Unit diaries relating to service of Geoffrey W. Fennell - Wallet 2 - Part 3

There was however a chance that, for medicinal reasons, this feast was appearing 

in instalments. As a matter of fact this proved to be correct and extras were 

produced for the next three days, culminating in some more battered pork for 

Saturday night’s dinner.

Taking it by and large, the new year had started well, but the Clerk of the Weather 

soon showed that he did not intend to play ball with us for the present, as the 

first week of the New Year was so cold and wet it was almost a relief to work and 

get out of the huts, which were bitterly cold! It also increased our hunger 

and woe betide anyone who was reading a book in which meals were described - and 

there appeared to be many such, judging by various remarks heard.

More General Events and Medical Treatment

The weather continue to be vile for the first half of January. It eventually 

became so wet that the men were taken off the trucks, as it became practically 

impossible to push them through the mud. Their boots were by now in a very poor 

state, and many men had none at all. Some had been issued with rubber and canvas 

boots by the IJA, but they were quite useless in wet weather.

Instead of the trucks, the men were put onto clearing a hill behind the Camp on 

part of which was an old Chinese graveyard. It was much easier work and had it 

not been for the nattering linnets, it would have been quite pleasant, though the 

East wind was still bitterly cold.

Beri-beri began to be on the increase, and the legs and feet of some men swelled 

to an extraordinary size. The only form of medicine the Doctors had were Wakomoto 

Tablets. These were of Japanese manufacture, and widely advertised in the papers 

as containing extra vitamins, and were probably made of rice polishings. A supply 

of these were bought by the Officers for use in the Hospital, but as the daily 

dose was 12 per day as a minimum, the supply did not meet the demand. The only 

way to decrease the swelling was to give a man a complete rest, but the Doctors 

only had a very limited number of Red tickets, so many men had to go to work when 

they really were not fit to do so.

A word should be said on the subject of Medical treatment. Major Wheeler and 

Capt Blain were assisted by 6 RAMC and Regimental medical orderlies, and Capt Fifield 

DAPM 11 Div kept the Hospital records. There was a Japanese Doctor who visited the 

Camp about once a week, but the main work devolved on a Japanese Medical Orderly 

known as “Frank”, who had only received very elementary training, and yet was able 

to override any recommendations made by the qualified Doctors - a most unsatisfactory 

business.

Sick parade for new cases was held at 7.30, and men had to attend it dressed for 
work. After being examined by the MO on duty of the day, a man was either 
given “Medicine & Duty” and fell in with the workers, or a green tally meaning 
light work only in the Camp area. A Red Tally meaning excused all work with 
permission to “Bed down”. These awards were all subject to Franki’s approval, 
and very largely depended on what mood he was in. Sick parade for old cases 
was held at 9.30, and about 10 o’clock the men with green tallies were falling in 
and put on weeding, clearing drains, or other forms of light work. The same 
thing happened in the afternoon. Whenever the Japanese Medical Officer visited 
the camp, he saw all fresh cases and probably reduced the number of Red and Green 
Tally men. The Hospital, which held about a dozen beds, was first of all in the 
office block, but was moved later to the block near the Cookhouse - it was 
warmer there as there were proper windows. Medicines and ointments were woefully 
short, but the Japanese were very short of them themselves, and supplied as much 
as they could.

There were 5 deaths shortly after arriving in the Camp, mostly from a mysterious 
disease which started off with a sore throat, and finally affected the heart. 
L/Bdr Beaverstock and Sub Conductor Price IAOC, who had been in charge of the LAD, died 
in this manner. The procedure for a funeral was as follows: If a man died, the 
Japanese Doctor was informed and he decided whether there was to be a post mortem 
or not. The body was then put in a coffin and “lay in state” in the office, and 
a Guard of Honour of 4 Officers or men was mounted, each period being for 1 hour 

day and night.

Funerals were usually held in the afternoons at 1330 hrs. The Padre held a short 
service by the coffin, and the Japanese Commandant or Orderly Officer invariably 
attended and laid a gift of fruit, cakes or sweets on the coffin. Everyone fell 
in on both sides of the Main Street facing inwards. Usually 8 bearers were 
allowed but this was increased to 12 later. Two officers were allowed to attend 
as chief mourners, and carried the wreaths and a wooden cross with the man’s name 
on it very well mounted by Capt Forbes.

The procession then went down the street to the accompaniment of “Abide with Me” 
turned left and went onto the main road by the gate near the Cookhouse. Here the 
Commandant returned and the party were accompanied by the Orderly Officer or NCO 
and about 4 sentries. The route ran past the Labour Camp, then to the left onto 
a road running parallel with the river. After passing through a small village 
about a mile away, a very rocky path led to the hills and a stiff climb 
became necessary. The coffin was carried on a stretcher and owing to our weak state, 
changes of bearer became frequent. On reaching the top of the hill, the path 
got flatter and led across a small Col onto the hillside opposite, where the 
cemetery ended. The graves were mostly Chinese, but some Christian crosses could 

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be seen.

A small area had been cleared and a Chinese coolie was found by an open grave ready 
to assist with ropes. The Burial Service was then read, all present saluted, and 
the Sentries presented Arms. The party then left for the cemetery and were given a 
rest and a smoke, and were allowed to consume the “offerings” as they were not 
buried with the coffin. They then returned to barracks by a short cut down the hillside.

Apart from the sadness of the occasion, the walk was a very pleasant change. The 
view from the top of the hill was very extensive and revealed the course of the 
river, also the aerodrome, the railway and the town of Taihoku with the mountains 
on the far side of the valley. It has always been suspected that there was a camp 
similar to ours on the far side of the valley, but it was never spotted. (As a 
matter of fact there wasn’t one!) It was also quite pleasant to see home life in 
the village for a change. A small aluminium painted bus connected the village 
with Taihoku, and appeared to carry out an hourly service with a mate.

The Japanese authorities did what they could to combat disease, and during this period 
we had 9 inoculations dealing with malaria, dysentery and diptheria. In addition 
they produced a gargle to be taken by every man who had a suspicion of a sore throat, 
morning and evening. This proved very successful and the weekly roll of death 
ceased, much to our relief as it looked at one time as if we were due for a real 
epidemic which would have been very serious in our crowded condition. So much 
for medical matters for the present.

One feature of our night life was the frequency with which all ranks had to visit 
the latrine. The cold, coupled with the fact that the rice and vegetables quickly 
changed to water, had a disastrous effect on most bladders, so that night visits 
varied from anything up to 8! Each hut formed two vigilant guards, one at each 
end. Their joint duties were to prevent escape and to see the mosquito nets were 
tucked in. In addition, the guard on duty at the latrine end had to keep a 
written record showing the Name, number, mess, time of exit and time of return 
of all nocturnal wanderers. After various experiments, the shift was made an hourly 
one. At first the guard on duty with the record was allowed to read, but later 
this was stopped, and both guards had to stand up and not lean against posts, 
pillars etc. The nights were dark, however, and the sentries boots usually 
advertised their approach! Still some got a bashing for relaxing from the 
upright whilst on duty! The only cure for these visits to the latrine seemed to be to 
try and keep one’s feet was warm as possible and to reduce one’s water drinking 
to a minimum.

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Each Mess leader in turn did Camp Orderly Officer. His duties were from 1800 hrs 
to 1800 hrs but usually his first job was to check this issue of the breakfasts. The 

numbers of men in each mess varied considerably. Small messes were mostly 9 or 10 

but large messes might be anything from 17 - 24, owing to men being in hospital. 
The rice was adjusted to the number in Mess by using a sort of dipstick but the 
result was very unsatisfactory sometimes, and, as a general rule it was the smaller 
messes who fared best. Certainly the 24 men messes never did! The stew was ladled 
out on the ration of a ladle full for every 10 men. The job of the Orderly Officer 
was to check gross errors and try and adjust minor errors before the buckets were 
handed over to mess orderlies. Some Orderly Officers then went round the meals to 
see if the distribution was satisfactory. In definite cases of shortage it would 
be adjusted the following meal. Sgt Hughes proved a first rate NCO i/c Cookhouse.

He did not go out to work, but was present when the parade fell in. After that he 
inspected the swill tubs to see that Paper, Rags, Dust, vegetable peelings, fruit 
skins, tins, bad rice and Good Rice(!) were put into the appropriate buckets. 
Needless to say the last tub mentioned was invariably empty! He the took a look 
at what came in on the daily ration lorry, and spread the news if such delicacies 
as tomatoes or meat bones were visible. Apart from dinners and suppers, his other 
jobs depended on the whim of the Japanese Orderly Officer. He also detailed "Green 
tallies" for any job required, detailed fly-swatters, and took charge of any 
parades such as inoculations.

Cigarettes were now coming in fairly regularly. The men received an issue every 
Wednesday and Sunday, 20 per gunner, 30 for NCOs and 40 for Mess Leaders. They 
were a cheap form of cigarette priced at 4 sen a packet. The officers were allowed 
to buy Akemonos @ 15 Sen, Herons (so called from the picture on the packet) @ 40 Sen 
Yellow packets of 20 @ 70 sen. The latter had a cardboard holder and filter 
attached but produced only a very quick smoke. It was found better to remove the 
holders and, with the aid of a pencil, push the tobacco of one into the other. 
This produced a tightly packed cigarette which lasted from 10 - 15 minutes, and 
the flavour of cardboard was absent.

In addition, all ranks were allowed to buy "Noko" Cigars (quite good) @ 70 Sen, and 
a small cheroot called "Dalton's Opera Cigar" for 45 Sen, though the men could not 
indulge much owing to the price. All the packets and wrappings of any kind had to 
be returned to the Office, and were sent back to the factory. Cigarette ends 
were cherished by pipe smokers and the remainder, if any, were taken to the 
incinerator. On the whole, the supply of smokes was kept up regularly.

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"Porky"

At the end of January a new officer turned up to reinforce Moonface and Groucher. 

He had been fighting in the Philippines, and had been wounded in the neck, and 
at first, seemed to be a good sort. He was called "Porky" for obvious reasons. 

After a quiet start he became a positive nuisance. His chief delight was to try 
and make jokes at the expense of Padre Pugh. He rejoiced in continually numbering 
and dressing any squad in which he came in contact, and always took the maximum 
time to dismiss any parade - always with a drawn sword.

One evening he found four men playing cards and accused them of gambling. No 
exception had been taken up till now about card playing. Eventually 7 men were 
put into the guard room chiefly owing to the fact that one of the players kept 
an account showing his wins and losses, and the names of the people he played with. 
He was NOT popular! The affair became a "case celebre", and a Court Martial in 
Taihoku followed, but as only a few sen were involved, it was decided that a 
mountain had been made out of a molehill, and it was understood that Porky got a 
rocket from the Commandant.

Another joke of his was to gallop a horse up and down the main-street, hoping no 

doubt that the animal would oblige by dropping turds all over the place, which 
would of course have to be removed! In this he was unlucky. He also thought 
that he was creating an impression that he was a bit of a horseman. In point of 
fact he gave us a real good laugh as the positions of his hands was not up to 
Artillery Signals standards, and you could have driven a coach and four between 
his knees and the saddle!

His final joke was with the officers. They were out on road-making just outside 
the camp, and made teams of the tallest officers run with the roller. When the 
time for the break came, he issued out the bananas, waited till people had put 
their bananas away into the pockets of their shorts and then changed the resting 
place to the top of a high bank, hoping no doubt that the bananas would be ruined 
in scrambling up. From this it will be seen that he was a thoroughly vicious and 
unpleasant piece of work. Fortunately he was stupid enough to have a row with 
"Moonface" and struck him. This was reported to the Colonel, and he was sacked 
the following day. Good riddance!!

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Recreation

Apart from Sundays, the men had very little time to themselves except between 
supper and Roll Call. Whatever time they had was spent in the following ways. 

There were still a certain number of books in circulation, and these were 
usually being read by about 3 people at a time. Bridge, whist, solo, Fat and 
Monopoly were played a lot.

Suddenly there was an issue of one notebook a head and this produced other forms 
of diversion. As we were all still very hungry, the favourite topic of conversation 
was food. Now was obviously the time to collect favourite recipes and 
plan meals for the future. There were men from every county among the POWs, 
and dishes peculiar to each county were in grand demand. In passing along the 
huts, small groups could be seen taking down details of Yorkshire Parkin, 
Lancashire Hotpot, Irish potato cakes, Dorset apple dumpling and Lardy cake, 
Devonshire splits,Cornish pasties and saffron cake, tripe and onions, black 
puddings, pigs trotters and a host of others.

Another pastime was to plan tours either by car or on foot in various parts of 
the British Isles. It not being desired to stay at **** Hotels, experts were 
called in to give advice on small hotels, pubs, farmhouses, specialising in 
good food and comfortable beds. Things to see in various districts were also 
faithfully recorded. All books contained Malayan recipes as various tasty 
dishes had been tried out at Changi. In fact the two which were most sought 

after in the Camp were Malayan Cookery Book belonging to Capt Hunt, and an 
AA handbook belonging to Lt Beecroft!

On the evening of Sunday Jan 31st a singsong was held (for the first time) in 
the Main Street by kind permission of Lt Issi, the acting Camp Commandant. 
Apparently he was very fond of music himself, and had been making inquiries 
whether we should like a concert. We had brought the piano accordion which 
we bought in Nowshera for the dance band, and L/Bdr Lowe provided the music. 

The evening was much enjoyed, the high spot of the evening being a tap dance by 
L/Bdr Goldbert on a very rickety platform, which finally deposited him into the 
audience!

On Tuesday evening February 2nd, it started to rain heavily, and it rained 
solidly all the week. Fortunately the British and the Japs had identical views 
about working in the rain, and all about was at a standstill and the rest was 
much enjoyed by all. By now the camp paths had been well gravelled and consequently 
we did not have to tramp about in a sea of mud. The majority of the 
roofs were in good repair and did not leak. Owing to the cold we closed the 
shutters by day and the authorities kindly let us keep the electric lights on - a 
great blessing. There was a cigarette issue on Wednesday which was also a good thing.

Lt Bew the Quartermaster of the Signals had been a prisoner of war in Germany in 
1916-1917. On comparing our food with his, he said that he only got very mediocre 
bread and poor stew and the food he was now getting was slightly better. On the 
other hand he got a Red Cross parcel regularly every month and Mail; being an NCO 

he did no work at all and therefore was not as hungry as we were. The Basic 
ration was not bad for us on working days, but our enforced holiday caused them 
to remove some rice and barley out of the cookhouse, though in actual fact it only 
made a difference of a few spoonfuls to the individual - though how precious were 

those spoonfuls! On Friday a cold white cabbage salad with tomatoes was served up 

as an experiment, and was voted a success in spite of the cold. The Quartermaster 
also issued Soya sauce to go with it.

Working again

Work was resumed on the 9th, and we were quite glad to get onto the working ration 
of rice and barley again. The reclaimed land was in an awful mess, and all the men 
were put onto shovels and changkuls to get it sorted out a bit. Part of the fence 

on the far side of the exercise ground had fallen down, owing to the bank having 
given way, and the officers, with some BORs to assist, were put onto cutting and 
bringing grass sods to deal with the wall bank first. This job took about a week 
and then the fence was repaired.

On Feb 10th, the Camp Fire Brigade was formed! After a few preliminary arrangements 
the alarm went at 1830 hrs. It was a gaff! The Guards rushed about screaming 
orders in Nipponese, which no-one could understand, but eventually we sent one party 
onto the roof of a hut, which was supposed to be on fire, with axes and swabs and 
poles, and another party made a chain of buckets. We all thought it the hell of a 
joke, and were reproved in due course for our levity! After this, Messes 5-8 were 

appointed official Fire Brigade under Sgt Scott, and they had frequent fire practices 

later.

Feb 12th was the Anniversary of the Accession of the first Emperor of Japan. The 
day started with a practice Fire Alarm, and all, less the Fire Brigade, were marched 

out of the way onto the exercise ground. After that was finished we were all formed 
up in the Main Street together with all the Camp Staff and then turned and bowed 
towards the Imperial Palace. 3 Banzais were then given, and, what was more important, 

we were told that there would be no work as it was drizzling. Groucher made one 
attempt to get us out but was stopped by the Commandant who came in the nick of time! 

The welcome order "Return boots to store" was given and we were able to bed down.

During the afternoon the Leggy Buckets and Washbowls were called for to the cookhouse. 

The result was Course 1 An excellent curry stew with plenty of vegetables 
pork fat and a very good bowlful of rice. Course 2 Another bowl of rice with a 
tomato stew. Course 3 2 oranges, 1 tomato, and 2 banana which made up a good Fruit 
Salad! The Oranges were first class. In fact the whole meal was a great success.

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The washers up had quite a job on!
Monday February 15th, being the Anniversary of the Fall of Singapore, we had nothing 
to enthuse about. In keeping with our feelings of depression for the day, the 
rations were extremely bad, and the rice ration came only to ¾ of a bowl per meal.

Mention should be made of an event, which took place the previous Thursday night. 

A gunner, driven to it by hunger, had been found removing food from the Japanese 
swill tub, and had been reported to Moonface. About 9 o'clock he was told to 
stand on a form outside the office and remained there the whole night in the freezing 
cold. He was still there after breakfast having collapsed several times. 
The interpreter told us about his crime, and said that in addition he had stolen 
the pants of another man as he had had an "accident" in his own. Although there 
was a certain amount of pity for him for the most unpleasant ordeal he went through, 
yet most people thought that it was pretty low descending to rob a Japanese swill 
tub. We were all hungry, and were prepared to tighten our belts rather than do that.

In spite of this punishment he was in trouble again. Two nights later, he was on 
Vigilant Guard and was found absent from his post prowling round the cookhouse with 
a sack full of salt in his possession. The Interpreter came into the Officers hut, 
and asked whether the man was right in his head. Major Fennell told him that he did 
it because he was hungry; in fact we were all hungry, though only a few had 
descended to rummaging in the swill tubs. He was not trying to escape, although 
this was the charge put in against him when he was put in the Guard Room.

It seemed a good opportunity to tell the Interpreter that, in addition to getting no 
European food, in Taihoku we were only getting 9 ozs of rice, on a non working day 
and 10 ozs on a working day, as against 17 ozs we got in Changi. In fact in some 
working camps the scale was as high as 25 ozs. He was very surprised to hear this, 
and said he would tell the Commandant whom, he said, appeared now to be more interested 
in our food. We had been asked to write our impressions about the food on the 11th, 
and many people had mentioned Curry powder. The Colonel had ordered the Quartermaster 
to get some.

On the evening of February 15th, a Memorial Service was held for those who had been 
killed in the Malayan Campaign. Their names were read out, also the fallen in the 
R Signals, RAMC and 21st Mountain Regiment.

On Tuesday Feb 16th,"Baggage", who was now on the HQ Staff in Taihoku, suddenly 
turned up and told Col Jephson that as a result of orders received from above, 
officers were to be allowed to employ 10 Batmen. As far as possible they were to 
be men on the light duty list; as a result of this, 3 were allotted to 1, 2 and 3 Messes 
and 1 to No 4 Mess. The present occupants of No 4 Mess were distributed among other 
Messes, and No 4 now contained 7 officers, the RAMC Orderlies and the Batmen, making 
24 in all. In 2 and 3 Messes they were allotted 6 or 7 officers each for washing 

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and mending. They took over all mess duties such as washing up, cleaning the 
hut, emptying the ashtrays etc, and making up the beds in the evening, and their 
services were much appreciated. There was much speculation as to the reason 
for this change of heart, most favoured idea being that Japanese officers had been 

captured in large quantities in Burma or New Guinea.

About this time, the Nippon Times began to show a change of front. We were 
continually being paraded when we first arrived, to hear lists of ships sunk and 
fleets annihilated, but this had ceased - anyway we did not believe what they said!

According to the paper, Russia and North Africa seemed to be going well for us, 
and it was noted with glee that an envoy who had been sent to Berlin to sign an 
Economic Pact, had made his arrival coincide with the Father and Mother of an 
Air Raid! We learnt, in addition, that the Nipponese were finding great difficulties 
in feeding their troops in the Southern Pacific, and they were living on roots, a 
thing they would never had admitted a few months ago. It increased or optimism 
for better news in the Autumn - if not before.

Inspections

On Friday Feb 19th, everyone came in early from work, and we were told to clean 
up the bungalows and the Camp area as there was to be a big inspection on Sunday. 
Reveille on Sunday was an hour earlier to allow extra time to get ready, and Church 
Parade was at 8. We were told there would be a curry stew for lunch. This 
inspection was carried out at 1600 hrs by two strange officers we had not seen 
before. They went round the camp without saying a word, and then left. Anyway, 
we had a good lunch as a result of it, and for the evening meal we were given 
¾ of an orange, ½ an apple, and 2 tomatoes - all very good.

On Monday afternoon, the Quartermaster suddenly descended on the cookhouse and issued 
extra barley and rice with bananas and oranges with the result that the rice ration 
was almost doubled! The reason it became apparent when we learnt the Lt 
General Audo, GOC Taiwan, was coming to inspect us on March 4th. We were to be 
allowed to wear uniform for it, and no doubt the extra food was a belated effort 
to make our tunics fit - round the tummy anyway! (When the time came, they didn't!)
The next excitement was that a few letters arrived for some lucky individuals in 

the R Signals, one of whom, strange to say, was called Smith! They were from 
England, dated July 2nd 1942, and were addressed c/o the Prisoners of War Information 
Bureau, Tokyo. The envelope showed the they had gone through Bombay. Roll on 
some more!!

On Sunday Feb 28th, there was a preliminary inspection by the Colonel Commandant, 
and the Officers were to be allowed to wear medals and uniforms. There was much 
cleaning up and burrowing into packs and kitbags, and the final result was most 

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creditable, and many of the NCOs and men told officers how pleased they were to 
see their officers properly clothed again.

Towards 10.30, sentries began to fly about the Nipponese barracks. we were fallen 
in and the Interpreter and the RSM inspected our uniforms and cap badges with great 
curiosity. We marched out to the exercise ground and were formed up by bungalows 
in a large hollow square with the Officers or Shokos on the right. Then the 
little Colonel came on and told us through the Interpreter that Hut Leaders were to 
shout Kashira Migi when the General reached 12 paces from us. Instead of keeping 
the eyes to the right, you follow the Inspecting Officer round with your eyes, and 
so finish up with Eyes Left! As General Audo was a very big man, an officer went by 
with a cap on the top of a sword so that we could practice! The Colonel said 
that the Officers drill was very good and we could go! This was the first time 
we had ever got a good word from him!

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were spent in ordinary work interspersed with Black 
Out Drill at Night, Fire Alarms, and what appeared to be Anti-parachutists Drill 
performed by the guards. Anyway we were kept in our huts while this was going on, 
and heard people rushing about shouting and screaming! The good food also 
continued. The officers' work consisted of levelling the parade ground, and was 
really a method of killing time, as the place was as level as it was ever likely 
to be and niggling with a changkul at tiny hillocks and valleys was really pure 
waste of time! However, they formed little groups and chattered away but the time 
passed all too slowly!

On Wednesday afternoon there was another practice Ceremonial parade after which 
there was a practice Air Raid Alarm and we were all told to lie down on our beds. 
Presently two sentries rushed in and told the officers to go out by the door in 
No 4 Mess as the hut had been hit! Unfortunately two other sentries had told No 4 
Mess to evacuate by No 1 Mess door! We all entered into the spirit of the joke and 
there was a friendly scrum in the middle of the hut! The shemozzle was finally 

sorted out by "Uriah Heap" the Interpreter!

On March 4th the inspection duly took place. The morning was spent in cleaning 
up, and by 1400 hrs, we were all in our positions on the parade ground. At 1430 
some cars arrived with a yellow flag on the General's car, red on Colonel's cars, 
and blue on the remainder. Just as well he was punctual, as it was decidedly 
chilly. The day before it had been boiling hot, and two of the sick men had 

completely passed out.

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