Korean Guards

[Lou Barron]

Thebook you refer to is called the Naked Island .It does not matter what books and movies have been done it can never give you the actual facts of what it was really like specially the movies
It would be impracticable to do so The author of the Naked Island was in Changi Jail and i never met him but that is understandable as there was over 12000 in and around the jail the only Aussie i knew was a guy nicknamed Black Jack Callagan(ithink thats how its spelt )he was in charge of the internal police A B*****d
The Jail was run by our own army officers under instructions from the Japs
As time went on the Japs demanded more men for working parties they said if a man did not work he got no food so many a sick man went on a working party them thatwas left in the jail did work in the jail
As the japs cut the food ration down it made it hard for our people to make ends meet so instead they had to work out how measure the rice to cover for the really sick peoplefrom the ones who was working and believe me it was bloody hard

[leratty]

Charles you are absolutely right as to films-books etc not being able to convey the real world of such situations. Your being prepared to even speak about it to us is enough for someone like me. My respect for your strength of charector is immense. I can not begin to imagine the hardship you went through but it sickens me to know that our own did the lowest of the low in such situations. I often have thought when reading about this sort of thing what happened to them, were they got rid of before the troops arrived, were they tried & jailed or even more? How the f... did they live with themselves? Of course have no idea how I would behave in such a situation would like to think well & with dignity, but? Richard

[Tony Wilding]

HI LOU, I have the same thoughts as the last post, what happened to those S O B ,s when you woke up and found all the guards gone, was you aware the guards would do a runner, ? must have been a very strange feeling to suddenly realise you were not prisoners any more, and could do as you pleased, no more work or beatings, must have felt good to go outside the camp unguarded. best wishes, Tony W.

[Lou Barron]

In answer tour post 6 John i do not know the wrote the book Camp on Blood Island there have been a lot of books written about the Jap pow camps some are not bad but alot of them was rubbish
To you Tony i did mention in my stories awhile ago what did really happen
It was our own officers told us to keep in the camp and not to do anything rash as at that time we did not what wasgoing on but i believe thatin some of the other camps the guys broke out and a few did a few of the guards over but i never so any evidence of that
It was when the planes came over dropping leaflets telling us to stay in the camp as help was on the way .
Then the Brits dropped 50 paratroops thatwas to keep us from breaking out.
What happened to the guardsi dont know .
The last i sawof the Japs and Koreans no Indians was on our way to the Monawai to take us homewas a working party of them being put to work and the British troops

[robpage]

Camp on Blood Island was written as a Film rather than a book and was written by Jon Ewbank Manchip White details are http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Camp_on_Blood_Island

[Robert T. Bush]

The vast majority of the Indians in both world wars faught with distinction and served well on British merchant ships. However there were a few bad apples as there are in any national group. The worst Indian I read of was a Bengali named Nataji Subas Chandra Bose. After WW2 Clive Street in Calcutta was renamed after him. Prewar he went to Germany and sucked up to the Nazis but the Germans had no time for him and sent out of the country. In Singapore he recruited some Indians to his INA Indian National Army who faught for the Japanese in Burma. "On to Delhi." was his slogan, they were stopped at Imphal.

The Japanese sent Bose to Port Blair in the Andamans where he was not admired and then to Burma where many Burmese disliked Indians. Seeing the defeat of his group coming Bose tried to Fly to Japan but was allegedly killed in a plane crash. Good riddance.

Never been to Korea but have had negative experience on ships and ashore with them. To me they are less honest than the Japanese. If North and South Korea ever join they will be a menace in my opinion.

[j.sabourn]

My father was at Imphal where the japanese were stopped. He told me that the only troops who stood their ground were the British and the Ghurkas. The Indian regiments retreated en masse. If the japanese had not outrun their supply lines they would have been well into India. Regards John Sabourn

[leratty]

John you should try to go to Kohima - Imphal it is something to experience. As I said the war graves-memorial are in pristine state. The famous tennis court where so much hand hand took place is retained as was the house, many of the trenchs are still there for you to see so bloody close to the Japanese positions too. To see & think this is the size of area (tennis court) at one time they were fighting in mind boggling. I can not recall the regiment am ashamed to say but it sure received a lot of gongs for this action. I have never understood why that sector of the war is so neglected in the public eye, the Chindits & their actions just amazing. I believe that sector is know as 'The Forgotten War' do not know why, do you? Richard

[Peter Trodden]

My Dad was in the Burma Campaign with the Forgotten Fourteenth Army and like most men of that generation,talked very little of the war. He once said, if anyone tells me to go to Hell, I tell 'em I've already been there, I walked in and I walked out but left many good mates there. He passed away 13 months ago age 96.
The photo was taken in Karachi,waiting to ship home,my Dad standing,arms folded. Peter.scan0036.jpg

[j.sabourn]

Peter thats exactly like my old man arrived home, bush hat an all.Think he got his demob suit later, was down to 8 stone and covered in boils. Was always his ambition to get to Singapore to see where one of his brothers was buried, was killed at the fall of Singapore on the causway it was reported to my grandmother 2 years after the war ended. I looked for his grave one time in the war cemetry there but had insufficient time, and never really found. However the Australian war cemetrys had more information than the British one and got the plot number and everything, so is still a chore I have to do. You are right they never talked about it. Regards John Sabourn.