Merrett, Victor Robert Joseph (Oral history)

British officer served with Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve attached to Hong Kong Dockyard Defence Corps in Hong Kong, 12/1941; POW in Sham Shui Po Camp in Hong Kong, 1/1942-1/1943, aboard SS Tatsuta Maru during voyage from Hong Kong to Nagasaki, Japan, 19/1/1943-22/1/1943 and Osaka No 4-D Camp, Sakurajima and Osaka No 6-B Camp, Akenobe in Japan, 1/1943-8/1945

REEL 1 Aspects of period as architectural and civil engineering assistant with Civil Engineering Chiefs Department in Hong Kong, 4/1939-12/1941: background to joining department in Plymouth, GB, 1/5/1936; posting to Hong Kong, 4/1939; duties, 1939-1941. Recollections of operations as officer with Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve attached to Hong Kong Dockyard Defence Corps in Hong Kong, 7/12/1941-25/12/1941: recruitment to and purpose of Hong Kong Dockyard Defence Corps; reaction to Japanese attack on colony, 12/1941; relations between European civilians and service personnel; creation of Hong Kong Dockyard Defence Corps, 7/12/1941; conditions of service; European civilians hidden by Chinese after fall of Hong Kong; Japanese attack on Hong Kong; formation of defence line at Bennett’s Hill; duties taking water to Royal Navy personnel on Bennett’s Hill, Christmas Day, 25/12/1941; condition of retreating troops and their reports on Japanese method of attack. REEL 2 Continues: move to Kowloon on surrender; theft of watch by Japanese soldier; reaction to sight of Japanese treatment of dog. Recollections of period as POW in Sham Shui Po Camp, Hong Kong, 1/1942-1/1943: Japanese parading POW through streets on route to camp; question of presence of Japanese Fifth Column in Hong Kong; description of layout of camp; camp facilities; problem with flies; question of British POWs being punished by Japanese at request of British officers; recites two poems entitled ‘Rice’ and ‘Charge of the Rice Brigade’; canteen supply wagon; contaminated rice; question of POW collaboration. REEL 3 Continues: use of illicit radio; method of exposing POW collaborators; Japanese punishment for attempted escapes; abortive escape plan; camp poetry; concealing illicit radio during Japanese search; recreational activities; camp parades; confiscation of his chess pieces by Japanese; removal of officers to Argyll Street Camp, 4/1942; working party to extend Kai Tak airfield and sabotage carried out; Japanese treatment of Chinese caught aiding POWs; camp fatigues; contracting strongyloidiasis during airfield work; nature of heavy work on airfield at Kai Tak; withdrawal of rations for sick POWs. REEL 4 Continues: use of weeds to supplement rice diet; baking bread; POW illnesses including ‘electric feet’; POW death rate and funerals; use of date barometer and prognostications about length of captivity; creation of wall map; Japanese approval of reading matter; embarkation and removal of Hong Kong Dockyard Defence Corps personnel from SS Lisbon Maru, 9/1942. Aspects of voyage aboard SS Tatsuta Maru from Hong Kong to Nagasaki, Japan, 19/1/1943-22/1/1943: reaction to being in hold of ship; nature of voyage; decontamination on board ship at Nagasaki; disembarkation. Recollections of period as POW in Osaka No 4-D Camp, Sakurajima, Japan, 1/1943-3/1945: journey to camp; speech by camp commandant Second Lieutenant Masatochi Yamada. REEL 5 Continues: utensil and blanket issue; camp routine; POW uniform issue; description of camp construction and facilities; daily journey to Osaka Iron Works; character of Japanese guards; POWs’ teasing of Japanese guards; character of civilian Japanese supervisors; work in Osaka Iron Works; gleaning news from Japanese newspapers; sleeping arrangements; occasion when he received beating from Japanese interpreter for hiding newspaper cutting in bed space; story of taking revenge on Japanese guard sergeant; incident of Japanese demand for him to draw plan of camp. REEL 6 Continues: presenting plan to Japanese camp commandant and his reaction to it; story of Japanese administering of injection to camp inmates; injection of brine for beri; Japanese treatment for pellagra; story of escaping punishment for drawing victory sign on lavatory wall; drawing victory sign on Japanese ship about to be launched; Japanese workers and POWs’ daily physical training to music entitled ‘Song of the Seashore’ and plays excerpt of James Galway rendition of it on flute. REEL 7 Continues: sabotaging Japanese propaganda films of POWs; contact with GB; POWs receiving bad news from GB; distribution of books; religious services; visit by Japanese priest and his views on unified Christianity; attempt to breed rabbits; his weight loss in camp. Recollections of period as POW in Osaka No 6-B Camp, Akenobe, Japan, 3/1945-8/1945: journey to camp; presence of rice fleas in sleeping areas; recites poem ‘Ode to a Flea’; treatment by guards; copper mining work in Mitsubishi Corporation’s ‘Three Star Diamond Mine’ including equipment, routine and clocking off system; absence of wild life in area; work shifting pit props in mine. REEL 8 Continues: making ‘cigars’; rest days; realisation that Second World War had ended, 8/1945; putting on concert for Japanese civilians and party given to former POWs, 8/1945; US Army Air Force supply drops; story of naming goat ‘B-29’. Recollections of journey from Japan to GB, 9/1945-11/1945: reception from General Douglas MacArthur in Yokohama, Japan; reaction to supply of soap; voyage aboard USS Oconto from Yokohama, Japan to Manila, Philippines; reception in Manila, Philippines; effect of captivity on his spine; character of voyage aboard USS General R L Howze from Manila, Philippines to San Francisco, US. REEL 9 Continues: reaction of Americans to arrival in San Francisco Bay, US; reception in San Francisco, US; billeting on Angel Island, US; story of recognition of his Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve rank and issue of unusual uniform items; story of ensuring Royal Navy pay precedence; story of buying shoes in San Francisco, US; leaving San Francisco, US; description of American train. REEL 10 Continues: description of train journey across US and Canada; voyage aboard RMS Queen Elizabeth across North Atlantic; reception in Southampton, GB, 11/1945; reunion with wife in Tavistock, GB, 11/1945. Reflections on period as POW, 1942-1945: attitude towards Japanese; opinion of Korean guards and forced labourers.