Description
Object description
British chief mechanician served aboard HMS Curlew, 1st Anti-Aircraft Squadron, Home Fleet in GB coastal waters and Norway, 7/1939-5/1940 including sinking in Lavangfjord, Norway, 26/5/1940; served aboard HMS Exeter in North Atlantic, Indian Ocean and Java Sea, 3/1941-3/1942 including sinking in Sunda Straits, 1/3/1942; prisoner of war in Makassar Camp, Celebes Island, Dutch East Indies, 3/1942-10/1942, aboard SS Asama Maru during voyage from Makassar, Celebes Island, Dutch East Indies to Nagasaki, Japan, 10/10/1942-23/10/1942 and Fukuoka No 2-B Camp, Kawanami, Japan, 10/1942-8/1945
Content description
REEL 1 Aspects of enlistment and training and service as stoker with Royal Navy in GB, 1932-1939: reasons for enlistment, 12/1932; drafting to HMS Rodney; pattern of training; requalifying as Mechanism 2nd Class. Recollections of operations as chief mechanician aboard HMS Curlew, 1st Anti-Aircraft Squadron, Home Fleet in GB coastal waters and Norway, 9/1939-5/1940 including sinking in Lavangfjord, Norway, 26/5/1940: drafting to ship, 7/1939; use of ship's radar to protect fleet anchorage at Scapa Flow; experiences in boiler room during sinking of ship by German aircraft in Lavangfjord, 26/5/1940; abandoning ship and swimming ashore; evacuation aboard HMS Royal Ulsterman from Harstad, Norway. Aspects of operations aboard HMS Exeter in Atlantic, Indian Ocean and Java Sea, 3/1941-3/1942 including sinking in Sunda Straits, 1/3/1942: drafting to ship, 3/1941; shadowing German battleship Bismarck in North Atlantic, 5/1941; convoy duties in Indian Ocean; character of cruiser; reasons for move to Far East; damage to ship during First Battle of Java Sea, 27/2/1942; sinking of ship during Second Battle of the Java Sea in Sunda Strait, 1/3/1942; abandoning ship, 1/3/1942; period in sea and rescue by Imperial Japanese Navy destroyer; transfer in captured Dutch hospital ship SS Op Ten Noort to Makassar, Celebes Island, Dutch East Indies.
REEL 2 Continues: Recollections of period as prisoner of war in Makassar Camp, Celebes Island, Dutch East Indies, 3/1942-10/1942: march through Makassar town; British/Dutch prisoner of war relations; paucity of rations and state of health; rumours of liberation; behaviour of Japanese guards; smuggling milk into camp; public humiliation of prisoners of war by Japanese; behaviour of Japanese guards towards prisoners of war and Indonesian civilians; relations between British and Dutch prisoners of war; execution of Dutch escapees; preparations for move to Japan; diphtheria outbreak; requirement for prisoners of war to perform Imperial Japanese Army drill. Aspects of voyage aboard SS Asama Maru during voyage from Makassar, Celebes Island, Dutch East Indies to Nagasaki, Japan, 10/10/1942-23/10/1942: crowded conditions; vermin; false torpedo alarm; rations; ablution problems.
REEL 3 Continues: Recollections of period as prisoner of war in Fukuoka No 2-B Camp, Kawanami, Japan, 10/1942-8/1945: disembarkation at Nagasaki, 23/10/1942; camp layout and accommodation; parading prisoners of war for work instructions; issue of prisoner of war uniform; work in Kawanami Zosen Shipyard; suffering from cold conditions; Japanese guards beating of prisoners of war; Japanese attitude towards courage; payment received by prisoners of war; contracting beri beri; camp doctors; transfer to boiler room work; contrasting behaviour of Japanese guards in boiler room; boiler room work; prisoners of war collecting remains of cigarettes.
REEL 4 Continues: death of Engine Room Artificer 1st Class William Andrews from pneumonia, 5/2/1943; contacting pneumonia, 2/1942; conditions in shipyard; books supplied by Red Cross; contact with GB; his suffering from carbuncle and treatment received; contracting oedema; treatment for prisoner of war abscesses; suspicion of Dutch prisoner of war doctor being a collaborator; Japanese kneeling punishment; methods of avoiding work; prisoner of war news service and its discovery by Japanese; reaction of prisoners of war who had worked on Burma-Thailand Railway to shipyard conditions; smoking in camp; sabotage in shipyard.
REEL 5 Continues: suffering from dysentery; presence of rats in camp; issue of sick chit; problems with lice, fleas and bugs; Japanese NCO guard's treatment of prisoners of war; danger of rats in latrine; meningitis epidemic and Indonesian who contracted leprosy; shipyard accidents; work of Japanese surgeon at hospital; receiving Red Cross parcels; sheltering from United States Army Air Force raids; prisoner of war's cremation; keeping diary; opinion of defective Japanese shipbuilding techniques.
REEL 6 Continues: description of experiencing effects of dropping of atomic bomb on Nagasaki, 9/8/1945; sight of Japanese victims of atomic bombing; hearing news of end of Second World War; United States Army Air Force air-supply drops; taking revenge on Japanese guard; arrival of American doctors; feasting on pork. Aspects of journey from Japan to GB, 9/1945-10/1945: embarkation aboard USS Chenango for voyage to Okinawa Island, Japan; impressions of Manila, Philippines; embarkation aboard HMS Implacable for voyage to Vancouver, Canada; crossing Canada and North Atlantic; return to GB and reunion with family, 10/1945; reaction to being home. Aspects of atomic bomb being dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, 9/8/1945: distance of prisoners of war from bomb; death of aircrew when Boeing B-29 Superfortress crashed on air-supply drop, 4/9/1945; devastation in Nagasaki and casualties; flash of explosion; attitude of Japanese civilians towards prisoners of war after dropping of bomb.
REEL 7 Continues: Reflections on period as prisoner of war, 3/1942-8/1945: later knowledge of Japanese plans to execute prisoners of war; physical hardships of shipyard work; behaviour of Japanese towards prisoners of war; beating received from Japanese guard for being caught sleeping; long-term physical effects of imprisonment; attitude towards Japanese; attitude towards nuclear weapons.