over administration of the camp.^[1041]  Ray Squires:

The flag [Union Jack] was officially raised this morning. It was the most impressive ceremony I have ever seen. Nearly all the officers and men had tears in their eyes. The ceremony was peculiar because there was not a Jap in sight they have all quietly left, and there was no presenting of arms because we didn’t have any.^[1042]

The men at Sham Shui Po were officially no longer prisoners of war.

Niigata Camp 5B, January, 1945

The year began with a continuation of the work stoppage that had been ordered in December due to an outbreak of amoebic dysentery. The rest period was particularly welcome because the weather that winter was severe, with high winds and twenty foot snow drifts around the camp.^[1043]  Both Howie Naylor and Walt Jenkins were in the isolation ward of the small camp hospital receiving daily treatments of medication and vitamins.^[1044]  Howie’s condition improved and he was sent back to work at the coal dock on February 2; however, a month later he was off sick for another two weeks. Walt’s dysentery apparently was more severe, as he was still in the isolation ward (“progress slow”) until early April.^[1045]  On April 7 he was finally convalescing but didn’t seem to fully recover. In July he was again on the sick list with intestinal problems and was suffering from “chronic diarrhea” at the end of the war.^[1046]

That spring the men were allowed to write home. Mel Keyworth sent a postcard on March 11, which surprisingly took only about five and a half months to get to his uncle and aunt in Canada.^[1047]  Howie Naylor wrote home on March 17 while he was off sick, although he said he was “well and in good health.” His letter arrived in Victoria on December 3.^[1048]

On the 22nd of April the men at Niigata had their first sightings of B-29s high overhead and by mid-July planes were dropping mines in the nearby harbour.^[1049]  Howie Naylor told a reporter after the war that they watched from the camp as the bombers came in on their mine-laying runs. The men also were able to see the results, as ships sank after hitting the mines.^[1050]  Although Niigata was not subject to the same heavy bombing that occurred at some other industrial cities, American planes did occasionally attack ships in the harbour. During night raids the POWs were hustled up a hill outside the camp and ordered into fox holes that had been dug there.^[1051]

By the summer, few vessels were getting through the American blockades around Japan. One result of the lack of shipping meant there was little to do for the work parties that still went out each day.^[1052]  So the combination of obvious American advances and a lighter work regime boosted morale significantly. There was even an improvement in camp facilities that summer. A large plank bath tub was constructed, accommodating about fifty men. The water was electrically heated and about three times a week the POWs were able for the first time to enjoy the luxury of a hot bath.^[1053]  As Walt Jenkins later said, “I was one of the cleanest prisoners-of-war in the world, I guess. We had good facilities there at the end.”^[1054]

The true “end” finally came on August 15 when the Emperor’s message of surrender was broadcast in the camp. When one of the POWs who spoke Japanese told the rest of the men what was being said, there were hugs all around. Rations for the evening meal were doubled and the prisoners at Niigata 5B gathered around in small groups digesting their dinner and the incredible news that the war was finally over. Howie Naylor recalled,

The guard told us the war was over. Then when some Corsairs came over and buzzed the camp, we knew it was true. Every prisoner in the camp had tears in his eyes when he saw those planes.^[1055]

Omori Headquarters Camp, January, 1945

Blacky Verreault’s diary chronicled life at Omori in great detail. January was a month of little work, occasional American bombing raids on nearby locations, the distribution of a Red Cross parcel, the receipt of mail and the opportunity to write home. Some of the POWs, including Blacky, were allowed to record a radio message.

This is Lance Corporal George Verreault, speaking to his father, Louis Verreault, at 6268 Beaulieu St. Ville-Emard, Montreal, Canada! Hello father! How are you? Fine I hope! Personally, I feel good and I spent a very nice Christmas and New Year’s day. I hope you did too! I think of you all and pray for you all. Remember, mother watches us. So, courage and hope! Your son Georges.^[1056]

His friendship with Jim Mitchell continued to grow, and they spent much time discussing topics of common interest, such as hunting, fishing and motorcycle trips.^[1057]  If the original purpose of their transfer from 3D to this camp was to improve their health, it seemed to be working. Blacky’s appetite had improved greatly and with the associated weight gain his morale was high.^[1058]

In February, both Jim and Blacky were occasionally assigned to work parties and although it involved fairly heavy labour, the work also meant a welcome change in routine.^[1059]  On the 16th there were heavy air raids including dive bomber attacks on the airport adjacent to the camp. Similar raids occurred during the days to come and by the end of the month men were coming back from their work duties with stories of heavy damage and fires burning everywhere. On February 28 there was a distribution of mail. Blacky was the delighted recipient of four letters from home, while Jim Mitchell “was really happy,” receiving ten. The next day brought another surprise: the delivery of Red Cross parcels – the third such distribution in two months.^[1060]

Early in March, Blacky was on a regular work crew, loading and unloading barges. Jim received a more plum assignment: working in the kitchen as a cook.^[1061]  But routines at Omori changed dramatically on March 10 with the devastating fire bombing of the Tokyo area. As recorded by Blacky:

During the night we endured the most intense bombing up to now. Explosions, flames and smoke no doubt terrorized the population. Three work parties had left for work this morning but came back early, the raid having badly damaged the work areas and buildings. The boys witnessed a scene of cataclysmic proportions. Thousands of houses destroyed in the raid from unforgiving flames. As far as the eye can see, all is razed, all is flat and in cinders. Numerous bodies lying in the streets; they viewed the scene with a strange feeling and no thought of sweet revenge. It’s sad but it’s war!^[1062]

---

Jim Mitchell recalled:

We were in there when the first bombers came over and blasted Tokyo… I’m not kidding you, we thought we were dead. They came in maybe three or four hundred from the east and west and north and Tokyo was in flames. The next morning we walked out and there were thousands of bodies floating by our island – women, kids and everything. We were sad, but the sight was the best thing we had ever seen.^[1063]

Three weeks later, the POWs at Omori were moved and Blacky, Jim, and Johnny Douglas were back at Camp 3D.

Tokyo Camp 3D, January, 1945

The situation at 3D during the early months of 1945 was better than it had been in some time. The winter weather was cold but fairly constant with not a lot of rain or snow, which, combined with the fact that most of the men who were ill had been sent to Omori or Shinagawa Hospital, meant that it was a relatively healthy camp.^[1064]  Red Cross supplies including medicines were also a great help. American food parcels (one per man) were issued on New Year’s Day, quite a surprise since parcels had just been handed out a week earlier. If anyone doubted the fact the Japanese had been hoarding these supply shipments, yet a third distribution took place on February 23. Don Penny recorded the contents in his notebook:

Contents American Food Parcel

Dec, Jan, Feb – 1945
2 cans Spam 12 oz.
1 “ Bully 12 oz.
3 “ Butter 3 ¾ oz.
1 “ Milk 1 lb.
1 “ Coffee 4 oz.
Sugar cubes ½ lb.
1 can Jam (Grape) 6 oz.
1 “ Salmon 7 ¾ oz.
2 Bars Chocolate
1 Box Raisins
1 “ Cheese ½ lb.
1 Tin Mille Pate 6 oz.
2 Bars Soap
6 pcks. Cigarettes^[1065]

In addition to the Red Cross food coming into the camp at that time, mail from home regularly was handed out to the POWs. Gerry Gerrard received four on February 2 and then two more on the 3rd. By the end of the month he had accumulated nine new letters, some of them mailed from Canada as recently as September, 1944.^[1066]  Don Penny also was among the happy recipients, a total of eight letters during the month; all but one had been sent from Vancouver over a year earlier.^[1067]  More Red Cross supplies were issued during the first two weeks of March. Don received a woolen hat and a pair of socks on the 4th and listed the following items in his notebook from the March 13th issue: a tube of shaving cream; four razor blades; a tin of shoe polish; a singlet; a comb; and half a bar of Swan soap.^[1068]

By late February, air raids on the Tokyo area were becoming more frequent. The men became familiar with using the trenches they had dug outside the camp, although they offered little protection from bullets or bombs. Rumors circulated that the trenches were actually to be used as mass graves for the POWs. Documents discovered after the war showed that there were indeed plans by the Japanese to kill all prisoners and dispose of the bodies.^[1069]

The big raids on March 9-10 made it clear there was a major American offensive underway. And it was close to home for the men at 3D. Gerry Gerrard recalled:

…they strafed the shipyard there one time, and then another time…there was a little bay beside our camp and one hit a factory on the other side of the bay and that shook us up a little. But the night they did the big bombing they took a mile wide strip right through Yokohama and Tokyo, they were just coming in one after the other, you know. We had a shelter – they realized after that factory was bombed that the shelter was no good. It was a hole in the ground with some planks on top and some sod thrown on it. The other thing was, the guard standing out there, he made us all go in the hole and when that bomb landed he ended up in the hole with us. We just lay there all night with the flashes, the guns and the bombs exploding, and loudspeakers all over – you could hear the Jap telling them what’s happening. And you could tell when the bombers were coming in; he’d get excited as hell and the next thing, you’d hear them roar through and the bombs go off. There were a lot of fire bombs too.^[1070]

The frequent bombing raids and resulting destruction had brought work at the shipyard to a virtual standstill. There was now a new commandant at the camp and word began to spread that changes were to come at 3D.^[1071]  In late March, Capt. Reid was told to draw up a list of the men who were “not quite well,” with the stated intent by the Japanese to send these men to headquarters camp and Shinagawa Hospital for treatment. On March 29, the ninety-five prisoners who had been sent to Omori back in December, returned to 3D. That night, Capt. Reid was informed that his “sick list” plus the newly returned men were being sent to a mining camp in northern Japan.^[1072]  This group, numbering about 200, included Signals Bob Acton, Johnny Douglas, Gerry Gerrard, Jim Mitchell, Art Robinson and Blacky Verreault.^[1073]  They left by train at about 4:30 the next morning with some Red Cross food and a third of the medical supplies in camp.^[1074]  Travelling all night and the next day, they finally arrived at their new camp, Ohasi, in the mountains near the coastal industrial city of Kamaishi.

Also on March 30, a second group of 3D prisoners, including Will Allister and George Grant, was transferred to another camp.^[1075]  The move was particularly unsettling for Will, who was not looking forward to leaving his friends.

We said our goodbyes as I had foreseen, with little emotion, hardened by this time, inside and out. The soft vulnerable areas had been driven deep underground, guarded by a superstructure of steel.

We were loaded into two open trucks and sat on our kits, waiting to leave 3D. I looked back at the flimsy wooden hut, its air soaked with memory, of two long years packed with hopes and dreams, with incredibly high moments, with endless miseries, with intense longing and bleak despair, with raucous laughter and hidden tears.

The trip by truck took them through the devastated ruins of Tokyo to their new home on the outskirts of the city: Sumidagawa.^[1076]

There were now just over 200 Canadians left at 3D, including Lee Speller, Jack Rose and Don Penny. Don’s presence is interesting in that he wasn’t sent to Ohasi with the other men on the “sick list,” even though he was suffering from jaundice and a recurrence of malaria that had made him ill the previous summer.^[1077]  Capt. Reid later described the situation at 3D:

After these men left we settled down to a very restless time in the camp; little work was being done at the company and air raids were constant and very close to our camp and there were constant rumors that the remainder of the camp would move out of this area soon. The air raids had gained in frequency and intensity and proximity. On the night of the 9th of April the whole area in a half moon around the camp was completely burned out. That night the air raid went on over our heads for about five hours and we saw eleven B-29’s shot down right over us that night. They came in very low that night, about seven or eight thousand feet. From that raid about five eighths of all Tokyo was burned out.^[1078]

In spite of the recurring attacks and uncertainties about the camp, one bright spot for the men was that the mail continued to be distributed. Jack Rose was given a June, 1944 letter from his family on April 21.^[1079]  Don Penny received two letters at the end of March, three more in April and four in the first nine days of May. All had been written between April and August the previous year. On the back of one of the letters he wrote:

April 15, 1945 – Terrific air raid

April 21st – Rumors of peace talks as no air raids for two days^[1080]

Unfortunately, peace was still months away and new trials awaited the 3D POWs. On May 12 the camp was reorganized for a final move. Lee Speller and sixteen others were sent to Suwa Camp, in the hills west of Tokyo.^[1081]  There they would be put to work in open pit mines; “real slave labour” noted Speller.^[1082]  The rest of the men, including Don Penny and one of his Section 7 mates, Jack Rose, boarded a train at 6 p.m. for Yokohama where they were ordered off, organized into their sections of fifty men, and made to sit in a large waiting room for another train.^[1083]  They then travelled through the night north to the village of Onahama and their new camp, Sendai No. 1.^[1084]

Ohasi POW Camp (Kamaishi), April, 1945

Our camp consists of two large huts. The first one is like a tower of babel where all nations seem represented, except Japanese. The second hut was invaded by our two hundred, Mitchell included. (Blacky Verreault)^[1085]

The Canadians joined a large group of American, Dutch, British and Australian POWs who had been there for some time providing labor for the Kamaishi Iron Mining Company. Most of the men worked either in the mine or the machine factory.^[1086]  Blacky was assigned to one of the electrical shops, but was soon transferred to a repair crew working on the electric trains that ran through the mine and down the mountain to the smelters in Kamaishi.^[1087]  Gerry Gerrard worked in the blacksmith shop located at one end of the machine shop building. He recalled that their Japanese guards pretty much left them alone.

The guards didn’t bother us at all. They had their hut there and they’d go in the hut, but they did patrols. And in the work area, the Americans had the keys to the machine shop. Because all the best machinists had been drafted and they were running the machinery.^[1088]

For a while, a local high school student was brought into the shop to help out. The boss asked Gerry if he could give the boy a hand with his math homework. So unfolded the unlikely scenario of a Canadian Signalman prisoner of war working out square roots with his Japanese student helper.^[1089]

Jim Mitchell was given a foreman position in the mine because of his hard rock mining experience back home in Falconbridge. He was able to put his technical knowledge to good use. At the same time, through carefully arranging his work crew of sixty-four Canadians, some of whom were in poor physical condition, he was meeting his quota of loading four cars per shift, while protecting the health and well-being of his fellow POWs.^[1090]

Although the work was hard, the fact that the men were generally left on their own made it easier to take. Blacky found time to work on a variety of personal projects, as well as write regularly in his diary.^[1091]  They were given three days off per month which meant a later morning roll call, free time to do laundry and other personal chores, and write the occasional letter home. At the end of April, again towards the end of May, and in early August, packages of mail for the Canadians arrived in camp. Jim Mitchell received one as did Gerry Gerrard. Two more would be delivered to him at Ohasi before the war’s end.^[1092]  Art Robinson received a letter from his parents in June; it had been sent from Canada in September, 1944.^[1093]

As occurred at other camps, musical concerts were put on by the POWs. Blacky participated a number of times, including on one notable occasion for “amateur hour” when he performed one of his own songs, “Dreams of a Desert Night.” Costumed in Arabian-style clothing and accompanied by clarinet, guitar and bass, he was well received, earning the second place prize of thirty cigarettes.^[1094]

It seems that the food situation at Ohasi was better than at some of the camps in southern Japan.^[1095]  Although the diet of soups and rice was boring, the rations were such that men generally didn’t go to bed hungry. Extras were often available. Jim Mitchell received additional food as a reward for applying his expertise to the mining operation.^[1096]  Gerry also remembered getting some food from his boss one day and sharing it with his bunk mate, Bob Acton.^[1097]

While their situation was better than it had been at times over the past three and a half years, the men at Ohasi were still prisoners of war, and treated as such, in the now too familiar Japanese style. Some days after arriving back at camp following their work period, there was additional labour assigned to them. Fuel wood for the kitchen had to be brought in from the surrounding mountainside. The wood had been cut and bundled and a quota of ten bundles per man meant many trips up and down the steep hillside. Not only did the prisoners have to haul the wood, they were charged for it, the money being docked from their meagre wages.^[1098]  Harsh treatment at the hands of the guards was also a reality of life at Ohasi, even if such occurrences were infrequent compared to camps like Niigata and 3D. Jim Mitchell described a beating he received because he neglected to bow at a small shrine to the Emperor set up at the entrance to the mine.

I was walking into the entrance of the mine and four Japs nailed me, hauled me back out and kicked the shit out of me. I was down flat on my face, and the thing they did – it really hurt – I’m lying there and a Jap straddled me with a boot here and a boot there and took this railroad tie – they called it a sleeper – about this long and four inches square, and hit me four times in the small of the back as hard as he could. A Jap officer came to see what was going on and did he give that Jap shit. He said that’s our best worker, best for the workers. But that didn’t do me no good. But I was treated really badly sometimes because of my height [he was over six feet tall].^[1099]

By early July, there were signs that the Allied war effort was expanding to northern Japan. Air raid sirens announced the presence of B-29s high in the sky over the Kamaishi area, but there were no attacks on the camp itself.^[1100]  On July 14, the port city of Kamaishi and its iron ore smelters were devastated by heavy shelling from American ships that had taken up positions off shore. A second shelling on August 9 completely destroyed the smelters and a nearby steel mill.^[1101]  Over thirty POWs working in the area were killed during the bombardments, but the mine and machine shop at Ohasi were far enough away to avoid being damaged by the attacks.

After the first shelling there were concerns in camp that food and other goods coming up from Kamaishi would be in short supply, but other than a change in the menu from barley to beans and a shortage of tobacco, the situation at Ohasi seemed to be relatively stable during late July and early August.^[1102]  There was at least one change that Jim Mitchell was happy about. On August 2 he was transferred from his job in the mine to a position in the kitchen.^[1103]  A week later there was news in camp that raised everyone’s hopes and spirits.

Some of the American POWs had put together a powerful radio receiver that they could disassemble and keep hidden from the Japanese guards. The radio was assembled regularly to monitor reports on the war, and on August 6 news of the bombing of Hiroshima spread around the camp, followed a few days later by reports on the destruction at Nagasaki.^[1104]  For the next week there was a general feeling throughout the camp that “something was brewing” and on the 14th there was word that the war might be over.^[1105]

On August 15 the prisoners were at work when it was confirmed that Japan had surrendered. Gerry Gerrard remembered it this way:

It was about noon…I got the word, pass the news around. In the workplace there were these loudspeakers and the Japs had to go to these speakers and listen to these speeches – they were letting them down easy. So by the time we got back into camp, everybody knew that the war was over. But there was no sign that the Japs knew. Next morning we had to get up – of course ready to go to work – and we go to parade and there’s no Japs around. They just disappeared overnight.^[1106]

Blacky Verreault wrote in his diary that there was still a lot of uncertainty – was it really true? But by the end of the day on the 16th the reality of peace was finally being accepted and embraced. Thoughts of going home flooded his mind and those of his comrades.^[1107]  Unfortunately for the POWs at Ohasi, it would take almost a month before their true liberation day would come.

Sumidagawa Camp, April, 1945

It stood there, decrepit, small, uninviting, in a coal yard on the outskirts of Tokyo beside a rail ramp. This was a rail and canal junction where long rail platforms ran parallel to canals for beans, rice, coal, pig-iron to be loaded from rail-car to barge. In the coalyard trains brought coal to be unloaded and shoveled into trucks. Since most civilians had been evacuated due to the bombs, prisoners, expendable, were brought in to replace them.

The hut was a small, rundown 2-tier affair, half the size of 3D, with a tiny square in front and a narrow space on one side. It was squeezed between dark mountains of coal.^[1108]

Will Allister and George Grant were assigned to the upper platform in the hut. Their beds were narrow rattan pallets, dirty and full of lice, fleas and bedbugs.^[1109]  Will noted to his fellow Signalman that the prisoners at their new camp looked well fed. But when they inquired about the food, there were told it was “stinkin.” How then did the men look so healthy? It turned out that stealing food was a major operation at the camp.

For a time Will and George were sent to work shoveling coal. It was dirty and hard labour, with heavy daily quotas for each man. Worse, there was no opportunity to steal extra rice or beans. But eventually, when more workers were needed on the food loading platforms, they got their chance.^[1110]  George later told how he would use a pair of oversized boots to smuggle food back to camp. With a lookout keeping watch for the Japanese guards, he and others with the big boots would pack in as much rice or beans as they could. They would then have to walk around the rest of the day with their precious load, go through a nerve-wracking search by the guards, and finally be able to empty their boots when they got back into camp. Getting caught meant severe punishment, as George discovered on one occasion. But the slapping, beating and order to stand at attention for the next twenty-four hours didn’t deter him or the others from continuing their food smuggling operation.^[1111]  He not only brought in extra rations, but also designed and built a makeshift hotplate from scrounged wire and other supplies. This allowed him and his bunk mate Will to boil up their stolen provisions. “Delicious. We were eating extras at last,” wrote Will.^[1112]

Through July and into August the heavy bombing raids on the Tokyo area were witnessed by the POWs at Sumidagawa. There were no air raid shelters around the camp so the men watched “the nightly festivities” from the windows in their hut.^[1113]  Then, in mid-morning of August 15, the workers were sent from the loading platforms back to the camp. This was unprecedented and suggested something had changed. As the men returned, rumours started to spread that the war was over. Few would let themselves believe it, so around mid-afternoon, the senior POW officer was prompted to request an interview with the camp commandant. He returned about half an hour later. Will Allister wrote about that moment:

“With regard to a certain rumour!” and the taut, hollow face opened like a broken dyke letting through a rushing wave of joy for the first time, transforming it into a strange, scarred, radiant smile. “IT…IS…SO!”

The hut exploded in a wild exultant Yankee-Limey-Scottish-Dutch-Indonesian-Canadian thunder of victory, of pent-up souls erupting, smashing the shackles of seeming limitless defeat in a great triumphant jungle roar! Men charged down the aisle, whooping and bellowing, leaping and cheering.^[1114]

It was still hard for many of the men to believe; could they trust their Japanese captors or was it just another cruel torture? But it was true. Their long ordeal was finally over.

Sendai Camp No. 1, May, 1945

Sendai No. 1 was located near the village of Onahama next to one of the mines operated by the Joban Mining Company. The camp had been there for over two years, occupied mainly by British and Dutch POWs, whose primary job was to work as coal miners for the Japanese company.

When the men from 3D arrived early in the morning of May 13, they were lined up on the parade ground, stripped and made to watch while the guards went through all their clothing and personal items. After being given some new clothes, they were allowed to go back to their meagre piles of belongings and gather up anything that wasn’t taken by the Japanese.^[1115]  Fortunately, it was mostly knives, money and boots the guards were after, and it seems that most personal items like letters or notebooks were not taken. Jack Rose recalled:

When I left Vancouver my mother gave me a ring she had since she was 13. I had it in a little box….Well, this ring was in the pocket of the pants I was wearing and suddenly, I realized that I didn’t have it. I don’t know what made me do it – I would have been scared if I’d given it any thought – but I went up to the commanding officer, spoke to him in Japanese. I told him that my mother had given me the ring as a memento, could I go to the pile and get it? To my surprise he said yes.^[1116]

After spending most of the day on the parade ground, the men were taken to a series of huts that had previously been used by Japanese workers in the mine. Capt. Reid used words like “filthy” and “rickety” to describe their new accommodation, and said the sleeping mats were full of dirt and vermin.^[1117]

For the next few days, the newly arrived POWs were put through a variety of medical and physical endurance tests and made to perform Japanese parade drill. The men were then assigned to work details based on their response to the exercises. Because most of the prisoners from 3D were in pretty good health, they, including Don Penny and Jack Rose, found themselves sent to work in the mine. Capt. Reid’s post-war report described the situation:

They finally began work on the sixteenth of May, it was a coal mine, they got as much as three thousand feet down at the lowest level. There were generally two parties in this mine, one which worked on the coal face at the lower level and one which worked on the rock face at the higher level. The calibre of the work was about the same, but the coal face was a great deal hotter and they often had to work in water up to their knees or bellies in the coal face, and being a Japanese mine, the arrangements for fresh air were very poor and they often had to work in extreme toxic air and were forced by the Japanese to stay in there a long time,….The temperature went to a hundred and twenty degrees on the coal face and on the rock face eighty-five. Conditions were always atrocious in this camp and had been atrocious ever since its inception apparently.…

The conditions down in the mine were very bad in another way, that the Japanese who worked down there were the lowest type I have run into. Little above animals, these were Sensai, or professors, supposed to be the bosses and teachers of the men. Very many were extremely brutal and cruel and when themselves got down under these atrocious conditions, many of them seemed to go almost insane and it was a very regular thing for the men to be badly beaten….

There were three shifts with men working all the time. One started about three o’clock in the morning and came back about one o’clock in the afternoon, 3 a.m. to 1 p.m., another about twelve o’clock noon and came back about ten at night and the third about eight o’clock at night to six o’clock the next morning. For light they used a lamp with the battery attached to the waist which was one cause of injuries. They got down there and these batteries would come detached and burn their back and buttocks.^[1118]

Lack of protective gear made the men susceptible to all kinds of injuries. Bare legs invited many cuts from sharp edges of the coal. Don Penny’s legs had permanent deep, dark scars, from cuts and sores that had been covered in coal dust and then healed over.

The POWs also suffered at the hands of their Japanese guards. Jack Rose described one particular incident:

This Japanese sergeant – we called him “the frog” – he harangued everybody and nobody understood what he said. I [understood] what he wanted (paste the rice paper on the door frames). We didn’t get one third of it done because we ran out of paste. So he came around and started ranting and raving. I went over to him and explained what had happened. And he just got so mad he just beat the hell out of me. But he did go away and come back with more paper and paste.^[1119]

In an interview upon his return to Canada, Jack talked about his time at Sendai.

We had chicken feed for food, mixed with some white rice. For soup we had the tops from the vegetables….It was so hot in the mine that we wore only a mine belt….

[They] were always slapping us around for no good reason. They used to tell us the mine was dangerous then grin at us and give us a few kicks and punches and tell us to get to work.^[1120]

If conditions in the mine and life at Sendai No. 1 got the men down, there was occasionally mail from home to cheer them up. Even with the growing American raids all over Japan, apparently POW mail did get through to the camps. On July 28, Don Penny received four letters – all with family news to give him lots to think about – one of his sisters had been married in November and one of his brothers was engaged.^[1121]  With thoughts of seeing loved ones back in Canada and the regular drone of allied aircraft overhead, hope for an end to their incarceration was building.

By mid-August there were numerous sightings of U.S. fighter planes around the camp and B-29s flying overhead. On the 15th the men were at the mine, but no work was done. Rumors fuelled by civilian workers spread: the war was over. There was still no official word on the 16th but finally the next day the camp commandant told the men officially that the war had ended. Capt. Reid described the reaction:

The thing had been going on for so long, when the war was over you refused to let yourself think it was possible. It came so gradually, the civilians telling us, and then the official word and then the war really being over, and there was no moment of great celebration but everybody was happy.^[1122]

There would be lots of time for emotional responses in the days and weeks to come.

Sendai Camp No. 2

Close by, slightly to the north of Sendai No. 1, was another coal mining camp, Sendai No. 2, near the village of Taira. It was here that dispatch rider Don Beaton had come the previous year with about fifty other Canadians. Working and living in similar conditions to the men at the nearby camp, but for a much longer period of time than the new arrivals, the POWs here had struggled to survive without the medical care and Red Cross parcels available to the men from 3D. In spite of that, as Don Beaton recalled, most of them gradually got to be in fairly good physical shape.

So by the end of it, I could…shovel coal for twelve hours. We worked twelve-hour shifts, and I only weighed about 95 pounds or something….

But towards the end, we were virtually running the place, because they kept cutting the Japanese staff and somebody would show up and tell us what we had to do. We could even go and pick up our own dynamite from the mine stores. Drill our own holes, set off our own blasting. So it was nice and warm there. Heh, ‘cause you worked naked.

…if it was a cold shaft you wore a fandushi, which was like a loincloth. And it was always hot. Some of the good shafts were around 90 degrees, but some of the smaller shafts we had to work,…you had to use quarter-ton cars ‘cause you had to work on your hands and knees and you used special little cars. And there the temperature would be up to 120 degrees in those things.^[1123]

In August, the men at Sendai No. 2 were seeing the same flights of B-29s as were noticed at the nearby camp. Then one day, work was halted and the men were gathered on the parade ground. The camp commandant, who had never spoken a word of English to the prisoners before,

…came out, stood on a box and said, in perfect English he said, “My dear boys! You’re allowed…You’re free to go home to your mothers, wives, sweethearts,” and that was it.^[1124]

Don Beaton remembered their reaction: “…it was like running into a brick wall. We just stood there stunned and then everybody went a little crazy.”^[1125]

*                *                *                *        

What the POWs in Japan and Hong Kong had been hoping for, praying for, and waiting for had finally arrived. Given the living and working conditions endured by these men for over three and a half years, it’s hard to imagine how any of them survived. In what stands as a testament to these brave souls, there is one entry in Blacky Verreault’s diary, written in September, 1944, that sums it all up:

A Japanese prisoner of war! Never has he had a satisfying meal….He falls sick, can’t eat and they fight to see who gets his food. He’s on his sick bed and his companions are too afflicted to even show concern. He’s ministered to routinely and as soon as he can stand up, he’s returned to work. There’s no other way, on the number of men working depend the living conditions at the camp. His world is one of rumours, hopes, disappointments, nothing ever ends but he must endure the presence of this herd of gorillas whose only way of communicating is grunting and grumbling. He sleeps on straw rotted with fleas in summer, assaulted by flying insects. In winter, he’s so continuously cold that he can never wash….Then this continuous tension, the fear of being caught eating food found or stolen, the fear of being caught smoking in the toilets, the fear that the Jap officer is in bad humour. Conversations are always the same. He’s heard someone’s story a thousand times and has told his own a thousand times. Nothing new, always the same endless routine. But he still hangs on to the hope of being free again. Every day brings him closer to that hope and his heart cries with impatience.^[1126]

Freedom was now close at hand.