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Chikko Camp OSAKA POW Command |
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Report from: R. Miller Brown, 3rd Officer,
British Merchant Navy Report to: Lt. Commander J.T. Pollack, Royal Navy Brown arrived Chikko on 11 November 1942. Placed as clerk in charge of the Chikko Camp Headquarters Office by Japanese. [Note: The Japanese Osaka Command was located approximately two blocks north of the Chikko Camp. No POWs were at that particular set of offices.] 1. Outgoing POW letters: Censored by interpreters HAYASHI, MATSUMOTO and ICHIDA. Process usually took two months. Fellow POW, Mr. W. Robertson, 6th Eng. Officer, survivor of RMS Gloucester Castle, observed fragments of letters in waste baskets. These were burned daily. Censorship severe when camp under command of Matsumuro Shoi. 2. Incoming Mail: Incoming mail for all Osaka given to Brown. No accurate lists for sorting ever provided. Censored again although all mail previously censored bu other Japanese officials. Many discarded photographs and letters observed in waste baskets. 3. Red Cross Individual Packages: All Osaka packages delivered first to Chikko. Many parcels "badly pilfered and damaged before receipt in camp." Many wrappers discovered hidden behind walls. Japanese frequently observed using contents of packages. 4. Money Orders from Hong Kong to POWs: Money order authorized from British citizens to POW were stolen. Signatures forged under supervision of Kukanaga Chui. Witnessed by CPC R.A. King, RN. 5. Tokyo Card Index Files: POW staff of six required to sort and renumber all index cards for prisoners in Osaka area. No attempt by Japanese to keep cards updated. Many names listed had never been in the Osaka area. All records destroyed in the incendiary raid of 1 June 1945 that burned down entire camp. |