First Into Nagasaki (9 page)

Sergeant Major J. W. Heathcote (Wealdstone):
“Living one year as a prisoner of war in Japan was much harder than two in Thailand.”

Sergeant W. Cartwright (Coventry):
“Over three years of mental and physical torture, disease, starvation and death.”

Corporal G. Murdock (Dundee, Scotland):
“Good luck to the atom bomb. A mighty package with amazing results.”

Private McEvoy (Waterford):
“The sooner I leave this godforsaken country, the better.”

Driver Bain Norwich:
“The parents of all the Japanese I have met could never have been married.”

Lance Corporal Blair (Aberdeen):
“Bombs or no bombs, I am coming home for Christmas.”

Driver Spiller (Leicester):
“Life as a prisoner was hell on earth.”

Sergeant Alfred Hammond:
“Starvation, humiliation and brutality was the treatment given to all.”

Sergeant Scott E. Fakenham (Norfolk):
“We were slaves for over three years, with little food or medical supplies.”

Gunner G. V. Newton (Blackpool):
“Blood, sweat and toil; reward—starvation.”

Driver Jim Gordon (Buckie, Scotland):
“Soon debts to the Japanese will be squared.”

Driver Cameron (Glasgow):
“The Japanese are a disgrace to humanity.”

Driver Ralph J. Burnley:
“I can still hardly believe we are free from these hateful people.”

Private Pattison (Coventry):
“Being animals themselves, they tried to bring us to their level.”

Private Albert Monks:
“An orange peel was a luxury.”

Private Herbert Guppy (New Washington):
“Men murdered and tortured; living skeletons.”

Private Robert Booker (Wotvester Park):
“These nasty yellow people have no saving grace.”

Driver Thomas Wood (Salford):
“Work, disease and starvation. Death was a liberation. There was never a sign of civilization.”

Driver Lawrence (Luton):
“Home for Christmas, thanks to the bomb.”

Lance Corporal Starkey (Sapcote):
“I would sooner die than do it again.”

Lance Corporal McLean (Glasgow):
“We have been degraded, tortured, starved, insulted and treated like rats.”

Private James Bradley (Leeds):
“They enjoy seeing men suffer. The best is a barbarian.”

Private Fred Roberts (Bolton):
“A nation of hateful people.”

Private A. K. Glover (Crewe):
“Years of hell, like a Karloff horror film.”

Driver A. J. Gay (Taunton):
“Their treatment was inhuman, devoid of all pity. We were overworked and on insufficient rest.”

Sergeant N. Gallager (Birr, Ireland):
“Years of torture, indescribable to a civilized world.”

Driver Newton (Lancaster):
“Freedom is a dream come true.”

Private R. W. Tinkler (Grantham):
“We Britons were slaves, but only for three years.”

Private George Allen (Derby):
“A nightmare at the hands of these merciless, uncivilized barbarians.”

Corporal J. Symon (Great Yarmouth):
“Being a prisoner under the Japanese is an experience I would not wish on my worst enemy.”

Driver Clarke T. Rochdale (Lancashire):
“Lucky to be alive. Bad treatment by Japs. Shelled and bombed by our own forces.”

Driver Wilkinson Harleston (Norfolk):
“We were worked to the breaking point even when sick.”

Corporal H. Jones (Chesterfield, Derbyshire):
“The atomizer bomb blasts us back to civilization. Three and a half years of hell are over at last.”

Corporal N. F. Haigh (Darwen, Lancashire):
“Little soup and rice, many fleas and lice, home . . . what price?”

Driver T. R. Bevan (Bridgend, Glamorgan):
“The atomizer bomb gives us freedom from suffering at last.”

Driver G. Cross (Chester):
“Only two raids destroyed the whole town of Omuta by fire.”

Driver W. R. Howden (Sheffield):
“The Japanese are unfit to rule over animals, least of all men.”

Driver R. Woods (Manchester):
“I am lucky to be alive after such bad treatment and the new bomb.”

Private W. Coman (Coltishall, Norfolk):
“Three and a half years of hell in the hands of sadists.”

Private T. Eldridge (Welling, Kent):
“Thanks to the atomizer bomb, rice and soup is off the menu.”

Private J. H. Griffiths (Twickenham):
“The Japanese take great delight in torture of all types.”

Private T. Jackson (Torquay):
“I did not realize people could be treated so badly. The Japanese are not human.”

Private W. Carlton (New Ross, Ireland):
“The most wicked people on earth.”

Private W. Walpole (Manchester):
“I cannot express on paper the mental and physical torture I have experienced.”

Sergeant W. A. Underwood (Peterbourough): “You
beat the Japanese.
We
beat malaria, plague, dysentery, cholera and beriberi.”

Sergeant T. Archie (London):
“Over three years ago I ceased to be a human being.”

Sergeant D. M. Boorer (Surrey):
“Three years of hell. Now for England and heaven.”

Private A. J. Peppall (London):
“After years of misery, we are coming home for Christmas.”

Omuta, Japan—Wednesday, September 12th, 1945 1800 hours

Allied Prison Camp #17, Omuta, Kyushu

The following is an exclusive-name story for the
Australian Mirror
syndicate.

The atomic bomb falling on Nagasaki and Hiroshima released from servitude 420 Australians laboring in the Mitsui coal mine and zinc factory, having been captured in Singapore, Java and Timor. 300 worked in the coal mine beside 700 Americans, with the death toll high from disease, injuries and undernourishment.

A few saw the Hiroshima bomb cloud bellying high into the sky, but more saw the Nagasaki bomb. None guessed its meaning.

Here are characteristic statements as these Aussies await the coming American transport planes which will take them to liberty. Some have already taken “French leave” via the airbase at Kanoya, in southern Kyushu, and are now in Okinawa or Manila.

The Aussie camp commandant, Lieutenant Reginald Howel (Wolseley):
“I believe I saw both Hiroshima, a hundred thirty miles away, and Nagasaki, about forty. Hiroshima was a white cloud formation rising endlessly in billows flecked with orange fire throughout the cloud. To me, the Nagasaki bomb, though nearer, made a less impressive pillar, although it was the same white formation, colored crimson.”

Captain Ian Duncan, camp physician (Killara):
“Even after our experiences in Thailand building the railroad, I was still able to feel awe at the atomic bomb’s pillar of fire and smoke.”

Sergeant Robert Dodsworth (Tranmere):
“There was a flash, and a fiery white cloud billowed into the air. As it rose it rolled in ever-increasing circles, assuming at its peak gigantic dimensions that were sustained for several hours.”

Vernon Benjamin (Natteyullock):
“Glowing clouds of smoke billowing up like a huge volcanic eruption.”

Driver C. Pickstone (Brisbane):
“The atomic bomb did not kill half enough. Air supplies have been our life saver.”

Driver Jack Farrell (Melbourne):
“The atomic bomb was a godsend, but it did not destroy enough.”

Sergeant Noel Robins (Centennial Park):
“A huge multicolored cloud rose upwards, giving the impression of an extraordinary bombing. I cannot visualize a punishment harsh enough for the vultures of the east.”

Sergeant Arthur Cyrne (Brisbane):
“My view of billowing fire and smoke from the atomic bomb brought me full satisfaction, owing to our brutal treatment by the Japanese.”

Private R. N. Lamb (Caulfield):
“After three and half years in the dark, we live in the sun again.”

Signalman Dan N. Laurie (Castlemaine):
“From a land of filth and hardship, back to paradise again.”

Private Frederick A. Forcina (Melbourne):
“At last a release from the bonds of slavery, building railroads on rats and rice, digging coal on dogs and frogs. Our present airborne food is a godsend.”

Driver Reginald Nagor (Kalgoorlie):
“The bomb saved many lives.”

Signalman Dave Rodda (Melbourne):
“A month of freedom and good food has made new men of us.”

Navy Signalman Foze (Victoria Park):
“Our positions are now reversed—the Japs do all the work.”

Loading Aircraftsman Power (Maylands):
“With the temperature below zero, they still gave us no boots to wear.”

Warrant Officer Wyllie (Sydney): “‘Once I built a railroad . . . ’”

Able Seaman Strange (Sydney):
“Waiting for the Yanks and tanks.”

Driver Ted Knight (Perth):
“Once again under Aussies’ banner, doing well on Uncle’s manna.”

Loading Aircraftsman Dean:
“I’m a vegetarian no longer!”

Warrant Officer Percy Mann (Brighton):
“Our lads can take hell when it comes to treatment. The little yellow men are now getting theirs.”

Driver Herb Harrison (Melbourne):
“They are the most inhuman race you can imagine.”

Private Bill Eames (Crows Nest):
“Hell is but heaven to any prisoner of war.”

Signalman Mayberry (Ormond):
“Coal mining under the yellow dogs was no cop. They starve, work, and murder you, then pray for you. But the rising sun has set.”

Staff Sergeant Laurie Jonas (Melbourne):
“Survival as a prisoner was more hazardous than dodging bombs, shells, etcetera. Atrocity stories by the hundreds can be told by all.”

Corporal Gowers (Sydney):
“The B-29s certainly made a bonfire of this joint. Now it looks like a rubbish dump.”

George Scott (Manly):
“One of my friends lost his legs as a result of Japanese torture.”

Gunner Viv O’Sullivan (Bundaberg):
“Men stripped of all their clothing in the depth of winter were stood to attention for days, with cold water thrown over them periodically.”

Gunner Francis Scriven (Brisbane):
“With a man’s hands tied, cigarettes were placed in each nostril and mouth and allowed to burn down until they burned the prisoner.”

Corporal Robson (Sydney):
“Many men are returning legless and armless because of the Japanese ill treatment.”

Sapper Dave Young (Sydney):
“Just a story of torture, starvation, and more torture.”

Corporal Herd (Sydney):
“A race of barbarians.”

Sapper Nicholson (Sydney):
“The new bomb must be a whizzer.”

Emmett McGee (Wollongong):
“I witnessed the savage treatment of Dutch women whilst in Java. I saw them beaten into unconsciousness with rifle butts.”

Private Bob Wright (Marryatville):
“Hundreds died of starvation while food rotted in store houses. They were bombastic while ‘might was right,’ but now they are most humble. May they rot on their own dunghill.”

John Miller:
“Men suffering from cholera were buried before they were dead.”

Sidney Ionn (Kogarah):
“No punishment is too severe for the Japanese.”

Bombardier Tommy Uren (Wollongong):
“Three metres a day on the hammer and tap under a blazing tropical sun, with a pick handle to caress your head in over-amorous affection at any cessation of labour.”

Private Norman Sunderland (Armidale):
“We have been bombed by Allied planes because of the Japanese violations of the Geneva Conventions.”

Gunner Falk Arncliffe:
“Withholding permission to go to the air raid shelter, during air raids at the zinc works, resulted in several casualties.”

Sergeant Douglas Faherty (Sydney):
“Captain Lumpkin, a young married officer of the U.S. medical department, gave his life while rendering medical service to the sick in Burma. For endless days and nights he treated thousands of men, tirelessly and courageously, for the many pestilences and diseases rife in that country. Handicapped by a lack of medical supplies he fought fearlessly on. Weakened by sickness and overwork, he finally succumbed. This man—this great American—really deserves recognition for his marvelous work.”

Private Jay Mears (Preston):
“We saw Chinese women in Singapore outraged before the eyes of helpless prisoners by Nipponese soldiers.”

Private Gill Gore (Parkside):
“For having my hands in my pockets while walking back from work, I was beaten unconscious by naked bayonets, then kicked back to consciousness.”

Private Norman Ablett (Fremantle):
“We prisoners were beaten to insanity.”

Private Donal McClelland (Saint James):
“Prisoners were forced to kneel on stones with bamboos behind their knees for long periods.”

Private Harry Lucas (Bridgetown):
“At one camp I was in we originally had 3,000 men. 1,000 died, and 200 had their legs or arms amputated.”

Driver Garnet Dixon (Phillip Island):
“It’s great to be free from these heathens, but we have much to avenge.”

Driver Robert Dayble (Melbourne):
“Like starting life all over again.”

Private Walter Bush (Dubbo):
“The Japanese can dinn it out, but they can’t take it.”

Private Charles Burell (Brisbane):
“The Japanese nation plays God, makes the blind see and the limbless walk. Their method? Punishment. The result? A failure of the miracle.”

Private Neal Smith (Ellorne):
“Officers and doctors were thrashed for trying to prevent the sick and dying from working.”

Private John Holman (Sydney):
“Sick men were left to die on the road during our march up through Thailand.”

Corporal Stone (Devonport):
“Men were beaten to death with pick handles.”

Private Charles Veness (Queenstown):
“Hara-kiri should be encouraged in this country.”