Bainborough, George Harry (Oral history)

British seaman served as writer with HMS Tamar in Hong Kong, 1939-1941; prisoner of war in North Point and Sham Shui Po Camps, Hong Kong, 12/1941-9/1942; survived sinking of SS Lisbon Maru off Zhoushan Island, Zhoushan Archipelago in South China Sea, 10/1942; prisoner of war in Osaka Main Camp No 01-B, Chikko and Osaka No 7 Camp, Kita-Fukazaki, Japan, 10/1942-8/1945

REEL 1 Aspects of period as writer with HMS Tamar in Hong Kong, 1939-1941: enlistment in Royal Navy, 1/1938; accommodation; pre-war lifestyle and training; outbreak of war in Far East, 12/1941; accuracy of Japanese mortars; Japanese air attack; ambush of Royal Navy personnel in Wong Nai Chung Gap; Japanese Fifth Column; British air and naval forces in Hong Kong. Aspects of period as prisoner of war in North Point Camp, Hong Kong, 12/1941-2/1942: camp construction; diet; prisoner of war trading. Aspects of period as prisoner of war in Sham Shui Po Camp, Hong Kong, 2/1942-9/1942: prisoner of war deaths; aid from Chinese civilians. REEL 2 Continues: Japanese punishment of Chinese who aided prisoners of war; Japanese discovery of prisoner of war tunnel; suspected prisoner of war collaborator; insanitary conditions; high death rate; eating dogs; Japanese insistence on prisoner of war parole and the 'gallant six hundred' who refused to sign. Recollections of period as prisoner of war aboard SS Lisbon Maru in South China Sea, 9/1942-10/1942, including sinking off Zhoushan Island, Zhoushan Archipelago, China, 2/10/1942: accommodation on board; dysentery problems; messing arrangements; torpedo attack by American submarine USS Grouper (SS-214), 1/10/1942; Japanese battening down of prisoners of war in hold; suppression of panic; Japanese shooting of prisoners of war breaking out from holds; abandoning ship, 2/10/1942. REEL 3 Continues: period in sea without life jacket; rescue; execution scare in Shanghai, China; treatment received from Imperial Japanese Navy; voyage from Shanghai, China to Moji, Japan aboard SS Shinsei Maru; disinfecting of prisoners of war on arrival at Moji in Japan; belief in personal survival. Recollections of period as prisoner of war in Osaka Main Camp No 01-B, Chikko and Osaka No 7 Camp, Kita-Fukazaki, Japan, 10/1942-8/1945: facilities; rations; Japanese treatment of sick prisoners of war; individual Japanese captors; problems of roll call in Japanese; fish powder ration; supplementing rations; his personal health regime; pilfering food from docks; capture and eating of Japanese guard's cat. REEL 4 Continues: experiencing earthquake in cement works; destruction of camp during United States Army Air Force raid, 1/6/1945; move to Osaka Camp No 7 Camp, Kita-Fukazaki, 7/1945; character of Chinese prisoners of war; obtaining war news; Kempeitai intelligence gathering; Japanese detailing of sick for work; news of atomic bombings; United States Army Air Force air-supply drops, 8/1945; disappearance of Japanese guards, 8/1945; liberation by United States Eighth Army and his work aiding Americans to locate prisoner of war camps and record complaints against Japanese; return to GB; effects of captivity on his naval career; attitude towards Japanese; comradeship amongst former Far Eastern Prisoners of War