Newcastle Morning Herald transcriptions for October 11-17, 1945.
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4000 DIED ON SIAM RAILWAY
The people of Australia should never be allowed to forget the treatment meted out to prisoners of war by the Japanese, said Staff Sergeant G. Rickwood in an address to Cessnock Rotary Club. Sergeant Rickwood, who was a prisoner of war in Singapore and later worked on the construction of the railway through the jungle in Siam, said 4000 men died out of 6800 engaged on the line.
"The Japanese painted such glowing pictures of the conditions which would prevail on the railway construction job," he said, "that we were pleased to get away from Singapore. We were soon disillusioned."
"When we arrived, the transport provided for us consisted of rice trucks, each packed with 27 men and their equipment, and for five days we travelled in the tropical heat in these cramped conditions. In that period we received six meals, which consisted of three quarters of a pound (0.35kg) of rice and a pint (0.5L) of onion water.
"Detraining after five days, we set out on a march of 200 miles (320kms), covering 26 kilos the first day. There was no transport for the sick and we had to carry them. The monsoonal rains came and we had to sleep in the mud. Cholera broke out, and in the first week 80 died in the utmost misery without medical aid.
"The railway was completed at last and even though we were returning to semi-starvation it was good to get back to Singapore," he said.
INQUIRIES IGNORED
The suspicion that the Commonwealth's inquiries regarding the treatment of Australian prisoners of war in Japanese hands were nearly always ignored in Tokio has crystallised into fact, as a result of the activities of an investigating officer now in Japan.
The investigating officer, who speaks Japanese and knows the country well, was told by the Japanese that no information was available concerning the prisoners of war shifted from Rabaul in 1942 on the Monte Video Maru.
However, after applying pressure, he was informed by the Japanese Navy heads that 1053 persons were shipped from Rabaul aboard the Monte Video Maru.
The Japanese claimed that the vessel, which left Rabaul on June 22, 1942, was torpedoed off the Philippines. They supplied a nominal roll of those aboard, but unfortunately this was written in Japanese characters, representing the phonetic aid not the actual spelling of the names. Because of this, translation of the roll was difficult.
GATHERING EVIDENCE
Every Australian prisoner of war would have the opportunity of giving evidence against Japanese war criminals, said the Australian War Crimes Commissioner (Mr. Justice Webb).
There had been no waste of time in instigating inquiries, he said. Mr Justice Mansfield and Judge Kirby were in Borneo and Singapore taking evidence. He had interviewed senior officers and the heads of labour forces that worked on the Burma-Siam railway.
ATROCITIES TO AUSTRALIANS
About 150 Japanese, including a number of the dreaded Kempei-tai (secret police) are expected to be tried as war criminals as a result of work by officers of the Ninth Division, who expect to complete, within a few days, their investigations of atrocities at Kuching prison camp.
Cases against 70 suspects are ready now for hearing. In addition, the Japanese officer who was in charge of Sandakan compound has been interrogated and is being held in custody.
Names of officers who were in charge of the death marches to Ranau have been completed, and the task of identification is being undertaken with the assistance of two English civilian internees who escaped from Sandakan and volunteered to remain until all suspects are captured.
A report from two native witnesses that 16 Australian survivors of the death marches were shot at Ranau a fortnight after the end of the war is being followed up. But so far none of the dozens of Japanese held in custody has admitted knowing about it.
Wanted Japanese officers and guards responsible for atrocities in other parts of Borneo have been found by Australians in the Miri area. They include officers responsible for ordering 27 Australian prisoners of war to be shot near Miri. The Australians were the only survivors of 300 British and Australian prisoners of war imprisoned at Labuan and later taken on a death march from Brunei.
The job of tracing war criminals in British Borneo is in the hands of Major R. W. Stewart, of Sydney, and Captain R Brereton, of Sydney.
Captain Brereton found that often under pressure of interrogation the Japanese were quite willing to blame one another or to tell details of atrocities committed by other officers and compound guards. Frequently they admitted they knew they were doing wrong and said they were sorry and that they were ready to accept punishment.
COULD HAVE BEEN WORSE
Things were pretty bad but they could have been worse, said Lieut.-Colonel W. D. Jeater, who has returned to Newcastle after having been a prisoner of war in Japanese hands since the fall of Singapore.
Lieut.-Colonel Jeater paid a high tribute to the Australian medical section which did a splendid job for sick men in difficult circumstances in Changi camp, Singapore.
The morale of Australians aroused admiration, he said. In the darkest hours, when they could obtain little or no news from their relatives, when food was scarce and poor, the men's spirits did not flag. They made their own amusements and their own secret wireless sets. Those sets kept the men in touch with happenings outside.
It was astonishing, he said, how the men gathered the bits and pieces to manufacture the sets. Any piece of wire or metal was smuggled away and carefully guarded. The radios kept them informed of how the war was going.
The men grew their own vegetables, mostly a green leaf known as Malayan spinach. It was stored by the Japs and issued to the prisoners. The Japanese were hard taskmasters, but they did not attempt to steal any of the greens grown by the men.
Lieut.-Colonel Jeater said he had not seen men being brutally treated, but he had seen the results of brutality. Lieut.-Colonel Jeater, who served in the 1914-18 war, said he was very well.
R.A.A.F. MEN LEAVE FOR JAPAN
First men of the advance party of the R.A.A.F. occupation force for Japan have left in eight Dakotas on the first stage of their flight from Labuan to Japan.
The planes are carrying 50 personnel to begin the task of improving an aerodrome and its installations for Australian Mustang fighters, which will be based on the outskirts of Tokio.
Departure of the Dakotas has begun the biggest single air move undertaken by the R.A.A.F. In the next few weeks Dakotas, Catalinas, Venturas, Beaufighters, and Mosquitos will fly north almost every day on the 2700-mile (4350km) ferry route, carrying personnel and equipment for the force. The advance party comprises 30 officers and 160 other ranks. Each plane will take three days to complete the flight. All the advance party will be in Tokio in a fortnight.
SERVICE RELEASES SPED UP
Working in collaboration, the Army, Navy and Air Force are speeding up demobilisation at the Sydney Showgrounds.
The new Controller of Demobilisation (Wing Commander S. P. Higgin) said it was hoped soon to increase the number of weekly discharges from 4000 to 6500. Under the new scheme, Air Force personnel go first to Bradfield Park and then to the Showgrounds for the final stage of their discharge.
DIED WHILE PRISONERS
Mr. and Mrs. T. G. Harrison, of Main Road, Speers Point, have received official notification that their sons, Private Robert (Clyde) Harrison, who was captured in Rabaul, and Private Jack Harrison, who was captured in Malaya, died while prisoners in Japanese hands. Private Robert Harrison, who enlisted in Queensland, died in 1942 at the age of 22. Private Jack Harrison, also 22, died in 1944.
Mrs. F. O. Mahony, of Zaara Street, Newcastle, has been notified that her husband, Private John Mahony, 2/30th Battalion, died while prisoner of war in Japanese hands on December 17, 1943. Private Mahony was employed by Armstrong and Royse, Carrington. He was the only son of Mr. and Mrs. John Mahony, of Albert Street, Islington. He leaves a wife, three children, and two grandchildren.
Mrs. M. Rowbottom, of Weston, has been informed that two of her sons, Driver E. R. O'Connor, 34, and Gunner H. V. O'Connor, 22, died of illness in Japanese prisoner of war camps. Gunner O'Connor died in July, 1942, and Driver O'Connor in October, 1943. They were sons of the late Police Sergeant A. E. O'Connor, of Newcastle and Broken Hill. Previously both soldiers had been reported missing.
Mrs. J. S. Swan, of Carrington Street, West Wallsend has received official notification that her husband, Private John Stewart Swan, died of illness while a prisoner of war on December 8, 1943, at the age of 39. Before he enlisted he was employed at Stockrington colliery. He leaves a wife and two children. Mrs. L. G. Upward, of Carrington Street, Kelso, Singleton, has received advice that her son, Lance Corporal George E. Upward, died on February 8, 1942, in a Japanese prisoner of war camp.
R.A.A.F. ARRIVAL POSTPONED
The departure of the R.A.A.F. occupation force for Japan has been postponed indefinitely on instructions from General MacArthur.
Orders have been given to withdraw the survey party which has reached Japan, and the movement of the advance party of 16 officers and 160 other ranks has been cancelled.
It is not expected now that the forces will leave before December.
It is understood that General MacArthur advised No. 81 Mustang Fighter Wing that its move was premature, and had not been authorised by him.
He directed that R.A.A.F. planes carrying personnel and equipment return to their base at Labuan. The postponement of the departure of the force has caused keen disappointment among the 2500 airmen who volunteered to represent Australia at Tokio. Had the original plans been carried out their force would have been the first representing the Empire to join the Americans in the occupation.
CORPORAL DIAL
The pavilion at Marks Point was crowded when a welcome home was tendered to Corporal Henry Dial, who has had four years on service.
The President (Mr. E. A. Woolly), presented war savings certificates, on behalf of the Welcome Home Committee, to Corporal Dial and Private T. Smart. Games, dancing and community singing were enjoyed by the crowd. Supper was served by the women's committee.
ON WAY HOME
Mrs. E. Stubbs, of Sunderland Street, Mayfield, has been advised that her husband, Private Arthur Stubbs, previously reported alive in Siam, has been liberated. He embarked at Singapore on October 6 for Australia. Before his enlistment, Private Stubbs was employed at the Zara Street power house. He was a member of Waratah-Mayfield Rugby League Club.
CIVIC PARK CENOTAPH
A proposal that a Cenotaph and Unknown Warriors' Tomb should be erected in the park opposite the City Hall was put before Greater Newcastle Council by the Civic sub-branch of the Returned Soldiers' League.
The President (Mr. W. Oakes) said his branch considered that Newcastle should more worthily remember the men who had fallen in two wars than the monument in front of the post office. They suggested erection of a cenotaph and Unknown Warrior's Tomb, to cost £2000 to £5000 ($4000 to $10,000), the money to be raised by public subscription. The Cheerio Club had offered to organise the appeal. The park opposite the City Hall would be a suitable site. The Federal Government had been asked for approval, and the council's support was sought.
The Vice-president (Mr. A. Forbes) said Newcastle should have a distinctive memorial. Mr. Oakes said there was no intention to ask for removal of the monument in front of the post office.