Wood, Alan Jackson (Oral history)

British gunner served with 7th Bty, 5th Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regt, Royal Artillery in Hong Kong, 1/1939-12/1941; POW in Stanley Fort and Sham Shui Po Camp, Hong Kong, 12/1941-9/1942, Tokyo 3-B Camp, Yokohama Baseball Stadium, Japan, 10/1942-5/1944 and Tokyo 17-D Camp, Kanagawa, Japan, 5/1944-8/1945

REEL 1 Background in Birmingham, GB, 1921-1937: family; conditions in children homes; reasons for joining Royal Artillery, 1937. Aspects of period as gunner with 7th Bty, 5th Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regt, Royal Artillery in Hong Kong, 1/1939-12/1941: posting to Hong Kong, 1/1939; attitude to lifestyle; method of predicting aircraft movement with 3 Inch Anti-Aircraft Gun; opinion of 3.7 Inch Anti-Aircraft Gun; organisation of regiment. Recollections of operations as gunner with 7th Bty, 5th Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regt, Royal Artillery during Battle of Hong Kong, 8/12/1941-25/12/1941: anticipation of Japanese invasion; presence of Japanese Fifth Column in Hong Kong; opinion of 1st (MG) Bn Middlesex Regt; firing on Japanese attack at Wong Nai Chung Gap, 20/12/1941; wounding by mortar fire and Japanese bayonet charge at Wong Nai Chung Gap, 20/12/1941; withdrawal from Wong Nai Chung Gap, 20/12/1941; hospitalisation in St Stephen’s College; escaping St Stephen’s College massacre by Japanese troops; surrender of Stanley Fort. REEL 2 Continues: Aspects of period as POW at Stanley Fort, Hong Kong, 12/1941-1/1942; Japanese attitude towards surrender; Japanese attitude towards machine gunners of 1st (MG) Bn Middlesex Regt; POWs plundering of former married quarters. Recollections of period as POW in Sham Shui Po Camp, Hong Kong, 1/1942-9/1942: transfer to camp; removal of wood from barracks by POWs; maintenance of army discipline and hierarchy; POW resistance to giving parole; escape attempts from camp; POWs’ craving for nicotine; presence of Korean and Formosan guards; aid received from Chinese civilians; use of improvised eating utensils; preparation of and supplementing rations; beating of POWs by guards; power of Kempeitai; accommodation; question of boredom and passing time. REEL 3 Continues: making tea from rice; clothing; lack of camp money; bartering goods for cigarettes; canteen supplies; latrine and ablution provisions; POW illnesses; sporting activities; morale; receiving news from illicit radio; POW collaborators; religious life in camp; lack of contact with GB; Sikh POWs’ collaboration with Japanese; belief in Allied victory; Japanese belief in victory; Korean guard stealing from Japanese; story of later stealing from oil factory in Japan. REEL 4 Continues: Recollections of period as POW in Tokyo 3-B Camp, Yokohama Baseball Stadium, Japan, 10/1942-5/1944: uneventful voyage aboard SS Shinsei Maru from Hong Kong to Japan, 9/1941; accommodation; introduction of lice by American POWs; opinion of American POWs’ behaviour; POWs stealing supplies during work parties; methods of stealing peanut oil from factory at Kanagawa; smuggling of stolen goods into camp and POW beatings; examples of Japanese treatment of POWs; Japanese treatment of captured Allied airmen; later witnessing of US Army Air Force incendiary bombing raid on Yokohama, 26/5/1945; subsequent Japanese civilian reaction to POWs; sheltering during air raid and effects of acquiring Japanese pig, 26/5/1945; work regime; use of corpses to give sick POWs longer rest periods; nature of Japanese guards’ punishment for offenses; attitude towards Japanese guards. REEL 5 Continues: nature of work in peanut oil factory at Kanagawa. Recollections of period as POW in Tokyo 17-D Camp, Kanagawa, Japan, 5/1944-8/1945: transfer to camp; accommodation; stealing to supplement diet; US Army Air Force raids; behaviour of civilians towards POWs; behaviour of Japanese guards and civilian workforce towards POWs; Japanese taking propaganda photographs of POWs; Red Cross parcels; hearing news of dropping of atomic bombs, 8/1945; sheltering during US Army Air Force air raids; near execution of POW for smoking during air raid; Japanese box of nails punishment; character of rations; behaviour of Japanese after surrender, 15/8/1945; POW move to Tokyo No 1 Camp at Omori, 8/1945; food air supply drops; swimming out to American landing crafts. REEL 6 Continues: relations between British and American POWs. Reflection on period as POW: Japanese atrocity at St Stephen’s College in Hong Kong, 12/1941; attitude towards Japanese; long term psychological and physical effects of captivity; difficulty of obtaining disability pension; reception of POWs by Allied fleets in Tokyo Bay, 8/1945; attitude to dropping of atomic bombs; POW remembrance.