Description
Object description
A ms account (23pp) by a Gunner in 12th Coast Regiment, Royal Artillery, of his transfer by the Japanese from Shamshuipo prisoner of war camp, Hong Kong, the poor conditions in the camp, boarding the transport ship LISBON MARU, being in the No 2 Hold under Lieutenant Colonel H W M Stewart, cramped conditions, thoughts of his capture and Japanese air attacks, the sinking of the ship (1 October 1942), the panic after the explosion, escaping from the ship, Japanese soldiers firing on the men, walking into the sea, Japanese ships nearby not picking up survivors, swimming from raft to raft to reach a nearby island, all swimmers being weak from hunger or mistreatment, Chinese fishermen picking up survivors only in exchange for watches and other items, seeing hundreds left behind, landing on an island, Japanese marines landing on the island and rounding up the men, taken on a gunboat to Shanghai, boarding SHINSEA MARU, falling ill, sailing to Japan, arriving at Moji, then by train to Osaka, being told they would be working for Japan and never let go, based in the Osaka docks, having diphtheria, treatment at Kobe sport stadium, work parties for firms including Mitsubishi, developing ulcers but getting some lotion from a nurse at a cement works he was working in, an earthquake hitting a warehouse he was in, a second quake causing a tsunami at Canamoto warehouse, an air raid strafing his party, US bombing raids, moving to Heibi Valley camp near Kyoto, seeing dog fights overhead, the end of the war, rations being dropped on the camp, boarding a ship at Yokohama, sailing for Manila, Philippines, seeing Japanese prisoners being well treated, hearing Gracie Fields singing, sailing in HMS IMPLACABLE to Canada, the train journey across Canada and the USA, and then to the UK, ending the account with details of Chinese children at Shamshuipo tricking prisoners out of money and being shot by the Japanese, and throughout names of people he remembered. Together with: an order of service for his funeral (8pp, August 2016); a ts account of the sinking of the LISBON MARU in the form of a poem (2pp), written by Bombardier J W Bowen RA in Kobe House prison camp, Japan, in 1943; a newspaper cutting including an article 'An old soldier who may forget, but never forgive' including an interview with Jack Bowen about his treatment and bitterness, written shortly after the death of Emperor Hirohito (January 1989).
Content description
A ms account (23pp) by a Gunner in 12th Coast Regiment, Royal Artillery, of his transfer by the Japanese from Shamshuipo prisoner of war camp, Hong Kong, the poor conditions in the camp, boarding the transport ship LISBON MARU, being in the No 2 Hold under Lieutenant Colonel H W M Stewart, cramped conditions, thoughts of his capture and Japanese air attacks, the sinking of the ship (1 October 1942), the panic after the explosion, escaping from the ship, Japanese soldiers firing on the men, walking into the sea, Japanese ships nearby not picking up survivors, swimming from raft to raft to reach a nearby island, all swimmers being weak from hunger or mistreatment, Chinese fishermen picking up survivors only in exchange for watches and other items, seeing hundreds left behind, landing on an island, Japanese marines landing on the island and rounding up the men, taken on a gunboat to Shanghai, boarding SHINSEA MARU, falling ill, sailing to Japan, arriving at Moji, then by train to Osaka, being told they would be working for Japan and never let go, based in the Osaka docks, having diphtheria, treatment at Kobe sport stadium, work parties for firms including Mitsubishi, developing ulcers but getting some lotion from a nurse at a cement works he was working in, an earthquake hitting a warehouse he was in, a second quake causing a tsunami at Canamoto warehouse, an air raid strafing his party, US bombing raids, moving to Heibi Valley camp near Kyoto, seeing dog fights overhead, the end of the war, rations being dropped on the camp, boarding a ship at Yokohama, sailing for Manila, Philippines, seeing Japanese prisoners being well treated, hearing Gracie Fields singing, sailing in HMS IMPLACABLE to Canada, the train journey across Canada and the USA, and then to the UK, ending the account with details of Chinese children at Shamshuipo tricking prisoners out of money and being shot by the Japanese, and throughout names of people he remembered. Together with: an order of service for his funeral (8pp, August 2016); a ts account of the sinking of the LISBON MARU in the form of a poem (2pp), written by Bombardier J W Bowen RA in Kobe House prison camp, Japan, in 1943; a newspaper cutting including an article 'An old soldier who may forget, but never forgive' including an interview with Jack Bowen about his treatment and bitterness, written shortly after the death of Emperor Hirohito (January 1989).
History note
Cataloguer SJO