Unit diaries relating to service of Geoffrey W. Fennell - Wallet 2 - Part 8

AVM  Called attention to the shortage of water and the insanitary condition
generally and pointed out that clothes and bodies could not be washed

properly.

Col S.  A pipe is being arranged in the near future.

AVM   Regarding the Farm Work there is a lot of misunderstanding caused by
"Goons" who cannot speak English, being in charge of the Squads. Could
plots be allotted to each squad which would make itself responsible for

the work.
Col S. The scheme will be tried.

AVM   What about letters.

Col S.  All letters received have been delivered.
(Cold comfort to the 95% who haven't had any!)

AVM   Drew attention to several serious cases in hospital which could not be

treated propeprly through absence of proper drugs.
Col S.  I will see what I can do.
AVM  Can the diet of the invalids be increased to help them regain their
strength.
Col S.  If they don't work they don't want extra food.

AVM  Can we have matches as they would be no more dangerous than lighting
cigarettes from others.

Col S. I will think about it.
AVM  Can we have lectures and Cconcerts in the evenings.
Col S. You should be so tired from Farm Work that you shouldn't require them!

AVM   What about Warm Clothes.

Col S.  After everyone, who has warm clothes, has shared it out, something will
be arranged.

AVM   Can the BORs have a holiday once a week.

Col S.  Yes.

He then went on and made a speech which was quite emotional in parts. He started
by impressing on us to keep our health so as to be ready for the day of release, but

then said that we should be thankful that we had Barracks to live in, Food to eat,

Clothes to wear, not to mention our lives! About some matters British and Nipponese
psychology was very different (not 'arf'!) and we were governed by their doctrine

of Bushido. By making concessions to us, we must not think that he was coming 

down to us and was afraid that Nippon would not win! We should certainly have

time to eat the crop off the Farm and it was all for us. The Commandant was very 
displeased to find in the recent Essays written that the war would be over next year
and that the British would win!  Therefore the cakes produced at the Conference
would only be given to the Americans and the Dutch!! (Unbelievable but true!!)

Japan & Britain would both fight to the last - but there might be terms.

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On being asked various opinions about the war, he was told pretty conclusively

that Japan started the war by the attack on Pearl Harbour and Malaya, that

Germany was as good as beaten, and that Japan would shortly be fighting the whole

world. He then produced fantastic claims for sinking of ships in the 3 Battles in
the Gilbert Islands, all for the loss of a few Jap planes!! The conference then
broke up and General Funk thanked him for coming.
During the morning, there was an amusing incident regarding the vegetable issue.
The vegetables used to arrive daily on a small lorry drawn by a water-buffalo and
driven by a small boy. "Harold Lloyd"* noticed that there were no bananas and also
that the vegetable issue was short. He ordered that the small boy should be beaten
from the Guard Room to the Ration Stand! Having recovered, the small boy then beat
the water-buffalo!!
In the afternoon, all the squad leaders were paraded to say farewell to the
Commandant, who was being moved to another camp. He was rather unpleasant at Karenko,
but here he does seem to have done his best to try and cooperate with us. We have
heard no rumpours as to who is going to be his successor.
On Thursday morning there was considerable excitement as the dead body of one of the
Guards was discovered outside the camp. His throat was cut. He was brought in and
obviously a Court of Inquiry was held in the afternoon, and the coffin was taken away
in a lorry. The latest rumour out it is that he was one of the Regular Guard
and that he had just heard that his brother had been captured by the Americans, and 

therefore he had committed hari-kari. May be true?
In No 9 Squad, we have had some interesting talks about the Campaign in the
Philippines. Apparently they had a lot of difficulty, as although the American
Regiments and the Filipino Scouts and Filipino Constabulary were very good, the
National Filipino Army, though large on paper, had received practically no training
and had damn all in the way of equipment.
On December 12th the new Commandant arrived, and turned out to be the one from the
Mining Camp at Kinhaseki, to which camp the party under RSM Bishop had gone.
He went round the camp in the morning and at 1530 hrs in the afternoon he held a
mass parade and the main points of his speech were as follows:
(1)  We should look after our health (2) The Barracks were the best that Nippon
could produce and this was the best camp (3) We should cooperate by working well on the
Farm as it would increase our rations (4) We should do what we could to make ourselves
comfortable, and he would do what he could to help us. (5) We should not be
unduly depressed by anything we read in the Nippon Times, nor should we be unduly
elated and do foolish things. (6) Whether we were prisoners for 6 months or 6 years
we should still be treated kindly. According to Col Hoffman, the Yank who speaks

*"Harold 'loyd = Lt Kamashita the Orderly Officer

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Japanese fluently, his attitude appeared to be friendly. Let's hope it will remain
so. On the same day we were all issued with one of our brand new greyback shirts,
and believe me they were a godsend as our wardrobes were awful!
On the evening of Monday 13th, there was a feeling of suppressed excitement as a
lorry was heard approaching. Would it contain cigarettes or not? It had indeed
been a black week as the expected issue on Wednesday failed to arrive and all those
without a reserve had been left high and dry. It has been said that being a POW
brings out the worst in one, but with one or two notable exceptions, in our case
it has been decidedly the reverse, and any incidents such as this showed that the
fortunate ones were ever ready to share with their less fortunate companions.
Anyhow our luck was in, as the lorry did contain cigarettes and Windy Forbes, the
Canteen Rep, was sent off post-haste to the PX to ask for an immediate issue, and
was successful. When one is perpetually hungry, tobacco does something to fill in
the gaps. In addition a large bag containing about 50 candies made its appearance
bringing joy to all hearts, and the munching on roll call could almost have been
heard by "Richard Dimbleby, our Eastern Observer"!!
During the week, the new Commandant held a meeting of Senior Representatives and
asked for suggestions in the hobby line. More books, games were asked for, and
also the question was raised as to whether carpentering(?) and such like could be
indulged in. The Interpreter impressed on them that they wished the Camp to become
a Utopia. A bit of a change from the sentiments expressed a year ago when we were
regarded more as criminals than POWs!
On the morning of Dec 22nd, there was no mean spring cleaning, as the huts were
being inspected by the Commandant. Dust flew about in clouds as the beams were
brushed, and unwanted belongings were consigned to suitcases, as nothing was to be
hung on the hooks. The inspection started at 1 and shortly afterwards we were
visited by Party 1 consisting of the Medical Corporal and a few Goons, who crept
under the hut to see what they could find. Apart from the Squad Leader's spare pair
of boots they drew a blank! Other squads were not so lucky as a pile of haversacks,
kit bags etc soon testified! Parties 2 and 3 under "Harold Lloyd" and "Shuffling
Sam"* came at intervals, but just wandered round looking at nothing in particular.
Our old RSM from Taihoku gave us a cheerful grin as he went by.
The Commandant came about 4, having spent nearly 2 hours in the General's hut.
However he appeared quite satisfied, and, apart from turning out Fairburn's kit,
nothing untoward occurred. We heard later that the result of the inspection had
been good, but we were told that there would be the usual spring cleaning at the
New Year some(thing) like last year. As a matter of fact, the bedding piles
really were pretty neat!
*Lt Heoki - another Japanese officer.
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By Xmas Eve we had really got down to the Christmas Spirit. Much ingenuity had
been used in decorations and every form of brightly coloured cigarette paper, sauce
label, syrup label, had been brought into service, not to mention lavatory paper,
cut up into various shapes and soaked in blue and red ink. The Regimental members
of 10 Squad in particular were much in evidence and Ted Horner and Horse Trahern
had made a very cosy corner for themselves in their bay and had covered all their shelves and utensils with highly coloured paper from Asaki Cigarette packets!
The Canteen had done its stuff to the extent of 3 lorry loads, and the Xmas Sales
consisted of Strawberry Syrup, Jam, Fish flakes, "Worcester Sauce", Sugar, sweets,
and a sweet bun, and on Xmas Day itself - A SMALL LOAF OF BROWN BREAD!! Who
would have imagined 3 years ago that dry bread and jam would be regarded as such
a luxury! After dark a mixed British and American Carol Party went round the
huts and the Hospital, and was much appreciated.
On Xmas morn we got up at the usual time and immediately after Roll Call visits
were made to other huts. There was Communion at 9 up in the Park, followed
almost immediately by the ordinary morning Service, which consisted of hymns
and Carols, prayers and 4 short Scripture portions read by a British, American,
Australian, and Dutch officers; there was a short Anthem by the "Choir", and the
Hospital was visited afterwards.
The Cooks had produced a very tasty stew for breakfast made out of the "Odds and
Ends" from the pigs, and the pork itself appeared in the stew for lunch and was
very tasty, though not so plentiful as the gargantuan orgy of last year. Between
2 and 3.30 there were Pagal Sports on the Green in front of the Hospital, followed
by a Concert, the highlight of which was a burlesque Broadcast Play featuring
Forbes, Armstrong & Traherne, disguised as Guinevere, Sir Galahad, Sir Lancelot
and Noises Off!
Then came Xmas Dinner, the duck stew which was very tasty indeed, and which
incidentally contained more duck flesh in each helping than there had been Pork,
which rather implied a slip up in the Pork distribution somehwere! However they
were both very good. Towards the end of the dner, a vote of thanks was proposed
by Major Fennell to Major Dinwiddie, the retiring Squad Leader, and in a most
amusing speech Dinwiddie pointer out that under his leadership we had been
promoted from being mere Hewers of Wood to Drawer of Water, and that the Goon
"Beaverbrook" had consented to be Colonel in Chief! The Xmas Tree came next
with an Xmas Draw, and the evening finished with fun and games in 10 Squad. It
had been a very good Xmas Day, the difference in "Peace of Mind", between now
and last year being very noticeable. Everyone felt that we were now approaching
"The Straight" and the difference in treatment compare with last year was not
unconnected with "The Writing on the Wall".
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I have forgotten to mention that at 1330 on Xmas there was a parade of all
POWs on the "Green". The Commandant made a long speech, which Col Hoffmann
our chief Interpreter said was in very polished Japanese, well thought out,
and radiating Good Will. The translation we got was not so polished. He
gave out the latest War News as follows: Big conference at Tokyo between all the
members of the Co-Prosperity Sphere. No news Italy. Fighting at Kiev. No news
Europe except that London and Berlin were both being bombed. No news Burma or
South Pacific. Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin had had a Conference in which
they said Japan was to be put back into the position she was 150 years ago.
An attempt had been made to assassinate Roosevelt. The News or rather absence of
it was most significant.
Active cooperators, such as those holding staff jobs, were then given flowers and
a small present, and then the Administrative Posts were read out for the ensuring
year. A Full Colonel from the American Army was put in charge of the Cookhouse -
a good move. All the Squad leaders we re-appointed with the exception of General
Key for No 2 and Major Dinwiddie for 9. Major Mackintosh late Bde Major RA 11 Div
took over No 9, much to his disgust and received many congratulations from his
friends at becoming No 1 Dogsbody, whilst others in the running breathed a sigh
of relief!
After Xmas we reverted to our normal routine. The Commandant left and "Shuffling
Sam" took over. Dec 30th was spent in general purification of the huts and at 1330
on Dec 31st there was the inspection for the New Year by the Acting Commandant,
which passed without incident. Prior to the Inspection Major Grazebrook RE in No 9
Squad had been put in the Guard Room by the Guard Commander for not "Kerry-ing"
properly. The Guard Commander then went out for a walk and the Goons on guard
produced 2 bananas for the Captive!! As the return of the Guard Commander coincided
with the commencement of the Inspection, he was released having, gastronomically at
all events, had the better of the deal!!
The closing days of the Old Year were used profitably by the "Regimental Scribe"
in getting all records complete up to date, apart from a current account of
happenings from day to day. There are now available for handing over on release
the following:
1.  CO or CO2s Book containing complete records of officers, NCOs and men who left
Nowshera.
2.  The Original Record Book suitable for the Adjt containing all the above information.
3.  The Duplicate Record Book, in a bad state though owing to the flood in Taihoku!
4.  HQ Section Cash Book.
5.  Original Manuscript War Diary Digest up to the Capitulation together with Maps
[[?]]
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6.  A typed corrected Copy of the above.
7.  6 Notebooks containing the above ad an account of our adventures since.
8.  The Regimental Roll for the Medical Inspection held in Changi shortly before
leaving for Taiwan. It gave, among other things, our weights!
9.  Folder containing a few orders of interest.
It is profoundly hoped that all the above can be brought away as they will be of
great value in settling the affairs of the Regiment, and of interest to the
Regiment for all time.
Before starting an account of the New Year, a few observations should be made.
The Year could be divided roughly into two half yearly periods. The first one was
decided a "Hate" Period, and we were treated more like criminals rather than
Prisoners of War. Every effort was made to break our spirits, and also to sow
dissension between Officers and Men. Both these efforts failed miserably. During
the second period, under orders from Tokyo, they improved enormously, as regards 
food and general Treatment, and at the present moment, conditions are as good as
one reasonably can expect. The lack of Meat and Fats and the preponderance of
Rice is our misfortune in being captured by Orientals instead of a European Nation.
The one thing for which there seems to be no real reason, is the complete absence
of any Mail for a period of 18 months. Some have never received any since they
left England in July 1941. On the other hand with effect from July 1942, postcards
have been dispatched at fairly regular intervals, ending with a 200 word letter
at Xmas. There is no means of knowing, though, how long they took before delivery.
And so we enter 1944, full of optimism for the future, and the ultimate victory 
of the Anti-Axis powers.

 

January 1944

A Happy New Year to all readers!!
New Year's Day is a big Nipponese Holiday and consequently there was a whole
holiday but the snag was that the rice was cut to match! For breakfast there was
no rice at all except that in the stew there were a few pieces of "Mooji" floating
about. It was the same religious and glutinous rice ball that we had last year,
but in much less quantity. This "delivery" was repeated for the next two days and we
were thankful to go back on watering again with full rations! Cigarette supplies 
were also very low during the period so that it was not possible to fill in the 
cracks with smoke! In addition the weather was very cold, which made the pangs of
hunger worse!

About Jan 5th, the rumour went round "Letters in the Camp". The exchange ship "Teia
Maru" had arrived in November and had stopped a Murmazas in Goa where the exchanges
had been effected, and rumours were that there were letters from India. Many people 
went round with their tongues hanging out, but when it came to a point, the only 

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lucky ones were Col Jephson, Windy Forbes, and Traherne. However, "India" has now
broken its "duck" so let's hope that this is only the first instalment. Col Jephson's 
letter was 25 words in length and in block capitals, so it appeared that some orders
had been given out. The other two were from S. Africa and longer. From other letters
received it appeared that our names did not reach our next of kin until about Dec-
ember 1942 or 10 months after we were captured, so our relatives must have had a
very anxious time in suspense. There must be hundreds of letters lying somewhere
undelivered.

Incidentally, we received a very pleasant Xmas and New Year present from a Group
Captain Noble and Colonel Dobbin, who were in the party which arrived from Java.
They had been in touch with RAF officers, who had been shot down quite recently in
Burma, and consequently were able to put us very much into the picture as to recent
happenings including the solution of the Great Hess Mystery, which had been the  

subject of much debate, when mentioned in the Shonan Times in Changi. We also
remembered reading in the Nippon Times that the Minister of Information in Tokyo
had said that if Nippon did not win the war in 1943, she (sic) would regret it to 100 
years! He has only some 36,495 days to go now!

On January 7th, a new job was found for 9 and 10 Squads working in rotation. It was
to make a motor track from the Main road up to the office. There were no "Goons" on
the job at all, as a result of a suggestion mde at the Monthly Conference and the
"Engineers" were two old American Colonels. The experiment seems to have been a 
success and it is hoped that the system will be extended to the Farm. Incidentally, 
if they only knew it, far more work would be done, as nothing is more conducive to
a "Go Slow" policy than a nattering child "Goon"!

On January 10th, a circular letter was received from Brigadier Lucas, late Brigadier
i/c Administration, Malaya Command.  Officers were to be divided into categories
depending on their date of arrival in Malaya, and whether they were on a peace or
war footing as regards kit. A similar scheme has been worked out after the fall of
Hong Kong. As far as the Regiment was concerned, the maximum sum suggested for
compensation for Loss of Kit etc was £150. Lists were to be kept by individual
officers and it was hoped that the War Office would eventually "play" to any figure
not exceeding this amount. All Kit sent from Kuantan to B Echelon at Singapore
could be considered as having been lost as it had been removed from its original
home, the Chinese School, by the time we reached Singapore.  As only 2 lorries
were available for the journey from Tanglin to Changi, including Foodstuffs, all
Kits had to be cut down to a minimum, in some cases to what would go in a pack.
[[219?]]
 

At about 2210 hrs on the night of Jan 11th, a loud explosion was heard in the distance
followed shortly after by 4 more. A sentry ran up to the barracks and presently some
Goons ran down and one imagined that the sentries were being doubled. The lights were
all put out, and the Air Raid siren went. Others could also be heard in the direction
of Kagi. The dentist from Kagi departed in the middle of a sitting and the back seat
of a closed car - the lights NOT being turned on. In the morning there was a lot of
discussion among those who had or had not heard. Was it (1) An earthquake (2) A
Demonstration (3) The real thing.  The following day all doubts were set at rest by

"Harold Lloyd" telling an American Colonel that a recce plane had been over during
the afternoon and had been fired at, and that during the night, a harbour about 20
miles from here had been bombed. One's first thought was that in the event of the 
start of the Taiwan bombing season, we were far better off at Shirakawa on our own,
than being right on top of the aerodrome at Taihoku!  

A batch of Nippon Times up to Nov 27th arrived. There was no news of Italy, Burma,
or Germany. The capture of Bougainville by the Americans was "scored" as being a

Naval disaster equal only to Pearl Harbour! As a sop to Subhas Bose, Nicobar and the
Andaman Islands had been handed over to Azad Hind prior to evacuation by the Nipponese
at an early date no doubt!
The same day a man in Anti Tank Regt unfrotunately (sic) died. He was a TB case, and
nothing much could be done about him. He had been in the Mining Camp when he started
the illness, and was in a very bad state of health.  He was buried by Father Kennedy.

During the late afternoon there were shouts of joy as a lorry turned up with
CIGARETTES! It is the longest we had ever been without, and there were many cases
of kindness in the "Haves" helping the "Have nots" by the odd one now and again.
The trouble was that the weather was very cold, and that added to the pangs of
hunger. All along we have found that tobacco smoke fills in a crack somewhere!
There was an immediate issue of 25 packets of Herons and smiling faces were seen
everywhere.

On Jan 15th the Office Orderly reported that another batch of letters had arrived in
the Camp but when they were eventually delivered, they proved to be old 1942 ones for
the General's party forwarded from Singapore, and none of the Regiment were lucky.

Col Cornell, the American who had been put in the cook house, had certainly improved
the quality of the food, even though it was not in his power to increase the quantity.
However, sweet potatoes began to make their appearance from the farm and proved
excellent, whether served neat, or put in to bolster the stew. In fact, what with
the potatoes, tomatoes, cauliflower, onions and green stuff, the stews were now
excellent, particularly on nights when whitebait were issued.

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 On Jan 1th, a closed car drove up and the news quickly went round that it brought a TB patint from Taihoku, a man in 11 Div Sigs. From him we gathered that another party of about 50 hd been sent away to an agricultural camp, but that the work for the remainder was pretty easy and things were going well for them. Unfortunately Gunner Johnson of 63/81 had died and Gunner Styzekir, also of 63/81 was seriously ill. They had been told that Red Cross Stores would shortly arrive.

On Tuesday Jan 25th tere was an inspection by Col Sazaki commanding all the POW Camps. The inspection was preceded by the usual cleaning up, and involved us in work on Sunday, but those wishing to attend church were allowed to so. He came round the huts at 10.30 but made no remarks except that anyone with a pale face was honoured with an inquiry as to his health. Capt Hunt and Lt Armstrong were thus honoured.

After lunch he held a "Durbar" and this time 9 & 10 Squads provided the 6 officers, who much enjoyed the tea and biscuits provided! The chief points arising from the inspection and durbar were: (1) Red Cross Food was promised in the near future and was on the Island (2) No hope of hurrying up delivery of letters owing to censorship difficulties. (3) Everything possible was being done to improve the food, but there were difficulties owing to the War shortage. (4) Socks ought to be issued from Nip Army surces. (5) Lirary exchanges with other camps (6) Concerts to start in February. (7) Farm and Animals would be increased. He asked when they thought the War would be over and was told some time this year! He said that Jaan could go on fighting for ever, but that if Amrica would abide by the Monro Doctrine, the war could finish tomorrow! He said that were was no War News t tell us. That sounded pretty good as we are all certain tht big things are happening, ad know from past experience that when things are gon badly for us we are told all about it! Incidentally, slit trenches have been dug all round the huts - a sign of the times!!

For the last few months there was a lot of skin trouble due to lack of fats. Various officers in the Regiment were affected and could be seen anointing temselves with Sulphur ointment to allay the irritation. This it did very well, but it played merry hell with their very limited wardrobes as the ointment left a brown stain. However as soon as the sun came up, sunbathing could be indulged in. Certainly the climate of this part is very suitable for us and reminded us very much of the Indian Cold Weather. The East winds of Taihoku, Thank God, were no things of the past.

Here is an interesting point out of a very interesting book written by an American called "Our Future in Asia". In 127, a Baron Tanaka produced a Memorial for the Emperor in which he laid down the programme as being Peaceful penetration of China and Manchuria, then the acquisition of Indo China, South China Seas, Burma, India

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Central Asia and Europe! The Chinese got a copy, published it and it created some stir! The Japs said it was a Chinese forgery! The author said that judging by events since 1930, if tis was true, some obscure Chinaman was the most successful prophet since the days of Isaiah!!

On February 2nd, an important change in administration was announced. In future all "Goons" would be witdrawn from supervising the Work. They would merely check squads In and Out, and the actual work would be supervised by our own officers and Squad leaders. This was a great advance as altough the "Goons" were mostly quite decent, there were a few stinkers, and anyhow we all strongly objected to being ordered abut by a"child of two"!, who had never seen any fighting. There were also more rumours about Germany and the Argentine. Heoki was asked for some War News by the American Colonels. He said there wasn't any but being pressed he said "America and Japan are still at War and Japan still holds Singapore, a remark on which many interpretations could be put!

During this week, the climate played a joke on us. It suddenly became very hot, and everyone said "Ha! Ha! Summer has come" and summer beds came into fashion as the bunks became quite stuffy at night as black-out curtains had also to be drawn. In the middle of the night of Feb 5th, a sudden cold snap started, and people woke up with cold feet and there was a terrific rush for the benjo! As a matter of fact, the climate of Shirakawa is really very pleasant and THERE IS NO EAST WIND! The East Wind at Taihoku will be one of the horrors which will never be forgotten, long after other objectionable memories have faded.

The Nipponese have certainly been very co-operative of late in manufacturing jobs for the older officers to enable them to draw working rice. Our old friend General Callaghan, the Australian BOC, blossomed forth as O/C Valuables, and his duties were to visit each squad in turn to check the number of watches, cigarette cases, fountain pens, rings, etc, reported as being in possession. He was always very good to the Regiment. In which connection it should be remembered that the Australian "Gunners" hold their Annual Dinners in HQ cities on the nearest Saturday to August 8th. For purposes of keeping in touch with 2/10 and 2/15 Field Regts and 4 Anti Tank Regt, they can always be got at through the BGRA GHQ Sydney.

On Sunday Feb 13th the Authorities started to suffer from "Inspectionitis" as altough the date of the Inspection was not till Friday, everything one was turned out for "policint the area" in the morning and "tidying up the hut" in the after-noon, Neither period however was taken very seriously but Working rice was issued and it really looked as if it was an excuse for Shuffling Sam to give us extra food on Sunday and yet save face. On Feb 15th we were naturally full of memories not altogether pleasant, but we do feel now that things are very different tan they were a year ago, and we shall not be prisoners for the next anniversary.

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