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My next recollection is back to River-Valley Road, in Singapore, a big untidy camp next to a big amusement park called ‘The New World’. All brightly lit and working. It was a very big camp and we shared it with many Indian troops mostly ‘Ghurkas’ and ‘Punjabis’, apparently the ‘Sihks’ had defected to the blandishments of the ‘Nips.’, who had promised them freedom after they had won the war, forming a ‘Free Asia Group’, but the little ‘Ghurkas’ and ‘Punjabis’ had remained faithful to our ( and their) King. I am convinced they are the most fearsome little warriors in the whole world. They were the first troops we saw when we were eventually released and what a welcome sight they were, maybe that is why I hold them in such esteem. Our part of the camp was separated from the Indian section by a row of unoccupied huts, so creating an invincible barrier that never seemed to be broken by the Indian faction.
I was always a nosey devil, always on the lookout for anything that could be turned to our mutual advantage, and one day as I was roaming round these unoccupied huts, I came across a little Punjabi soldier indulging in a P.T. session. He was doing press-ups over the edge of the sleeping platform, his head right over the edge and his chest touching his hands. I remained stock-still and counted the number of press-ups. I counted over 80 and as he was in operation when I first noticed him, I reckon he must of done 100. He was beautifully made, only must of weighed about 9 stone but very small boned. I learned later that the Nips. were very scared of them and made a practice of keeping well away when out on working parties, they were in danger of having things accidentally fall on them. The patriotic fervor they had for the British Crown was equal to any of our troops, unfortunately this fervor was not shared by other casts such as the Sihks, who transferred their allegiance to the Nippon ‘Fried Egg Flag’, and were later promoted to supervision of other Indian P.O.W’s.
We had to go out on working parties from this camp, mostly down to the docks loading ships with loot from the big ‘Godowns’, which were all around the docks, and this was where being nosey paid off. Lots of other loot useful to us was found. One very useful commodity was bags of powdered milk. This was a source of food very valuable to the hospital section for mixing with the rice to help patients get down sustenance to keep them alive.
With every working of around 25 men, one man was always detailed to be ‘tea boy’. His job was to keep a steady supply of tea always ready for ‘Yasumi’, the Jap. version of teabreak. His main tool was a 5 gallon petrol can, constructed with a bamboo handle. This was for boiling tea, always completed with a large piece of cloth ostencibly for wiping out dixies etc. The procedure on these working parties was for sentries to come to the camp, pick up his quota of men then set of to the specific job he had been detailed to do. Mostly there were 2 sentries to each party, and when things began to be discovered word went round and everybody was trying to get in on the act. Consequently the Japs. at the camp started instituted searches of bodies and all kinds of ingenious methods of secreting contraband loot were employed. Under hats, especially the Aussies with their bush-hats. They could conceal quite a few packets, especially cigs., until someone had his hat accidently dislodged, primarily because it was overloaded. That method soon fizzled out. Another trick was pockets sewn into what was known as ‘Jap-happies’, tied round the waist and slung between the legs. You couldn’t carry much this way as it could be quite uncomfortable. The best source was the ‘Teaboys’ teacans, and these were used quite extensively, principally because this method was used for supplying the hospital. Everyone took a hand in hood-winking the searching camp guards, passing the teacan from back row to front as the searching sentry passed along the rows. Needless to say, one teaboy was caught by a more intelligent sentry. He made the teaboy , a very astute ‘Jock’, well known for his contributions to the hospital,open the teacan and the sentry pointed to the cloth at the bottom of the teacan, saying ‘Nanda’, and lifting it exposing the white milk powder underneath. The quick thinking ‘Jock’, pointing to his mouth dipped his finger into the powder and proceeded to rub across his teeth inferring that the powder was tooth powder. We had always noticed the Japs made quite a fuss of cleaning their teeth when doing their ablusions. The sentry fell for it, and for punishment, he was made to stuff a handfull in his mouth. The contorted facial expressions he pulled, and the loud guffaws at his performance completely hood-winked the sentry, so much so he was allowed to keep his prize and take it into camp where it was thankfully received by the medics and another mans esteem rose amongst his fellow men.
During this period calm and regular work, bed and reasonable food, another highlight, was the arrival into Singapore harbour of a German ‘U’ Boat, and whilst working on the docks some of our lads came into contact with some of the crew. There were stories of friendly contacts and packets of cigs. passed over. The Germans didn’t seem to have much time for the Nips, and didn’t appear to have much in common, whereas we were treated as equals, and it gave us a warm sort of feeling.
February 1945
There was a definitely different atmosphere in the air now. We could sense that the war was now turning in our favour, and we got orders to prepare to move. It was with much trepidation as we felt more at home in Singapore, especially if the war was to come to an end. I had all kinds of plans in my head, as we expected the Nips and still mostly Korean guards would turn on us and mow us down with their machine guns. Now we were to embark for some foreign shore, maybe Japan itself. Some of our lads did eventually get to Japan, my pal ‘Gwynne’ was one, and from stories he told after we got home, he very nearly died there. He was repatriated via America after being released, and had a wonderful time.
It was in this camp I went down with another bout of malaria, suffering the usual agua fits and wild nightmarish dreams. Many were the rumours being banded about. There were stories of a boat load of P.O.W’s being transported on a ship to Japan, being intercepted in the China seas by an American submarine and torpedoed and sunk with no survivors.
The next order was to collect our belongings, and we were marched down to the docks ready for shipment, we knew not where. I remember it was a bright day and we were all assembled on the docks to be counted when there appeared in the sky a tiny white dot and we realised it was not a Jap plane when ‘Ack-Ack’ guns started firing to send it away. We were all looking up and cheering when suddenly we heard the dreaded sound of whistling getting nearer and as one man we all dived looking for cracks in the concrete. There was a loud thud on a ‘Godown’ next to where we were gathered, we later presumed it must be an ‘Ack-Ack’ shell cap returning to earth. After that it was ‘speedo’ as we were ushered unceremoniously aboard a 1500 ton steamboat of Canadian construction which was loaded to the top layer of the holds with ingots of tin and bales of rubber. We knew because we had helped to load them. This was loot being shipped to Japan for use in the war effort.
Some 1500 men were eventually crammed aboard. We were lucky as we were ushered down to the first level, down a narrow iron ladder into 3 ft. high shelves that went back to the sides of the ship. Plenty of space but no light. Fortunately some fortuitous souls had brought their ‘Flicker lamps’ with them and we were able to have a little light. It was hot, clammy and it certainly helped me to get rid of my malaria bout quickly. We set sail on the tide and things on board were quite chaotic. The Nips had mounted machine guns on a platform at the front of the top deck, covering the whole top deck. We were out of sight in the hold and we had come on board with our dixies full of rice and stew to be eaten at ones leisure. A cookhouse was set up on deck and dishing out was organised fairly successfully. Much experience had now been gained at this kind of situation. Water was as usual a major problem. There were steam winches on the deck, and as the steam condensed, water dripped and there was always a dixie catching the drops. Queues soon formed at each winch. Toilet was another problem. This was solved by slinging cages over the rail of the ship with a hole in the bottom to evacuate the bowels and queues soon formed at these. There wasn’t room to lay down all at one time, so sections had to take it in turns. We were O.K. not many relished the idea of being below decks, so we had plenty of room. The only problem was negotiating the iron ladder with the rice and stew which was collected by squads, and managed twice a day.
The whole journey was to take 5 days. It all happened on the third night out. It was very noticeable that through the night, every hour on the hour, the coal fired furnaces were raked over, causing showers of sparks to be emitted from the funnel, lighting the seas for miles around. In the light of subsequent events I am convinced in my own mind, this was a pre-arranged signal. The crew were Chinese, and some of our lads from the R.E’s were giving them a hand at feeding the boilers. It was in the early hours when suddenly a huge explosion occurred. The side of the ship where we were laying seemed to go in and out, like the top of a tin of blown fruit. The air was electric, you could feel the tension. One move for the ladder and panic would have reigned. Suddenly a voice called out very steadily and controlled ‘Stay where you are everybody’ and tension gradually eased. Charlie Gross was the owner of the voice and I am convinced he saved many lives that night. Such actions of foresight and courage are never rewarded. His only reward was a new sense of respect accorded him.
I have to here state that our convoy which left Singapore on February 2nd 1945, consisted of 3 ships loaded with loot. Ours was the only one with P.O.W’s on board. We also had 2 Jap destroyers as escort. After that initial explosion, and the pregnant silence that followed, all hell broke loose. ‘Bofor Guns’, machine guns, everything that made a bang was let off. The next morning when daylight came we were entirely on our own, not another ship in sight. We assumed they had all been sunk.
Three days later we arrived at Saigon, which is now Vietnam, but was then French Indo China. We were taken to a well set up camp, which had been a French Legionaires Barracks, and allowed a few days to settle in. My recollection at this stage is very limited as we weren’t there long before we were on the move again, this time up country. We traveled by train to eventually land at a tourist attraction of a place on the banks of a swift flowing river, with a pretty high water fall called ‘The Lang-Can-Shutes’. There, we made a camp near to a civil unused airport, apparently our job was to lengthen the run-way to take the bigger Military planes for use by the now retreating forces. It was a marvelous location, almost like a holiday camp. We got ourselves established in camp in the very familiar ‘Attap’ style huts, with sleeping bamboo platforms, but with plenty of space. Now we were feeding well, in fact as there were deer in the vicinity, we were later to sample venison.
Our daily duties were now concentrated at the Airfield. First of all, cutting down trees and levelling the ground. The usual practice of being split into parties of 25 to each working gang. Then being led to a specific job of work. We didn’t have many sick in the early days as all who had been selected were potentially fit men. Our main concern at this stage was the attention of the U.S Airforce. After the experience of over 100 of our comrades being killed at ‘Non-Pladuk’, we didn’t relish the idea of being bombed and straffed by our own allies, but this is what actually happened, although luckily we didn’t suffer casualties.
We were going daily a distance of about a mile to the Airfield. Each gang allocated to separate tasks. One party digging stones from the river bed and piling them on the river bank. I was on this party one day and the task was set us was 1 meter wide, 1 meter high and 5 meters long, and when that was achieved we could return to camp. We had a good gang composed mainly of ‘Jocks’ and ‘Geordies". We had our target done by lunch, and true to their word we were allowed to return to camp, after our usual swim in the river. Needles to say, on the following day we found our task had been increased to 10 meters, much to our disgust. The next gangs job was to transfer the rocks to the Airfield. This job was done by stretchering on 2 bamboo poles, with a piece of canvas. A good 2 men could carry about 60 to 80 pounds at a time. But of course there were many quite willing to let others do all the work. This was when usually the smallest and weakest was selected to be the ‘Teaboy’.
There were several instances, but not necessarily in chronological order, an early experience was after a daily ablution. I had just put on a clean ‘Jap-Happy,’ from the bamboo rail strung across each bed-space, and was brushing my hair when I felt a tickle. Glancing down I saw a scorpion emerging from my privates area on to my groin. I swung down with my hair brush and swept it away, a pure reflex action. It was only a young one, about an inch long and light coloured, but their sting is like a bee sting, very painful. They grow to about 3" and turn black when fully grown and then the sting can be fatal.
Another instance happened one day, when marching back to camp, singing ‘Colonel Bogey’ as we marched, when the sound of a low flying plane was heard. As one body we dived into the ditch at the road side, a purely panic reaction, much to the annoyance of our Nip guards, and after much "Buggeering’, soon had us back in line and on our way. They stopped all singing after that.
These visitations by the U.S Lockheeds were getting more regular and one day they came over the Airfield straffing a ‘Steamroller’ that was rolling the stones we had laid the previous day, leap-frogging a party of our chaps, who just lay flat on the ground. This was when we knew they knew we were there.
One day I had just returned to my bed space after having had a wash, when a plane flew low over-head just clearing the trees. He had sent a burst of machine gun bullets, presumably at something he had seen on the run-way, having over-shot his mark somewhat, a few stray bullets came into our camp, and one of my clean ‘Jap-Happies’ fluttered down. Apparently I had a very near miss.
Also in this camp we were subjected to some very heavy thunder storms, as many as 3 happened at the same time. One day the largest hut in camp was struck by lightning dislodging some of the timber, but no one was hurt. Many times we heard trees being struck and we felt that the thick high trees amongst which our camp was set, gave us some sort of protection.
March 1945
This period lasted from March to July 1945 and we were totally isolated from all humanity, our only intimation of the progress of the war was the regular visits of the Lockhead Lightnings. We also saw American ‘Flying Fortresses, coming over Saigon, presumably on their way to bomb Japan. We saw Jap fighters trying to reach them but I presume they were too high. One day we saw one of these ‘dog fights’ when one or two Jap fighters appeared to disappear in a puff of smoke followed by parachutes descending with the pilots. The bombers serenely carried on their way.
Around this time I had another spell in hospital with a return of malaria and a touch of dysentery and came into contact with group of Aussies who were a really wild bunch. Apparently we had received in the camp a delivery of Red Cross goods but the guards had put them away into the stores and refused to share them out. The Aussies had realised this and had broken into the stores to recover some of the goods. When this was discovered all hell broke loose, reprisals were taken and a very thorough search took place. The ‘loot’, or what was left of it, was eventually found stashed between the layers of attap in the roof of the hospital. I had noticed a lot of activity around the Aussies beds when I was in there but had been discharged by this time. A trio of Aussies were hauled out by the Nips and summarily punished but not as harshly as in the railway days. They were tied to a tree but the ring leader, King was his name but known as Ned Kelly by the others, managed to escape into the jungle. It was a practice at night to light bonfires around the camp ostensibly to keep out the tigers that were supposed to frequent this part of the jungle. The chaps congregated round these at night and it was well known Ned would return each night to be fed by his mates whenever he could.
August 1945
Then sometime in early August we were suddenly warned to pack up as we were going back to Saigon. Everything was done very hurriedly now, and in the light of subsequent happenings, the reason was the war was coming to a speedy end.
We stopped at a village, which was obviously a siding, judging by the number of rails and it had been subjected to some very concentrated attention from the U.S. Airforce. All the trees were stripped bare, we had stopped to have a cooked meal and the guards took us well away from the sidings down to the banks of a river which was thickly wooded and sufficient to screen us from aircraft should we have a raid. I remember very clearly that in the sand at the side of the river, there were lots of shiny specks in the sandy soil and I often wonder if it was gold-dust.
We finally reached Saigon by nightfall and were taken to a camp in the centre of town. Our previous camp had been on the outskirts. The following day we learned about the ‘Atomic Bomb’ being dropped in Japan, and that the Allies had given them 3 days to accept unconditional surrender; everybody was ecstatic. Then one of the American Flying Fortresses flew low over our camp and suddenly one of the bomb flaps opened and clouds of leaflets were dropped as we stood watching and cheering. The Japs opened up with ‘Ack-Ack’ guns and we were stunned into abject silence. Many there were, who broke down and openly wept. Reason soon asserted itself, when we realised that the plane had not been hit, and as it was so low it couldn’t possibly have been missed. We assumed it had only been a warning.
The next few days were hectic. We learnt the Japs had accepted unconditional surrender, we were moved back to our original camp on the outskirts and were issued with complete uniforms of the French Foreign Legion. This was of course so that we would appear in better condition when our relieving troops came. Soon after this we were allowed freedom of movement, and gangs of us ventured into the City of Saigon and found it a wonderful place.
As I said earlier, this was ‘French Indo China’, a French colony at the outbreak of war, but the local Vietcong Chinese natives were not going to let the French take them over, and marches were organised with street banners, and we were treated with absolute welcome by both sides. Lots of French Colonists who occupied one certain section of the town, tried their best to get us to visit their homes with gifts, especially cigarettes. There was a tram service in the City and we soon got used to riding on it, we could go anywhere and were never asked for our fares. One day we were down in the Chinese sector of town, a party of about 8 of us. I had wandered ahead, looking in shop windows, when a Chinese Gentleman came up to me and said in very broken English, "You like play billiards". He was dressed in perfect European dress. I shouted to my colleagues, "Anyone like a game of billiards". They came up to me very sceptically saying "Sure, lead us to it".
Next Chapter
Coming Home
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