Japanese Prisoners Of War

[normanmarina]

I remember a friend of my late father(I called him uncle)was a japanese pow he was a sheffield man,hes probably long gone now havent seen/heard of him since I was a teenager his name was Lional Skinner,I remember him as being full of fun its only as an adult I realised what horrors he must of witnessed/suffered at their hands,I would imagine though that there were plenty of japanese soldiers not too keen on the inhuman treatment of prisoners!! its a bit like saying all german soldiers were like the ss/gestapo there are good and evil people in all races and lets be honest we cant be entirely admonished as regards prisoners treatment it may be a long time ago but hung drawn and quartered springs to mind!!!

[HughW]

There is a group in Japan which is researching the history of the POWs and their treatment. They are doing this both to help the families of those who died in the camps find out the truth about what happened, and also to educate their own citizens.

 

Two of the founders were awarded honrary MBEs earlier this year (links: UK Embassy, Japan, Daily Telegraph).

 

I contacted one of these ladies, Takaeko Sasamoto, when I was researching a family whose grave stone in Walkley Cemetery mentions a man who died in a camp in Japan. She sent me information from their database, which is now on line as part of this site POW Research Network Japan.

 

Hugh

[Caz1]

Hi

My husbands father was in Kanchanaburi pow camp. He is in his eighties now but has had various problems associated with that time. I think the people who genuinely suffered don't like to talk about it. He never really mentions it but has suffered since.

[majid179]

Not sure what your point is. The Japanese never signed the Geneva Convention and consequently carried out the most terrible atrocities against POWs. They experimented on them as well as civilians. Don't know what you're trying to suggest about flame-throwers in WW1 but they were extensively used in WW2 by all armies. Didn't the Germans use poison gas in WW1 which was against the Convention ? I also think that a case could be made for calling the machinegun a WMD at that point in time.

Youre 100% right in your comments. It appears to me that U.K. is full of people who in the name of PC wish to apologise [kow tow, or crawl if you wish] to any nation who they think we may have offended in the last 200 years. We are led by politicians of the same ilk. For all the posturing on Poppy Day, when you scratch the surface, there is little respect given to the men who made the big sacrifice.

[headup]

Peterw, I feel that I owe you an apology...

 

I wish we saw more of this behavior on this forum. Bravo chuffinel.

 

On topic:

The guy that ran my Sunday School when I was a kid was a Japanese POW. He was the nicest person you could meet and a true 'Christian' in every sense other than turning the other cheek I guess. He would never forgive the Japanese for what they did to him and his fellow soldiers. To his dying day, he would not buy any Japanese product and I can still see the anger in his eyes if the subject was brought up. I can't imagine what he saw.

 

R.I.P William Porton.

[Plain Talker]

My sisters' dad-in-law was a POW of the Japanese in wwII.

 

From what I heard from him and his family, he was extremely lucky to have made it through. Starved, tortured... He went through hell.

 

They also, apparently, never expected him to be up to having a family.

[PopT]

The first time I landed at Singapore airport I was so upset when I saw the sign Changi Airport, the name Changi was impressed in my memory from years ago.

 

My neighbour died in the Japanese prisoner of war camp at Changi.

 

His family wrote to him and sent parcels and they didn't know he was dead for four years.

 

I saw his mother and his sister taken into the asylum for long periods of treatment after they found out about his plight.

 

They were released for periods but they could never sustain a normal life, it was so upsetting to see them.

 

They both went to their graves in a state of madness.

 

It wasn't just the soldiers who suffered from the inhumanity of the Japanese, some of their families went through mental hell.

 

You couldn't imagine how they would feel everytime they read about the cruel treatment their sons, fathers, brothers or husbands were suffering.

 

Sometimes it makes me wonder if two A bombs were enough.

 

Unhappy Days!

[Joanl]

I keep looking at this thread and wondering if I should reply..I was born during the war..1942....I only know what I have read or seen in films/docu's etc...The war, to my knowledge never touched me directly but I know now that I was protected from a lot of it by my parents.

My son was born in Changi Hospital in 64....I saw many memorials to the people that suffered during my 2 years in Singapore.

 

I now have a Japanese daughter-in-law who wasn't born at the time of the war, but when my son brought her over here for the first time, she had a male stick his face in hers and scream abuse at her in the street in London.

 

She fortunately didn't understand his words but understood the hatred in his expression.

 

I went to Japan about 10 years ago and I have to say was treated very well by everyone I met. I even took off to visit the local shops on my own and with just maybe two words of Japanese.

 

I don't know what my point is in posting this, maybe its to ask should I feel guilty or what, or should I have just ignored it seeing as I can't really add to it.

[Don_Kiddick]

I was just searching for wartime threads while looking for something else.

 

This thread has touched me & I wanted to reanimate it.

 

My wife's family had a chap who was deep underground in a Japanese mine when one of the atom bombs was detonated overhead.

 

The POW miners & their captors remained underground for some time untill they were able to emerge & evacuate the area.

 

I never met the guy - I wish I had.

 

Just heard the stories about him.