Interview with Frederick Alexander Arblaster

Australian NCO served with Australian Army Service Corps, Australian Imperial Force in Australia, 1939-1943; served as translator with Allied Translator and Interpreter Section in Australia and Manila, Philippines, 1943-1945; served as interpreter with Allied Translator and Interpreter Section on Morotai Island, Dutch East Indies, 1945-1946; served as interpreter with Special Investigations Branch, Australian Army Provost Corps in Japan, 1946-1947

REEL 1 Background in Melbourne, Australia, 1922-1939: family and childhood; education; attitude towards GB and British Empire; military service of father and uncle in First World War; opinion of Gallipoli Campaign; importance of Anzac Day; effects of Depression on daily life; employment with electrical merchant; attitude towards Adolf Hitler and Nazis in Germany; opinion of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and policy of Appeasement; reason for volunteering for Citizen Military Forces; training with Australian Army Service Corps; attitude to uniform; reaction to declaration of Second World War, 3/9/1939; attitude to prospect of death in service. REEL 2 Continues: attitude to prospect of killing. Recollections of period as NCO with Australian Army Service Corps, Australian Imperial Force in Australia, 1939-1943: comparison of armed forces; opinion of Prime Minister Winston Churchill; opinion of equipment and weapons; story of volunteering as quartermaster-sergeant and nature of duties; reaction to Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, United States of America, 7/12/1941; attitude towards Japanese; reaction to fall of Singapore, Malaya, 15/2/1942; opinion of American forces; air raid precautions; opinion of General Thomas Blamey. REEL 3 Continues: duties in quartermaster's store at jungle training centre, Canungra; nature of jungle training; background to transfer to Melbourne and selection to study as Japanese linguist. Recollections of training as Japanese language translator with Allied Translator and Interpreter Section in Australia, 1943-1944: attending nine month training course to Olderfleet School, Melbourne; method of training in Japanese language; use of Japanese school books; memories of principal Dorothy Selwood; difficulty of learning Japanese characters; method of teaching; role of Olderfleet School building as censorship school; question of security; ability to speak Japanese language. REEL 4 Continues: attitude to training as linguist; awarded degree in Japanese language. Recollections of period as translator with Allied Translator and Interpreter Section in Australia, 1943-1944: posting to Queensland; description of duties translating captured Japanese documents, including 'notices to mariners'; translating documents about ports and harbours; amusing story of visit by American Very Important Person (VIP); attitude to work as translator; learning new vocabularies; working hours; number of staff; working conditions; duties monitoring Japanese broadcasts; attitude to propaganda. Recollections of period as translator with Allied Translator and Interpreter Section in Manila, Philippines, 1945: posting to Manila, 1945. REEL 5 Continues: voyage from Australia to Philippines; question of secrecy of work; living conditions in Manila; relations with local Filipino civilians; opinion of American forces' personnel; patrol duties; story of quicksand; sight of dead Imperial Japanese Army troops floating down river; story of bamboo; flight in United States Army Air Force aircraft; memories of VE and VJ day celebrations; reaction to dropping of atomic bombs on Japan, 8/1945. Aspects of period as interpreter with Allied Translator and Interpreter Section in Morotai Island, Dutch East Indies, 1945-1946: duties as interpreter during interrogation of Imperial Japanese Army officers; opinion of rations available; attitude of Japanese military personnel to surrender; choice of language in addressing Imperial Japanese Army officers; other duties including disposal of captured weapons and reinstating Sultan of Ternate. REEL 6 Continues: attitude of Indonesians to return of Dutch authorities; story of visit to village; further comments on attitude of Japanese forces' to surrender; presence of comfort women; attitude to Japanese treatment of Allied prisoners of war; story of American airmen beheaded by Imperial Japanese Army; method of gathering intelligence; question of social contact with Japanese; role as interpreter at conferences; story of re-writing surrender speech. REEL 7 Continues: leave in Australia; post-war civilian life in Melbourne; return to Morotai Island; voyage from Dutch East Indies to Japan, 1946. Recollections of period as interpreter with Special Investigation Branch, Australian Army Provost Corps in Japan, 1946-1947: initial impressions of Japan; disembarkation at Kure; bomb damage to harbour at Kure; accommodation; problem of cold weather; relations with local Japanese civilians; duties with Special Investigation Branch; visit to Hiroshima. REEL 8 Continues: description of damage caused by atomic bomb; transport network; living conditions for civilians in Hiroshima; accommodation in Kure; role of Special Investigation Branch; black market activities; amusing story of investigation into brothels; daily life in Japan; question of respect for Emperor Hirohito; reflections on period in Japan. REEL 9 Continues: question of fraternisation with Japanese; opinion of Japanese women; story of Australian soldier marrying Japanese woman; attitude to role with occupying force; return to Australia, 1947. Aspects of post-war life and employment in Australia: problem of adjustment to civilian life; employment with Shell Oil; reflections on wartime experiences; attitude to working as Japanese language interpreter for Shell Oil. REEL 10 Continues: further reflections on wartime military experiences.