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The Far East was captured in a dramatic attempt by Japan to seize its wealth of natural resources, the captured men, woman and children had to endure nearly four years of Japanese oppression.
The prisoners lived their captivity as an endless nightmare and with no hope many died of despair.
The fortunate to awaken from their ordeal were never the same again. The nightmares returned to haunt their sleep and the faces of those left behind have never left them.
Researching their ordeal to find answers has led many of us to experience their torment, we will never feel the pain they endured and fortunately we can awaken from the despair that became their living hell as Japanese Pow’s.
Background Music
The Naked Isle is written and sung by Jim Rowlands in remembrance of his grandfather Albert Owen Rowlands from the 600 gunners party. The Japanese reported that the ship carrying the prisoners was lost at sea after leaving Singapore, which is known as the Naked Isle.
It wasn’t till after the war the truth was found when a large mass grave was found on Ballali Island, the Japanese had used 517 of the fittest to construct a runway on Ballali Island leaving the sick at Rabaul, then when finished those of the 517 remaining alive were massacred by the Japanese.
436 bodies were exhumed on Ballali Island, those remaining of the 517 are believed to have died before the massacre and buried on the island.
The date of death given by the Commonwealth War Graves is the 5th March 1943 for those who died on Ballali Island, the correct date is not known.
Fepow Family Pin:-
Many have asked if a pin is available, the design below is the completed graphic.
The FEPOW Family is world wide keeping the candle of remembrance alight.
The pin will be 1.25 inch wide in Fine Enamel with a butterfly clutch.
The estimated price will be £1.95 + postage.
Please order via the printable form:- Order Form
If you require help please email Ron at Ron.Taylor@fepow-community.org.uk
I would like to thank Michael Hurst MBE for all the help he has given with this project.
Fepow Day Pin:-
To promote August 15th as Fepow Remembrance Day a pin is also being produced.
The pin will be 1 inch high in Fine Enamel with a butterfly clutch.
The estimated cost will be £1.00 + postage.
Please order via the printable form:- Order Form
If you require help please email Ron at Ron.Taylor@fepow-community.org.uk
I would like to thank Michael Hurst MBE for all the help he has given with this project.
Conference:-
The Researching FEPOW History Group invites you to attend the
3rd International Conference
at the
National Memorial Arboretum (NMA)
Alrewas, Staffordshire
Saturday 9th & Sunday 10th October, 2010
Full details click here
New Books:-
 The Forgotten Highlander
by
Alistair Urquhart
The Forgotten Highlander will be published on March 4, 2010 by Little Brown and can be pre-ordered on Amazon etc.
Alistair does not pull his punches when it comes to the disgraceful treatment of FEPOW's.
EPILOGUE -
I reported to Mr Grassie in early September 1946. He assigned me to the office section, which was estimating, controlling contracts, meeting and dealing with customer complaints. With my previous knowledge of plumbing materials, I soon made up the leeway of nearly seven years’ absence from merchanting.
Mary and I were married in October 1946. The early days of our marriage were difficult due to my restless nights, periods of depression, being subject to bodily pain continually, haunting sleepless nights, and the recurring nightmares. On one occasion, I woke with my hands round Mary’s neck. This scared both of us and I reverted to an armchair in the kitchen for many weeks each night. I still went to work each day, and dreaded each night, with the everlasting ‘happy feet’ syndrome, and general fatigue.
The birth of our first child Joyce in 1949 was a blessing in many ways. It made me a father, nursemaid. I lent a hand in as many ways as I was capable of, and alas when nearly nine months old, Joyce developed eczema which soon covered her whole body. This was a blow, as it created much heartbreak. She could not bathe in water – only in olive oil, which took an hour each time, and finished with her being put in a straightjacket to prevent Joyce from scratching. This, and frequent hospitalisations, continued until Joyce was three years’ old, when the disease began to disappear, and in its place, she developed asthma, and suffered with that until Joyce was around 12 years old.
From early 1946, the dreaded kidney stones became another problem, with visits to the hospital to have them crushed and flushed, all with pain killing drugs, which was not available in the POW camps.
Life went on in a fashion until 1953, when the company was to be taken over. Mr Grassie told me he was unable to secure our jobs, and suggested we start to look for another post. So, in September 1953, I, and the family left Aberdeen, to take over a manager’s job in Didsbury, Manchester, and it was there that Philip was born in 1956. Joyce in the meantime gained a bursary to Withington Girl’s High School.
Once again, due to financial problems within the roofing section of the company, I found myself looking for another position, and finished up here in Dundee, in January 1963, and living in Broughty Ferry. Joyce, gained an honours degree at St. Andrews University, Scotland’s oldest learning institution in the historic Fife town, which is also the Home of Golf, where she met her husband to be, and married in December 1972, and they emigrated to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, on the 23rd December 1972.
Most years, Mary and I visited them in Canada, and over the years, made their homes in Vancouver and finally Ottawa, where they both worked for the Government, during these years, my health was always a problem, but I kept up my desire to do the best for all of us. In January 1981, yet another major blow descended, and one Saturday morning Mary took a severe stroke, and was hospitalised, for close on seven months, with no speech, or the use of her right arm and leg. Speech therapy and physiotherapy were carried out at Ninewells hospital in Dundee and Bridge of Earn hospital in Perthshire, during her stay in hospital.
Around this time, and daily visits to the hospitals, I was concerned with certain symptoms, of a disturbing nature, and was forced to visit an urologist, and consequently, was operated on several times, for cancer, which alas, included, orchidectomy, and all its import. This decision was taken to increase the chances of survival so that I was able to look after Mary, until her death in 1993, a 24-hour task.
Joyce, now resident in Ottawa, suggested I emigrate to Canada, as she felt there was nothing left for me in Dundee. I resisted her pleas for more than a year, but finally gave in and emigrated in July 1994 to Ottawa. It proved to be a very big blunder, as, at 75 years of age, found I had no friends, only acquaintances, who shunned me because I was an immigrant and had contributed nothing to Canada.
My health deteriorated badly, and in consequence, returned to Dundee, lock, stock and barrel in February 1995. Having made the mistake of selling my flat here, I had to start renting flats, and now am living in sheltered housing in Broughty Ferry, Dundee.
My first flat here went on fire on Christmas Day 1999 when I lost most of my possessions, and only bonus was that I was out with Philip on the day, otherwise I would not have been unfolding this manuscript today. Although I still have to suffer, I am actively involved in the community, attending ballroom tea dances, etc. and have met my new dance partner, Helen, and attend other social gatherings. We also run one of the tea dances - I play the music and Helen does the rest. As we enjoy each other’s company, and help each other, I am grateful for my present way of life, after all the turmoil, that life has thrown at me.
In September 2008, at the ripe old age of 89, I travelled to San Francisco to be reunited with an old friend – the USS Pampanito, which torpedoed the hellship Kachidoki Maru I was on all those years before. I took part in a remembrance ceremony on Sunday 14 September 2008, exactly 64 years since we were sunk in the South China Sea en route to Japan from Singapore. I stood in the control room where Lt. Cmdr. Paul Summers, captain of the submarine, had tracked the Kachidoki Maru, moved in for the kill and gave the order to fire. I also stood in the forward torpedo room where five torpedoes were fired at me on that fateful night when so many poor souls lost their lives. I stood on the deck, watching the tourists from across the world, take snapshots at the grey instrument of war, and tried to make sense of it all. I couldn’t explain why I wanted to come to San Francisco, put myself through the horrific 11-hour flight, be rushed around various dignitaries and ignorant American reporters, but I felt it needed to be done. I felt I needed to lay some demons to rest, sink them to the depths, like the hundreds who lost their lives in that faraway sea. It was a therapeutic process, much like writing this memoir.
My time as a prisoner of the Japanese helped shape and determine my path in life just as much as my childhood did. Like or not, the horrors did happen to me, and thousands of others. It has made me a much more patient, caring person. While in Japan, and working with Dr Mathieson, I vowed to spend the rest of my life helping others, and I am pleased to say that I have done so. It is where my satisfaction comes from nowadays.
My attitude to the Japanese race has not changed since the war. I was in Blackpool in May 2009 for the World Ballroom Dancing Championships, where 80 per cent of the competitors were Japanese. I found that they hadn’t changed a bit. They wanted to take over everything, and showed a complete disregard, arrogance, and rudeness, for everyone else there. I despise them immensely.
I wanted to tell a true account of what happened to us prisoners of the Far East during World War Two, warts and all, all truth, and no glorification – the bare bones story, not the glitzy Hollywood remake.
Even to this day, us Far East POWs still have to fight to keep going, as long as we can. Every day, every week, month, or year, is a bonus to us. And a loss of face to the Japanese. They have never admitted any real guilt for their disgraceful role in the war. The true extent of their murderous ways, their wanton killings, torture, are not taught in schools, and as far as I can tell, the world has pardoned them explicitly, helping them to quickly rebuild and become a world superpower. Children today in schools and workers in factories still have to bow to the Emperor. If they ever did admit their guilt, it wouldn’t be worth the paper it was written on. Too little too late.
I have used my experiences as a positive wherever, and have adopted a motto from that, which I never tire of telling others: There’s no such word as can’t.
At present, the book is under the working title of "The Last Highlander", it will be changed in the future. It is being sold on the internet by Waterstones and Amazon, the hardback by Waterstones at £15.19, as against the list price of £18.99. Delivery free, on publication.
 Accident or Assassination
THE WORK AND DEATH OF BRITISH WAR CRIMES INVESTIGATOR COLONEL CYRIL WILD
by
Arthur Lane
Founder of the National Ex Services Association
In Collaboration with George Duncan, with contributions from Joe Bamford (RAF Crash Investigator)
”It is not possible to conceive how cross winds could get the better of two experienced pilots.”
“If you come across this monster, Jim, please let me know. Hanging will be too good for him.”
At nine o’clock on the morning of Wednesday the 25th September 1946 Colonel Cyril Wild the chief British war crimes investigator in the Pacific boarded a Royal Air Force Douglas C-47B-25-DK Dakota C.4 at Kai Tak air strip Hong Kong, for a short journey to Singapore. By 9.31am the plane had crashed and Colonel Wild was dead.
Also killed in the crash there were five crew members: The pilot, Warrant Officer A. Christie; second pilot, Warrant Officer R. N Blackmore; Flight Sergeant J. K Hazeldine (pilot); Flight Sergeant J. W Holden, Quartermaster and Navigator; Flight Sergeant R. S Bond, Wireless operator;
and
Mr Davis, Chief British war crimes prosecutor; Mr R. A Gunnison, American newspaper correspondent; Sergeant Cameron, British Army; Mr E. T Patrick, civilian; Leading Signaler Boardman, Royal Navy; Gunner R. Heathcoat, British Army;Driver Timerick, British Army; L/Cpl Adcock, British Army; plus civilians: Mr Chiang Foe Hung; Mrs Ng Hung; Chiang Chu their two year old son and Mr Troung Ding pheong.
Ever since that day there have been many discussions and theories. Was it an accident or was it the assassination of a perfectly honest Christian gentleman ?
Colonel Wild had already declared that he had amassed enough evidence to convict the Emperor of Japan for War Crimes. Many of those utterly heart breaking, sadistic and evil crimes are listed in this book.
Arthur Lane who was a prisoner with Colonel Wild presents a case for humanity and justice.
A case that was closed when Colonel Cyril Wild crashed to his death.
Book costs £12,00 all profits to NESA bulk purchases 33.3 discount.
Please email - arthurlane@ntlworld.com
SANDAKAN 1942-1945 - STORIES OF THE LOCAL PEOPLE WHO HEROICALLY HELPED THE AUSTRALIAN PoWs
by
Doreen Hurst
First-hand accounts by members of the underground, their families and the indigenous people (2 still living) who helped the PoWs on the death marches. Contains, maps, copies of documents and many photos.
The price of the book is AUD30.
If you wish to purchase or obtain more information on the book, please contact Ms Dorren Hurst via email:- dhurst5@bigpond.com
Telephone:- (02) 6288 6195
Post: PO Box3091, Weston Creek ACT 2611.
Lest We Forget
by
Ivy Woods
A touching story of the millions of people who endured WWII
 Preserving memories of war is considerably amazing. Reminiscing of the past memories of warfare will bring us to the gloomy days that the people have endured. How much more if you were one of those who have witnessed and experienced the hostilities? Would it make you happy to think about them? Author Ivy Woods tries to save all of her memories prior and subsequent World War II with her desire to remember the historic event that has tainted the world's history — and she would like to share it with us, Lest We Forget.
The early part of her life was exposed to the aggressive era of war. At the age of fourteen, she was already working. But more than that she cannot forget her tragic experience with the wars that have made many impacts in her life. She relates about the brutal conflicts that would force the people to spend years of hiding in bomb shelters, the terror of mass destruction, Hitler's invasion of Poland, Great Britain and France's war against Germany, the Nazi occupation, the Japanese occupation, the wars in different countries, and the comfort women and their sufferings. There were many faces of sufferings during that time, millions of people had died by brutal killings, people were in great terror — children, men and women, regardless of age endured the same fate. How much did they suffer? How long did they wait before peace took over? Lest We Forget there were brave young men and women who gave their lives for the sake of the life that the following generations would embrace.
The moving story of the people who have endured during those times of wars might have injected pain and sadness to us. However, looking deeply into the history itself will give us the proud feeling and the joy that somehow, we have surpassed one of the greatest ordeals of time.
Ivy Woods was born and raised in SE. London. Her teenage life was interrupted by the chaos that WWII has caused. Fortunately, she survived the hell that Hitler threw upon them during the bombing raids over their city. After the war ended, Woods married an American service man and traveled the world with three lovely children until his tour ended. She now resides in Washington State.
Publisher Xlibris Corporation
https://www2.xlibris.com/bookstore/bookdisplay.aspx?bookid=55461
Hardcover ISBN 978-1-4363-8958-7
Softcover ISBN 978-1-4363-8957-0
Ambushed Under The Southern Cross
by
Capt. George W. Duffy
 When George Duffy and his twenty-five classmate graduated from the Massachusetts Nautical School (MNS) on September 23, 1941, an era came to an end. Never again would the three-masted barque Nantucket go to sea in her role as a sail training vessel for future merchant marine officers. They also, became the last class to make two summer sail training cruises aboard, thus marking the end of the school's tradition extending back to 1891.
Those hardened young sailors were immediately recruited as deck and engineering officers into a rapidly growing United States merchant marine. Not quite a year after graduating from the MNS, and just ten months into World War Two, George Duffy's good fortune came to an end, when his ship, the American Leader, was sunk by a German commerce raider. George and forty-six of his shipmates were plucked out of the South Atlantic Ocean and taken prisoner.
This book relates his two sparten years in the Nantucket, the next rewarding year in the American Leader, and over three years as prisoner in two German warships, and ten Japanese labor camps scattered over the southeast Asian islands of Java, Singapore, and Sumatra.
In addition, a parallel tale recounts the life and career of a young German naval officer, Konrad Hoppe, who served in George's nemesis, the Ksk Michel. Many years after the war they met in Germany in, as Konrad expressed it, "Great delight that the fateful enmity has changed into sincere friendship."
George and his wife Margaret have been married fifty-six years, and currently reside in Exeter, New Hampshire. They have two daughters, one in Exeter and the other nearby, and five granddaughters of college and older.
Publisher Xlibris Corporation
https://www2.xlibris.com/bookstore/bookdisplay.aspx?bookid=38228
Hardcover ISBN 978-1-4363-0636-2
Softcover ISBN 978-1-4363-0635-5
Order on-line in Europe (English only) from:-
www.amazon.fr (France)
www.amazon.de (Germany)
www.amazon.co.uk (UK)
Revue of Older Book:-
 Short Cruise on the Vyner Brooke
by Ralph E H Armstrong
With a foreword by Patricia, Countess Mountbatten of Burma.
“It was no pleasure trip......the 'Vyner Brooke' was a small, nineteen hundred ton steamer designed to carry cargo and no more than fifty passengers between Sarawak and the East Indies, but on St Valentine's Day, February 14th 1942, her decks and cabins were packed with over three hundred women and children - evacuees fleeing from a ferocious and unprovoked Japanese assault upon Singapore, which had left its waterfront blazing.
They had hoped, somehow to reach Australia and safety. Instead, the 'Vyner Brooke' was attacked by Japanese aircraft, bombed and sunk in the Bangka Strait, and survivors struggled for long hours, even days, battling strong currents to reach shore exhausted, only for some of them to be bloodily slaughtered there by Japanese troops.
The author, not then in his teens, escaped the massacre to pass with his mother, his two sisters and his infant nephew into a long and frequent brutal captivity in which, weakened by starvation rations, internees died like flies. Nevertheless, as the author makes plain, the steadfast caring support of imprisoned priests and Christian brothers gave hope to all, education and enlightenment to the living, consolation to the dying and still remains an inspiration to those who greeted Liberation at last.”
Extracts :
“It was a relief to get away from the screeching of the shells. Among the other vessels were the Mata Hari, Giang Bee and Li Who. We learned that our commander was Lt R E Burton, RNR and that the ship was fairly fast, having been a small passenger vessel owned by the Sarawak Steamship Company plying between Sumatra, Singapore and Sarawak. She was named after the White Raja of Sarawak, Sir Charles Vyner Brooke. …Going out on deck we saw the sky was dark and overcast with cloud and smoke. Fires were burning all along Singapore waterfront and the familiar buildings on Collyer Quay could no longer be seen. All of a sudden there was a cheerful sound. The Australian nurses were singing Waltzing Matilda. They were a noticable group, in their smart grey uniforms.”
“Margaret Dryburgh was a Presbyterian missionery, a gifted artist and musician. Many of the sketches of the camp houses and, later, the camp huts were drawn by her. She re-wrote almost 30 orchestral compositions for the camp choir from memory, as well as the Song of Survival. Unfortunately she was one of those who did not survive until the end of the war. Sadly, she died on 21 April 1945.”
“Nevertheless, as law-abiding Burmese welcomed their liberators, and the whole of the country was rapidly secured and Mountbatten transferred his headquarters to Kandy, the ancient capital of Ceylon, there to formulate plans for the liberation of the rest of SE Asia and all the prisoners, service and civilian, held there by the Japanese. …We were then sent to Raffles Hotel. The famous hotel had been requisitioned for use as a Transit Camp for homeward-bound ex-prisoners of war and internees and we were sent there with the aim of eventual onward passage to England. Although it was functioning as a transit camp, it was still run as a world-class hotel with all the liveried staff, glittering cutlery and superb service. It was wonderful. In the tearoom, the Supreme Allied Commander in S E Asia, Lord Louis Mountbatten came to see us and gave a speech…”
First published in 2003 by George Mann of Maidstone. ISBN 0 7041 0406 7
Recollections of Heeren Building, Sister Vivian Bullwinkel, Private Pat Kingsley, Eric Germann, Eric Lloyd, Lord Louis Mountbatten, The Raffles Hotel, a photo and reproduced signature of Patricia, Countess Mountbatten of Burma, and many more…with 23 black & white photos. Armstrong takes you on more than just an armchair “cruise” through several islands – from Singapore to the ‘house on the sea’, on to Kobe, Pangkalpinang and Muntok on Bangka Island, with insights into the mindless, bloody massacre there, then on to Palembang, Belalau and Loebock Linggau, and finally back to Singapore after Liberation!
The appendix contains the detailed specifications of the ‘SS Vyner Brooke’, which by anyone’s standards was a luxury steamer in terms of it’s facilities and interior fit out.
“This book is dedicated to the memory of my mother and two sisters…”
Available from:-
George Mann Books, Arnefold Publishing, Maidstone, Kent, UK.
email "Arnefold" - arnefold@googlemail.com
Fax 1622 209193
In the UK the book is distributed by G.J. Gardner Books - 1, Whittle Drive, Eastbourne UK. It can also be obtained in bookshops such as Waterstones and WHSmith.
Researching
Need help in researching, you will find helpful hints within these pages, A start to Researching
As the years pass by many a descendant of these brave souls has researched those prisoner of war years.
There are tools to help with the Fepow Story, books, internet and the Fepow’s themselves. The Fepow Community has now added new tools for research purposes, the main research section being The Rising Sun.
Translation of the Japanese words used by the prisoners is covered by the Word Translator, this started as a pamphlet given to the prisoners by the Japanese and has been enlarged upon. The Fepow Verse has been gathered together by the late Maurice Rooney. One of the ways to survive the prisoners ordeal was to turn to Religion, all prisoners beliefs are respected.
The latest addition is the Abbreviations section, I was asked what ALSEA was, I thought life would be easier for us all with the forces abbreviations on.
This site is in memory of my pop and his mates the Fepow’s, the Special Parade was written by my pop, Frederick Noel Taylor when in Thailand whilst working on the Death Railway.
The Roll of Honour has been added for all those who served their country in “In this their finest Hour”. Please email information to include a loved one with a picture if possible.
We are now sharing information and views with others and widening our knowledge.
Please join the Fepow Community Group, as sharing knowledge will assist in the Fepow’s remembrance and also help others (join at foot of page).
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