Beyond the Call

Chapter 8
A Taste of Freedom

Peace had been declared, and the signing of treaties to that effect were days away, but the long-awaited news being received by POWs during those happy days in mid-August did not mean their immediate release from the camps in Hong Kong or Japan. The process of liberation would take time, particularly in Japan where many of the camp locations were unknown to the arriving American forces. For some POWs the wait would drag on for at least a month. Fortunately, food, medicine and other supplies would be delivered to them, primarily by air drops, making the lengthy time before their liberation more tolerable at least. For others, the arrival of their relieving forces would come much sooner.

Sham Shui Po Camp, Hong Kong

Am keeping well and cheerful. Lots of love. Tony^[1127]

If there was one thing that men of the Signal Corps knew about, it was communication. So it’s not surprising that one of the first messages back to Canada came from Signalman Tony Grimston. Received by his mother on August 18, via the Red Cross office in Vancouver, those few words marked the beginning of a period of happiness and anticipation for family members back in Canada.

American fighter planes dropped leaflets containing instructions to remain in camp until relief arrived.^[1128]  Medicine and food were also parachuted in, aided by a large “PW” signal laid out on the beach, directing the pilots where to drop supplies.^[1129]  Previously hidden radios were now brought out in the open and news broadcasts were heard daily throughout the camp.^[1130]  Another morale boost came every evening with a musical show put on by the small number of performers and producers still there following the POW drafts to Japan.^[1131]  But there were serious issues to deal with as well. Men who had been informers or who had collaborated with the Japanese were in particular danger. Ray Squires later commented on one particular British officer:

Well anyway, we put him in a room and had to put two guys outside with bed legs guarding because they figured somebody would kill him.^[1132]

On August 21, fourteen prisoners including Sgt. Ron Routledge, who had been transferred to a prison in Canton, arrived back in Sham Shui Po. Their return had been ordered the day after the war ended. All were in poor medical condition and they were taken into hospital to be looked after.^[1133] 

As the days of waiting slowly passed, discipline issues started to arise and it was increasingly difficult to keep the POWs confined to camp. But finally on the 29th, the men saw a reconnaissance flight of British Hellcats overhead, signaling the approach of the fleet of rescue vessels. That afternoon the ships approached Hong Kong, led by Australian minesweepers and the HMCS Prince Robert, one of the ships that had brought the Canadians to Hong Kong back in November, 1941.^[1134]  The next day, British and Canadian officers came to the camp and officially liberated the Sham Shui Po prisoners. Over the next few days, Canadians were allowed to leave camp and visit aboard the Prince Robert. Enjoying not only the cigarettes, chocolate and good western-style food they had missed for so long, the men were also able for the first time to begin telling their stories of incarceration and ill-treatment at the hands of their Japanese captors. And now that the LPWs (Liberated Prisoners of War) were officially accounted for, telegrams from National Defence in Ottawa began to arrive at the homes of their anxious next-of-kin in Canada. Among these early messages were ones received by the families of Tony Grimston and Ray Squires, both “reported safe in Allied hands.”^[1135]

Preparations for evacuation were now well underway. A memo to all Canadian officers at Sham Shui Po camp was issued on August 31. Among the instructions:

2.B. Bde. Details localized to be commanded for administration purposes by Capt. Billings.

2.C. All Cdns will be immediately localized in their places in huts in sections where practicable.

“Daily Camp Orders” were also now being issued. On September 3 came word that it was expected that all Canadians in Hong Kong would be leaving for the Philippines on the Empress of Australia within the next four to five days. That same day, thirty-one Canadian O.R.s (including Ron Routledge) departed on board the British hospital ship Oxfordshire.^[1136]  With a few days notice about their pending departure, the men were able to organize and pack their belongings and spend some time acquiring souvenirs in Hong Kong. Flags, handicrafts, and in particular Japanese military items were sought-after mementoes. Both Larry Dowling and Wally Normand were able to procure Japanese swords which they managed to bring back to Canada.^[1137]  Finally, on Sunday, September 9, the Hong Kong LPWs boarded their liberation ship to begin the first leg of their journey home.^[1138]

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Sumidagawa Camp, Northwest of Tokyo

Will Allister’s description of the days following the end of the war and the eventual discovery of their camp by an American pilot clearly capture the atmosphere at Sumidagawa:

When would they come for us? Nothing was happening. No work, no action, no appetite, no “real” food, no order. We had found the Bluebird of Happiness with wings of clay….

Days passed. The Americans knew nothing of our existence and couldn’t even find us. We saw occasional planes far off – American? Capt. Martin had binoculars – yes, they were small fighter planes, circling, searching for prison camps. We took mirrors up on the roof to reflect the sun, hoping to catch the eye of a pilot. But they were too far away and saw nothing. Some began to take wider sweeps and we took bed sheets out making huge banners, on the roof, in the yard, waving them to and fro….

Then at last, about August 21, a single plane circled closer! We dashed out to wave sheets, flash glass, wave arms, hats, jackets. He circled nearer, spying something – a speck of white? A flash of light? Would he investigate? This way! A shout went up and everyone poured into the yard, redoubling our efforts – waving, shouting, twirling hats, jumping – would he see? Here! Here! We willed him toward us – his nose pointed in our direction – he must have seen – he was heading straight for us! A cheer went up!^[1139]

The American fighter plane flew directly over the camp at low altitude, dipped his wings and tossed out a pack of cigarettes with a hastily scribbled note: “Greetings to men of a brave and free world.” The men went wild, yelling, cheering, many weeping. They now understood, believed, that at long last it was truly over.^[1140]

Within days, large aircraft came over and began dropping drums of food attached to parachutes. While welcome, the food drops brought unexpected peril – some of the drums came down like bombs, smashing through the hut roofs and bunks below. One dropped into a Japanese hut, killing the woman inside. But in spite of the danger, the men went out to find the barrels and bring back the previously only dreamt-about contents: huge quantities of chocolate bars, canned fruit, meat and vegetable stew, cheese, cream, butter, milk, cookies, rice pudding with raisins. After so many years of deprivation, men were gorging themselves on the unfamiliar rich food – and then promptly being sick to their stomachs. Will Allister described the situation in the midst of the almost continuous food drops.

[George] Grant and I, bloated and nauseous, went wandering over a nearby field when we heard the familiar sound of bombers approaching and saw the drums sailing down. We started to run in one direction, looked up, saw the dreaded missiles overtaking us, turned, doubled back, trying to gauge where they’d strike. It became so dangerous that a watch was set up to sound the alarm. There were several hits made in our compound. The hut was unsafe. The only shelter was under the rail tracks set in a concrete ramp that ran beside the camp. As I waited underneath, a drum struck the rails and bent them in. Another landed beside me, sending a shower of cinders biting into my back. This lethal largess was too much of a good thing. What a horrible irony, I thought, to be killed by food after the war was over.^[1141]

Now, with large quantities of provisions available, the decision was made to mitigate the constant danger from falling drums. A “Stop” signal was hastily painted on one of the hut roofs.

Within a few days, the liberation force arrived via one of the canals alongside the camp. Marines, armed, cautiously watchful for Japanese soldiers or guards, explored the camp, incredulous at the living conditions endured by the POWs. Will took one souvenir-seeking marine around to the guardhouse. The regular guards had long since disappeared, leaving only teenaged temporary recruits.

They were sleeping in there and scared, terrified. They weren’t there with their equipment or anything; the marine saw them and said, he pointed his gun at them, and he said, “Did these guys give you trouble?” If I had said, “Yes,” he would have wiped them out right on the spot. I said, “No. They’re harmless.” He put his gun down and let them live. He just took a bunch of their equipment and I took a rifle and brought it home with me, a parachute, and all kinds of souvenirs, equipment.^[1142]

Soon, the new LPWs were told to gather up their few possessions and acquisitions and were transported by PT boat to a waiting hospital ship, “to be scrubbed, fed, bedded, pampered.”^[1143]  It was August 29, three years and nine months since they had departed from Vancouver.^[1144]  A couple of days later, George Grant sent a telegram home to his mother in Abbotsford, B.C.:

Safe in Allied hands. Hope to be home soon. Writing. Address letters and telegrams to “Liberated POW care of Australian Army base, P.O. Melbourne, Australia.” How are the family? Please telegraph that you are all well. Signed, George Grant POW 362^[1145]

Narumi Camp, South of Nagoya

At the end of the war, Signalman Ted Kurluk was one of eleven Canadians held in this camp near the city of Nagoya, southwest of Tokyo. The prisoners here had been used as labourers in factories located in Nagoya. Housed in wooden buildings with two layers of sleeping platforms, the men appeared to have suffered through the same type of mistreatment and poor food rations common throughout Japanese POW camps.^[1146] 

By August 29, food drops from American planes had begun over the camp. During one supply run, recorded in the diary of a POW, the plane made three successful passes, dropping bundles by parachute. But on the fourth pass, after releasing the package, the plane crashed near the camp. The pilot was killed but the two other crewmen survived.^[1147]  On September 4, a rescue fleet including the USS Buchanan, USS Lardner, USS San Juan, and hospital ship Rescue anchored off the nearby port city of Hamamatsu and began freeing men from the area camps, including Narumi.^[1148]  Ted Kurluk, reported in fair condition, was one of the group liberated that day.^[1149]  Arriving safely in Tokyo Bay, Ted posed for photographs with some of his other happy ex-Narumi LPWs.^[1150]  The first step of his homeward journey had begun.

Suwa Camp, West of Tokyo

Conditions at Suwa during the summer of 1945 were among the worst of any at the camps in Japan. Not only was the work strenuous, as described by Lee Speller, the daily trip to the open-pit mine was an arduous march.

Hell, another three months or two, and we’d all be dead, the way it was going. We were just skeletons up there, you see, because the camp was there and it was another mile and a half, two miles, we had to march up this hill-side, dirt and mud. We took one step forward and two backwards when it was raining.^[1151]

In addition, the rice ration was very small and the POWs were given no vegetables or meat. By August, to keep from starving, some of the leaders in camp organized stealing parties to procure vegetables and beans that could be surreptitiously added to the soup at mealtimes.^[1152]

On August 15, word was filtering in that the war was over and a process was begun to organize the men into groups based on their nationality. On the 19th, official communication of the surrender was provided by the camp commandant. Celebrations began – increased rations, national flags constructed using sheets and crayons, and on one memorable occasion about a week later, a cow was brought in, butchered, and the first fresh meat in a long, long time was available to the men. The first American aircraft with food drops arrived overhead on August 29 and by that evening all the supplies had been distributed, including the parachutes which were gathered up as souvenirs.^[1153]  Lee Speller remembered a bunch of the men signing their names on one of the parachutes and cutting it up into pieces to share as mementoes.^[1154]

On September 4, the men were told that they would be leaving camp the following night. Trucks arrived to take them to the train station and early in the morning of September 6 they boarded a train for Yokohama.^[1155]  Finally, “safe in Allied hands,” L/Cpl. Speller was reported in “good condition,” “recovered from Yokohama area on 6 Sept. 45.”^[1156]  It was four days before his twenty-sixth birthday.

Niigata Camps 5B and 15D, Northwest of Tokyo

For Walt Jenkins and Howie Naylor at 5B, Rolly D’Amours, Ernie Dayton and Mel Keyworth at 15D, and the rest of the POWs at the Niigata camps, the appearance of American fighter planes swooping over the area a couple of days after the end of the war was a significant and happy signal – Allied forces knew where they were! Large POW letters were placed on hut roofs and on a hill just outside the camp.^[1157]  When on August 25 more aircraft appeared dropping cigarettes, chocolate, magazines and other supplies, the men cheered and yelled, sensing their impending freedom. From then on, the B-29s did regular food drops and the similar scenario that played out at other camps of heavy steel drums plummeting to earth, threatening life and limb, became a reality at Niigata as well. A Japanese woman and her son were killed during one of the supply runs and there were occasional frightening moments for the POWs as some of the drums and bales crashed through hut roofs, narrowly missing the occupants.^[1158]  But most of the supplies of food, clothing and medicine were arriving safely in great quantities – more than the men could comfortably consume. Walt Jenkins recalled,

And then they started dropping stuff to us. I got the first meal I had that was worth anything. I was up on the hill and we were picking up all this stuff, you see. They’re dropping it with parachutes; I put all the broken cans into one big bucket and this officer said to me, “You take that down.” I cut my thumb, you see. He says, “You’d better go down and have that thumb looked after.” As soon as I got away from where he was, I just – it was fruit cocktail. I ate about (it seemed like) a gallon of it. And I couldn’t eat peaches or fruit cocktail for about two or three years after the war….But this brought on the dysentery again so I wound up back in the hospital. And, they came over and dropped another bunch of stuff and a barrel came right through the hospital roof and then set the place on fire.^[1159]

Also dropped over Niigata about the same time were leaflets with the following rather officious message from A.C. Wedemeyer, Lieutenant General, U.S.A, Commanding:

Notice to Allied Prisoners of War and Civilian Internees

The Japanese Government has accepted the Allied peace terms set forth in the Potsdam Declaration. Final negotiations are being concluded.

An official representative is on his way for humanitarian purposes and liaison with this headquarters. He will be an initial, pre-Allied occupation representative in the interest of welfare needs and general conditions in the area or camp to which he is sent.

He will coordinate with the Red Cross and Japanese Military and Government, all plans to assure the security of the personnel concerned, to take emergency action to properly house, feed, clothe and furnish medical assistance to such personnel, and to assist in maintaining order in camps awaiting occupational forces.

He will not have authority to act for the Allied Forces in the rendering of any decisions, military, civil or otherwise. Until such time as allied occupational forces arrive to accept the surrender of Japanese military forces, those military forces are responsible for all such control and decisions in conformity with the terms of surrender and the dictates of the Supreme Allied Command.^[1160]

It’s not clear whether the plans and visits outlined, or the orders included, were ever actually carried out, or if so in which camps. As often was the case, the plans prepared by Generals and the reality of local situations did not always mesh.

There were other messages dropped to the men as well. These handwritten notes from the air crews were much more personal and often included their home addresses with requests that the recipients write to them and let them know “how things are with you.”^[1161]  On September 5, “things” for the Niigata POWs were very good indeed. They were finally being liberated from their camps.

Grenadier Tom Forsyth wrote in his diary:

At 8 o’clock tonight, clad in our new raiment dropped from the air, we climbed into buses and drove to the nearest railway track, no station, not even a siding, just a lonely stretch of track. Before the last truck left, our bugler played the Last Post. We waited in the dark by the track for a good hour. We are carrying dry K rations and a can of fruit juice, all dropped from air. We rode all night, very cramped, never slept a wink, as dawn broke we [saw] the vast area of ruin that was once Tokio [sic]. We changed to an electric train at 7.30 and many men in an exuberant mood throw gum and bars at every pretty face they saw near the track. We finally reached Yokohama at 8.30 Got a thrill when we saw the first American troops, sentries posted, M.P.s and most marvelous of all, white women! American Red Cross nurses, they actually looked beautiful. A great day.^[1162]

Food, coffee, showers, fumigating, medical exams and new clothes were all components of the well-organized processing of LPWs at Yokohama.^[1163]  It was now official. The list of Canadian personnel “recovered from Yokohama area 6 Sept 45,” included the names D’Amours, Dayton, Jenkins, Keyworth and Naylor.^[1164]  Five more Signal Corps men, now ready to be on their way home.

Sendai Camp No.1

The greatest thing in all my life happened today at 9:30 A.M. when 12 American Grumman fighters stunted over our camp today. Some of them came as low as 10 ft. above the telephone poles. They dipped their wings and we could plainly see the pilots waving to us. They flew around for about 25 minutes. At 4:00 P.M. they came again. This time they dropped huge parcels to us and we could see thru the opening of the plane a photographer taking pictures of us. The contents of the parcels were cigs. (an item we needed most), box lunches (real American food, biscuits, a small can of meat, condensed coffee or cereal, a small box of sugar) shaving soap, razor blades, chewing gum and matches. They dropped also a copy of their newspaper called the Sunrise Press telling us of all the news concerning the capitulation of Japan and other news items.

These planes were all from the U.S.S. Lexington (aircraft carrier) and the stuff dropped all came from aboard this boat, probably canteen stuff. One carton of Lucky Strikes which came down was marked, “These cigarettes were sent to me and I am sending them on to you and I hope you enjoy them.”

It was a great day and the most thrilling one in all my life up to date. (Don Penny)^[1165]

For the first week after the war ended, the men at Sendai No. 1 had to endure a continuation of meagre rations (there was little food available at all) and the frustration of being confined to the camp. As Capt. Reid noted,

I was most anxious that there be no disturbance under these conditions and perhaps give rise to some real difficulties, and I told the men time and again, let’s proceed with caution, there is just a few more days to go and I didn’t want anything to go wrong at the last minute.^[1166]

The Japanese had provided access to one of the storehouses so the boots and uniforms that had been confiscated when the prisoners arrived were now reissued to the men.^[1167]  Then word came that American planes would soon arrive to deliver supplies. Large twenty-foot high “PW” letters were made as a signal for the aircraft. Many men worked with needles and thread sewing white letters on old blackout curtains to be hung on the sides of the huts.^[1168]

The next day, August 25, as Don Penny described in his notebook, the first American fighters arrived and the 569 men at Sendai No. 1 went wild. Backslapping, handshaking, dancing, waving, crying – “there was terrific emotional reaction that day, we felt we were really out of the woods.”^[1169]  Don also recorded in detail the supply drops that occurred over the next few days:

On Aug 25/45. Three large 4 motor planes were seen flying very high up. One of them broke the formation and came down very low and under the wing printed in big black letters were P.W. SUPPLIES. They dropped a bunch of printed notes stating what they were going to drop and when. About ½ hour later it was back and started to drop the stuff. The camp went wild as bundle after bundle floated gently to earth. There was quite a few bundles in which the ‘chute failed to open, these bundles I suppose were too heavy for the light ‘chute they used. I went outside the camp to where the stuff had dropped and the sight I saw nearly broke my heart. There were large drums filled with canned peaches, jam and tomato juice lying all over the place, broken open. A bundle of shaving cream was somehow attached to the fruit and when it hit the ground it broke open and fruit and shaving cream blended together. The Nips probably got into it, after we left, not knowing what it was. I hope they got bloody sick.

However there were quite a few of these cans that were partially full and we got them back into camp and they were sent to the kitchen right away. Among the stuff dropped was clothing, boots, chocolate bars, chicklets, cocoa & sugar, canned milk, canned meat and cigarettes and matches. We expect another air shipment by these big planes very soon.

On the morning of the 28th small fighters came over and dropped fresh beef, bread & cigarettes. That was the first fresh meat and good bread we’ve had for 3 yrs & 8 months. It certainly was welcome.

On the morning of the 29th these same small planes came over again and dropped notes saying “Will be back tomorrow with supplies” and the American troops occupied Yokohama & Tokyo today.

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Text of message dropped in our camp by U.S. Fighter planes off the A.C. Carrier Lexington on Aug. 27/45. “Quote”

To all Americans and their allies. The war is over and peace will be officially signed on Sept 2/45. Aboard the battleship “Missouri” in Tokyo Bay. Our forces will land near Tokyo tomorrow, 29th 1945, and a rescue will be effected as soon as possible. God keep you all safe till then. We three would feel deeply indebted to you if you would sometime write to us at the following addresses to tell us if the supplies helped any. It’s the best we could do with the limited supplies on board. Sincerely,
W.J. Smith, A.R.M. 2/c
203 Lakeview Ave.,
Haddonfield, N.J.

Willie C. Winslow, A.M.M. 1/c
1st Main St.
Morton, Wash.

Lt. C.J.S. Arthur Feiler,
228 West 5th Ave.,
Gary, Indiana^[1170]

Included with the drops on the 28th was a notice to “Allied Prisoners” that informed the POWs that Japan had surrendered and that they would be, “evacuated by ALLIED NATIONS forces as soon as possible.” It outlined the contents of coming supply runs (bundled in standard packs for 50 or 500 men) and gave “Instructions for Feeding 100 Men.” There was also a caution: “Do not overeat or overmedicate.”^[1171]

Whether these supply drops took place as advertised or how accurately the instructions were followed was not recorded. But daily life for the men on the ground had changed dramatically. A system was developed to avoid the hurtling bundles and drums and to monitor and recover the food and other supplies when they hit the ground. With their new diet, the men began to gain weight quickly – Capt. Reid reported an average of fifteen pounds per man within less than two weeks. All over the camp there were great feasts and poker games – “they were just having the time of their lives.”^[1172]

On August 31, Don Penny wrote about another supply drop.

Today it was raining and it was really raining hard. The ceiling was zero but at about 10 A.M. there is a roar of engines up above and there is our ration supply. 3 large 4 motor B17 [sic] planes unloaded to us the stuff we haven’t had for 3 ½ years. They sent down enough food supplies and clothing to do 600 men. The parachutes they used were all different colours and really looked nice as they floated earthwards. A note was sent down also – It goes as follows –

“To you guys below”

“When this is being written I am at Saipan and preparing for that 16 hour ride up to your location. Hope we find you allright, as our gas supply is a problem. Don’t know how soon you will be out of your hole but believe me our soul [sic] purpose is to drop you supplies and say hello in one form or another. Hope I don’t come too low and blow your shingles off.

If some of you fellows are in the States soon I would appreciate a card from any of you and telling me where you are from. My address is –

Lt. Reeves H. Byrd<
0-737535
1713 Greenleaf Drive,
Royal Oak, Michigan U.S.A. I am the pilot of this job, and would like to hear from you.
On behalf of our group, my crew and myself, hope you are all well and home soon. God Bless you. This box is from the gang in the B-29.”^[1173]

The next steps in the process of “home soon” were still more than a week away. In spite of the abundance of supplies and a general celebratory atmosphere, there were occasional humps to overcome. A trip to the town of Sendai by Capt. Reid and another officer to try to speed up the liberation process was unsuccessful.^[1174]  Then on September 4 one of the B-29s crashed on a nearby hillside. Men from the camp were sent out with the unenviable task of recovering the bodies of the air crew.^[1175]

By September 6, Capt. Reid was in Yokohama with some of the POWs who were suffering from major illnesses. He impressed upon the American officials there the urgent need for evacuating the Sendai prisoners and was given assurances that all the men in the Sendai area camps would be brought out the next day.^[1176]  On September 9 the “liberation train” arrived on a railway siding near the camp and the men climbed aboard for the trip to Yokohama. Late in the afternoon the train stopped, and much to the delight of the now liberated prisoners, there was a reception committee of American nurses and members of the Women’s Army Corps.^[1177]  Don Beaton, who along with the others from Sendai No. 2 Camp was also being taken out by train, recalled arriving in the Tokyo area:

There was nothing left of Tokyo by then. It had been all firebombed and burned out, and we were met by the Americans there. And they had these trucks…open trucks, and they had Red Cross girls in them. And they put each guy between two broads. They smelled real good.^[1178]

The trucks took the men a short distance to the harbour area where they were directed into a large Quonset hut. After a “friendly interrogation” by a lineup of nurses, they were issued uniforms (American), then taken to another area where they were disinfected, had a shower, and changed into their new clothes.^[1179]  Three more Signals, Don Beaton, (“condition good”), Don Penny and Jack Rose (both listed in “fair condition”) were now “safe in Allied hands.”^[1180]  That left six more men from the Signal Corps still waiting to be freed.

Ohasi Camp (Kamaishi)

Most of the POWs in Japan had now been liberated, but Ohasi was being referred to (at least by Canadian newspapers) as a “forgotten camp.”^[1181]  In fact, the men at Ohasi, including Bob Acton, Johnny Douglas, Gerry Gerrard, Jim Mitchell, Art Robinson and Blacky Verreault had not been forgotten, it was just taking longer to arrange for their transport by ship rather than by train to the marshalling facilities at Yokohama. Between August 17 and the 25th when the first American fighter planes appeared (the same day as they flew over the Sendai camps), the situation at Ohasi remained calm, although the rules and discipline being enforced by Allied officers in camp were not going over particularly well.^[1182]  Food rations were increased, there was more freedom to move around the camp, and radio reports of American movements and liberation efforts kept morale at a good level. The biggest problem seemed to be a shortage of tobacco.^[1183]  A storehouse was opened up, revealing huge amounts of medical supplies including, “enough dental stuff there to open up a dentist’s office.”^[1184]

On August 24 word spread that American planes would be coming with supplies. Large letters – POW – and the numbers 7 4 9 (the number of prisoners in camp) were painted on one of the hut roofs. Around noon the next day about a dozen fighter aircraft circled over the camp. One of the pilots dropped a box with a packet of Lucky Strikes and an attached note: “Cheer up boys, won’t be long, two or three more days. Ensign W.F. Narrah, 2221 East Newton, Seattle, Wash.”^[1185] 

Over the next week there were numerous supply runs dropping food, clothing, medicine and bundles of newspapers and magazines into the camp and surrounding hillsides. As occurred at other camps, many of the containers came loose from their platforms or parachutes and fell crashing to earth. Bob Acton remembered how the men would run for cover.

When the Americans started dropping stuff, they used big platforms and a lot of stuff was in these drums on [them] and had parachutes. But the weight of it would tear them off and these things would come through the building and dig a hole in the ground. So when we heard someone shout, “Here come the planes,” or “I can hear a plane,” we’d all run outside the camp – at this time they’d let us do that – and up the street they had a culvert and we’d all get under that.^[1186]

Gerry Gerrard recalled one close call:

One day they hit the camp direct in where the cookhouse was. I was standing in the doorway and looked up and could see this black thing getting bigger and bigger as it came down. And it hit, I guess about 30-40 feet behind me. They had these cooking deals – giant woks – set in cement, and it hit the corner of one of those and smashed the cement right off.^[1187]

One of the supply planes on August 29 dropped a number of bundles outside the camp. Thirty men quickly rushed up the mountainside to “retrieve the loot.” Among the supplies were a large quantity of American uniforms – almost everyone now had a complete outfit of new clothes, from underwear, socks and boots, to overalls and coats.^[1188]  Jim Mitchell talked about one of his excursions outside the camp to look for some of the food supplies:

What we did, Blacky and I, (lots of them [food drops] landed outside the camp), we knew the war was over, we said let’s get the hell out of camp and look for better food….I was a little weak and very thin. I found this box and on the end of it, it said, “Powerhouse Chocolate Bars.” That is the chocolate bars of the American Army. I sat down and bust that thing open, got some bars and started eating. And shortly after, I found some cigarettes….^[1189]

By early September the accumulation of food supplies was estimated to last a month, and now rumours about a pending move began to circulate. During one of the recent supply drops, barrels had broken free and destroyed a toilet and a portion of the kitchen. So a new message was painted on the roof: “No more.”^[1190]  However, the rumours of leaving turned out to be overly optimistic, and within a week the food supplies had virtually run out (although fortunately there was at least one more supply drop to come).^[1191]  The prolonged waiting, and now scarcity of American food, prompted groups of men to set out for Tokyo on their own. About thirty left on the 7th, another forty on the 9th, and more during the days to follow. Ironically, about this same time a radio broadcast announced that a ship had left from Yokohama for Kamaishi to pick up the POWs there.^[1192]

On September 15, the liberation fleet arrived and the process of moving the Ohasi prisoners to the waiting ships began. The train that had been used to transport ore from the mine to the smelters in Kamaishi was now employed to move the LPWs down to the harbour. Gerry Gerrard:

…they brought the train up and we all boarded it and went down and off the train and onto these landing barges and the whole time there was a guy with a megaphone – he’s yelling what to do and where to go, and who the Prime Minister of Canada was, giving us bits of information.^[1193]

Bob Acton:

…we got on a hospital ship, they took us all in and made us shower and then some soldiers with masks on came in and squirted us with we didn’t know what, under our arms, down here, and our hair – that was DDT. They threw all our clothing [from the supply drops] overboard and we put on new American stuff, and you could see all our stuff floating in the water.^[1194]

Now outfitted in their new U.S. Navy apparel, the men were interviewed, inspected by medical staff, and given a message form to fill out for priority telegrams to be sent back to Canada.^[1195]  Bob Acton wrote, “Safe in Allied hands. Hope to be home soon. Writing.”^[1196]  Similar messages were sent by the other Signals, now on their way to Tokyo.^[1197]  Jim Mitchell described the sight that greeted them when they arrived in Tokyo Bay: “…as far as you could see there were ships, ships, ships, and planes flying over.”^[1198]  Many of those ships and planes would soon be part of a massive repatriation enterprise.

Canada, August, 1945

According to a message from Prime Minister Mackenzie King to liberated POWs made public on August 28, “every possible measure is being taken to ensure your early repatriation and the restoration in fullest measure of your health, strength and peace of heart and mind.”^[1199]  In fact, considerable planning involving Canadian officials regarding the repatriation of Far East prisoners of war had been going on since the spring of 1945, months before Japan surrendered. A memorandum issued by the British Chiefs of Staff on April 17 and forwarded to Canadian officials began,

In view of the progress of operations in the Pacific the British Chiefs of Staff consider that planning for the repatriation of allied prisoners of war, including merchant seamen, recovered in the course of operations or on cessation of hostilities, should now be placed on a firm basis.^[1200]

The Canadian Interservice Committee on Prisoners of War began dealing with repatriation issues as early as June when it was noted that no plans had yet been made regarding the prisoners in Hong Kong.^[1201]  By early August, repatriation details and responsibilities (primarily assigned to American military leaders) had been forwarded to Canadian Army Headquarters in Ottawa by the officials in External Affairs who had been working on the file. A senior colonel, George Ellis, who had been named Director of Repatriation, was actively working with his counterparts in London and Washington. At the August 10 meeting of the Interservice Committee on PW, the responsibilities and lines of communication were discussed in great detail, along with staffing needs and requirements for reception camps on Canada’s west coast.^[1202]  One of the main decisions made by Canadian military and External Affairs officials was that U.S. commanders on the scene in Japan would have control of Canadian LPWs, and that the Canadians should be “brought out” with recovered Americans.^[1203]

On August 16, the day after the broadcast of Emperor Hirohito’s message of surrender, Col. R.S. Malone, Director of Public Relations for the Canadian Army sent a telegram from Manila with preliminary reports of numbers of Canadian POWs in Japan and Hong Kong.^[1204]  But it was clear that information available about the number and location of camps and how many men were in each was very spotty. Over the next two weeks, attempts were made to arrange transport for a repatriation team of Canadian officers and NCOs to Manila, which had been selected as the main collection point for Far East LPWs.^[1205]  The team eventually arrived in early September.

Although the military planning and bureaucratic communication would continue to function in high gear over the weeks to come, the stage was set to take care of over 1400 Canadians and tens of thousands of other Allied POWs held in Japan and Japanese controlled territories. It was now time to bring the boys home.

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Chapter 8: A Taste of Freedom - Notes