Thank You to Lou Baron
Id like to thank our ship mate Lou for pointing me in the right direction to finding out the history of one of my relies who was a jap pow.
He was john Ernest Arthur Thomas, Lac ,84 squadron, RAF, service number 548292. He was captured in Java 08/03/42. Then being transported on the hell ship Dainichi Maru from Java via signapore to Honshu (mukaishima) Japan. A voyage taking nearly two months in which 80 men died. I think i have him being liberated in 1945 at Hiroshima#4 Mukaishia, where he seems to have been used as heavy labour in the shipyards there. From there i lose him, but from what i understand he was taken to Australia to recover, before being repatreated to the UK some 12 months later. On being liberated he weighed just 41/2 stone, i next find him in 1948 getting married in South Wales and he died sometime around 1966 of cancer? (Possible link to the atomic bomb fallout)
So once again Lou THANK YOU.
Ps i read your story on the COFEPOW site, Very good reading.
KISS.keep it simple stupid