VIII. The POW Affidavits

Remember prisoners, as if you were in prison with them;
and remember those suffering ill-treatment. --Heb. 13:3

These affidavits are the essence and bulk of my research, and they will require extensive scanning, OCR and proof-reading. I will post these as they are completed. If you are searching for an ex-POW you think may have been at Camp 1, please let webmaster Wes Injerd know and I'll scan and post that person's affidavit right away.

Following is a list of all the POW and Japanese affidavits I have in my files:

A. American

Affidavits A - C

Affidavits D - H

Affidavits J - P

Affidavits R - W

Edgar F. Burns, civilian (Burns affidavit)

Burns, like Hansen, was captured on Wake Island. He tells of life at Camp #18 (Sasebo) where he spent a year and a half and helped build Soto Dam. After moving to Camp #1 he worked on building the airport at Mushiroda, "working in a cut getting the dirt and pushing it out on the airport and leveling it off." Of note is his mention of the practice among prisoners of buying "better jobs for money."

The Hansen Story by Gerard Moran

See Moran's webpage for text with images: http://users.ev1.net/~gpmoran/The%20Hansen%20Story.htm

Grave marker at Jefferson Barracks; Hansen listed in far right column (Click on image for 142K enlargement)

Diary of Lt. Col. Arthur Shreve

A fascinating account written by an American officer who was sent from the Philippines to Fukuoka Camp #1. He writes of his experiences on the Oryoku Maru and its being bombed, being placed on another hellship, that too being bombed, and then on a third which finally made it to Moji. He then tells a very moving story about what it was like at the Hakozaki camp during the three months he was interned there before being shipped to a POW camp in Korea.

The Shreve Diary

In his diary, Shreve tells of being interrogated by the Japanese who were especially interested in when "the final attack upon the Japanese mainland" would occur. This final attack was actually at that very time being studied by the Allied Forces under MacArthur and would eventually be named "Operation Olympic," which would commence on Nov. 1, 1945. Take a look at the following image showing the invasion map of Kyushu, and the HTML describing the feasibility of such an invasion. Much could be written about this invasion, the POWs, and the decision to use the A-bomb. See article below. Note also this map of Location of Special Attack Bases... Japan was ready to fight to the last man, woman and child.

"All I could see was disaster! I saw the whole operation laid out on rubber map and there were the cliffs, narrow beaches, and the estimates of the Jap garrisons...the possibility of success would have been practically nil!" -- Col. Robert S. Sumner, Alamo Scouts recon unit "We had heard that a million men would be killed in the invasion. We were all scared to death. We were lucky we didn't have to go." -- Pfc. Al Miglio, F Co., 386th Reg., 97th Inf. Div. "When the bombs dropped and news began to circulate that Operation Olympic would not, after all, take place, that we would not be obliged to run up the beaches near Tokyo assault-firing while being mortared and shelled, for all the fake manliness of our facades, we cried with relief and joy. We were going to live. We were going to grow up to adulthood after all." -- 2nd Lt. Paul Fussell, 104th Div. From: Operation Downfall: The Final Invasion by Lance Zedric, VFW magazine, Sept. 1995

Operation Olympic map (83K)

Intelligence Estimates for Operation Olympic (35K)

Another excellent piece is The Final Months of the War With Japan: Signals Intelligence, U.S. Invasion Planning, and the A-Bomb Decision by Douglas MacEachin, Doc. CSI 98-10001. There is also the Transcript of "OPERATION DOWNFALL [US invasion of Japan]: US PLANS AND JAPANESE COUNTER-MEASURES" by D. M. Giangreco.

Lt. Col. Jack Schwartz, Medical Officer

Chief Surgeon Schwartz gives us a rather honest and graphic account of what he saw from Bataan to Fukuoka to Korea. He, too, was a survivor of the Oryoku Maru and the two other ships, "which had consumed 7 horrible weeks." For him Camp #1 was "the worst camp in which I was imprisoned."

Schwartz affidavit (including a sketch of Camp #1, Hakozaki)

B. British

Affidavits A - D

Affidavits E - L

Affidavits L - W

Capt. William P. Wallace, Royal Army Medical Corps

Capt. Wallace was among the first POWs to arrive at Camp #1, then located in Kumamoto. Of note is his reference to the "Dog Box" punishment, and to hospital patients being forced to do "strenuous physical exercises" which resulted in their deaths.

Wallace affidavit

Reuben Eastham, Bombardier

Eastham gives his account of life at Kumamoto, Kashii and Mushiroda camps, mentioning the increasing severity of the "beatings" from one camp to the next. He talks of the POWs labors on the airfield in Fukuoka: "The work at this camp was very hard and consisted of filling trucks with earth and soil from hillsides and then we had to push the trucks for about three quarters of a mile, and tip them on paddy fields to make runways for an aerodrome."

Eastham affidavit

C. Dutch

Jan F. de Wijn, Medical Officer

Medical Officer de Wijn describes the poor state of nutrition at Camp #1, where the well had very little to eat ("far too little for the hard labour that the P.O.W.'s had to do, namely shovelling earth"), and the sick were on half rations, resulting in 10% dying.

de Wijn affidavit

Gerry Nolthenius

An excerpt from Gerry Nolthenius' book, Home By Christmas, tells how he was captured in the Dutch East Indies in March 1942, then was sent to several POW camps, the last being Fukuoka Camp #1 (Mushiroda and Hakozaki). His assessment of British, Australian and American fellow POWs is quite straight-forward, especially the civilian American allies: "They were civilian convicts captured on Wake Island and every single one of them had a rather colourful past of manslaughter, rape and so on." What really struck him at Camp #1 was "the terrible corruption in the camp," the grim death statistics, and "the oversupply of vermin."

D. Australian

Pte. Jack Dilger

WAR CRIMES

AFFIDAVIT OF TX 8395 PTE. DILGER J.A. 2/40 INF. BN. A.I.F.

On the 3rd day of April 1946, Jack Allan DILGER of 21 Cressy St. NEW TOWN, HOBART, TASMANIA, soldier, whose Regimental Number is TX 8395, being duly sworn makes oath, and says as follows:--

1:-- I am TX 8395 PTE. DILGER J.A. a former Prisoner of War in Japanese hands, held in No. 1 Camp Fukuoka. We did not have an Australian officer in this Camp, being very few in numbers.

2:-- CONDUCT OF THE CAMP.

The discipline in this Camp administered by the Japanese was very brutal in every respect. All P.O.W. Officers in this Camp were treated very little different to Other Ranks. They had to carry out instructions given them by the Japanese in the same way as O.Rs. All P.O.Ws. including Officers, had to salute the lowest ranking Jap., and take "bashings" when at fault. Jap Guards patrolled through the huts at short intervals, and whenever the Guard entered the hut all men had to jump to his feet and shout the word of salute and bow. If any man was slow at doing so or at fault, he was immediately punished. This caused innumerable "bashings".

3:-- PARADES

Parades were held twice a day. We had to double from our huts on to the parade ground, and when "Fallen In" we would have to stand at "attention" in all kinds of weather for an hour at a time without moving. Any one making the slightest movement or speaking whilst on parade would be ill treated in a very cruel way, such as use of butt of rifle, hitting the men with their fists, and bamboo poles. All ranks were treated in this manner whether they were sick or otherwise.

4:-- MESSING

Messing arrangements were very bad. All ranks messed in their sleeping huts. The kitchens were about 100 yds. from the sleeping huts, and the Mess Orderlies had to carry the food in wooden containers which was always stone cold by the time it reached us. These containers were always in a filthy condition because of the very unhygienic arrangements for the cleaning of same. The only facility for washing these containers was a shallow well dug for this purpose. The waste water had to be emptied into a drain along side the well. No brushes, scrubbers or washers were supplied to carry out this very necessary work.

5:-- RECREATION

Recreational periods allowed in accordance with Japanese Army Regs. were one day off in ten. These were arranged to be taken off when it was wet, which prevented us from doing our washing and getting it dry. During the period we were in THAILAND we actually went for 90 days without having one day off. The Japanese Camp Commandant barred all sports and amusements, not even allowing cards to be played in the huts.

6:-- ABLUTIONS AND LATRINES.

Ablutions were filthy. Crude bamboo benches were used and very seldom cleaned. The water was thrown anywhere and not into proper drains which made it very muddy. When any cleaning was done on these ablutions, it was carried out by the sick men left in the huts. They were forced to do it by the Guards.

Latrines used were the trench style. They were about 8' deep and each side was lined off with bamboo poles. No disinfectants were used, and when filled, very thin layers of earth was placed over each latrine, not more than about 6" in thickness.

In Japan at FUKUOKA Camp, latrines were dug about 4' deep and then lined with cement. These were emptied daily by the Sick men of the Camp, using wooden buckets and dippers, and carried to a pit on the side of the road just outside the Camp entrance where it was collected by the Japanese civilians to be used in gardens. No coverings for these pits were provided, they being open all the time.

7:-- MEDICAL TREATMENT

Only a limited number of men were allowed sick in Camp. All men parading sick were classed by the Jap. M.O. Frequently the Jap. M.O. failed to come to the Camp for 3 to 4 days at a time, the result being that very sick men were forced to go on work parties until such times when the Jap. M.O. returned to Camp. This resulted in men collapsing at work, and on several occasions men died shortly after being brought back to Camp. Medical supplies were very short until just before the War ended, when all Medical Establishments were overstocked.

8:-- ILL TREATMENT

Ill treatment in this Camp was very frequent. The main method of torture was bashings with bamboo poles and pick handles, in fact it was a daily occurrence. One incident that I can well remember in FUKUOKA Camp is the terrible bashing metered out to two Dutchmen. In this Camp there were two separate Guards, one from Fighting Troops, the other was a Civilian Guard made up of older soldiers who had served in China. It appears that these Civilian Guards would go to the kitchen and pilfer rations and sell them to favoured P.O.Ws. Two Dutchmen made a complaint to the Jap. Camp Commandant, who in turn had the Civilian Guards paraded before him, they were reprimanded. As a reprisal, the Civilian Guard would get these two Dutchmen nightly and stand them up against the wall and bash them with bamboo poles for anything up to 1/2 hour until they were exhausted.

During Feb. 1944, at FUKUOKA Camp, one dinner time, two Dutch Soldiers and two American Soldiers were taken by the Japanese Guard known as "BASHER" between two huts and made get on the ground on their hands and feet. Whilst in this position they were flogged by "BASHER" across the back and legs until they collapsed. One Dutch Soldier had to be carried home on a stretcher for a distance of 5 miles and placed in Camp Hospital in FUKUOKA Camp, and later admitted to a General Hospital where he died. One of his legs had the muscle torn away from behind the knee that the sinews were exposed. His death was due to the severe treatment he received from "BASHER".

Another incident that happened on the Aerodrome at FUKUOKA, "BASHER" flogged another P.O.W. with a bamboo pole until both his legs were broken also his back. This P.O.W. was not brought back to Camp after the flogging, but taken to a Jap. Hospital where he died shortly afterwards. I did not witness this incident, but other evidence may be obtained to support this statement.

Further evidence could be obtained from the Dutch Medical Officer, Capt. ENSING of the Dutch Army, who had charge of a section of men of the Camp, acting as M.O. under the command of the Jap. Medical Officer.

9:-- PERSONS WHO COMMITTED THE CRIMES.

Name -- Known as "BASHER" and the "BULL"
Height -- about 5'3"
Age -- 24 years approx.
Description -- Thick set, dark and Bull faced.

10:-- CAMP COMMANDANT

I cannot remember his name. He was a maniac, was relieved of his job about 2 months before the war ceased. New Jap. Commandant was very decent, that is as far as Japs. go. His height was about 5'11", weight about 12½ stone, age 32 years approx.

Sworn by the Deponent on the day and year 3rd April 1946, first before mentioned at Hobart.

Before me
(signed) J. R. Kinlo J.P.
(signed) J. Dilger

Sgt. Peter French

On this 12th day of June 1946, Peter Russell French, of "Murungha" Carroll Gap, in the State of New South Wales, grazier, makes oath and says as follows:

i) My former military status was:

No. NX. 32834
Rank. Sergeant
Unit. 2/20 Bn.

ii) I was captured on SINGAPORE on 15 Feb. 42.

iii) On the 9th of September 1944 I was transferred to Fukuoka Camp No. 1 in Japan, where the undermentioned events took place. I was at this camp until I was liberated.

iv) HATA MATSATO [Masato] was a medical orderly in Fukuoka Camp No. 1, and was responsible for physical training in the camp.

v) During the winter months, December 1944, January and February 1945, we had to do physical training daily.

vi) S/Sgt. SIMS was suffering from a chill in the stomach. SIMS told HATA MATSATO that he was ill, but was told to go on parade. As he made his way on to the parade ground HATA MATSATO started to bash him with a stick.

S/SGT. SIMS was unable to carry out the physical training and HATA MATSATO bashed him again with a stick.

vii) On numerous subsequent occasions, S/SGT. SIMS was bashed by HATA MATSATO for not being able to do the physical training.

viii) Approximately six weeks after he received the first bashing, S/SGT. SIMS went to hospital suffering with beriberi, from which he did not recover.

ix) After the capitulation of the JAPANESE, I, with a party of other soldiers discovered a large quantity of Red Cross supplies consisting of M & B tablets, quinine, sulphanilimide powder and vitamin tablets.

x) HATA MATSATO was in charge of the Red Cross Supplies at this camp, and had withheld their distribution to us.

xi) On one occasion I heard CAPT. WALLACE of the RMC ask HATA MATSATO for a supply of sulphanilimide powder. HATA MATSATO refused to give CAPT. WALLACE any of the powder.

xii) KATSURO [Katsura] TAKEO was the official interpreter at Fukuoka Camp No. 1.

xiii) I have seen KATSURO TAKEO bash many prisoners, but I can not give the name of any of the victims. I did not see him kill anyone or torture anybody.

xiv) BUCKTOOTH was a civilian guard at Fukuoka Camp No. 1.

xv) Somewhere at the end of December 1944 or the beginning of January 1945 I saw BUCKTOOTH bash a Dutchman.

The Dutchman was trying to warm his rice at a fire when BUCKTOOTH came upon him. The Dutchman was bashed into unconsciousness and BUCKTOOTH would allow no one near him. When the Dutchman recovered, BUCKTOOTH bashed him again, using the butt of his rifle.

We were about ten miles from our camp at the time and BUCKTOOTH forced the Dutchman to march with us the whole distance. There was snow on the ground at the time about one foot thick.

On arrival at camp, the Dutchman was put into hospital but died two days later.

I do not know the name of the Dutchman.

Sworn by the abovenamed deponent
Peter Russell French at TAMWORTH
on the 12th day of June 1946.

Signature of deponent.

BEFORE ME. (signed) J. W. Collins
A Justice of the Peace.

Geoffrey Thomas Underwood

I, Geoffrey Thomas UNDERWOOD of Evandale, HUGHENDEN in the State of QUEENSLAND, and formerly QX11013 Gnr UNDERWOOD, G.T., 2/10 Fld. Regt., now discharged, being duly sworn, make oath and state as follows:

1. From early December one thousand nine hundred and forty four until approximately the Twenty first of June one thousand nine hundred and forty five I was a Prisoner of War at FUKUOKA Camp No. 1 in which camp were approximately one thousand two hundred Officer and other rank Prisoners of War of English, American, Australian and Dutch nationalities.

2. We were employed as labourers building the camp itself and later loading, unloading and stacking timber in a timber yard.

3. General conditions in this camp were bad. The food was particularly poor in quality. A mixture of inferior quality wheat, barley, rice and the Japanese equivalent of milo plus DIAKON (Phonetic) or Horse Radish served in one pint measures three times daily plus half a pint of watery weed and seaweed (Soup) formed the average meal served three times daily. This ration was only supplemented once weekly by a small cooked fish about the size of a small sardine. Although the quantity may appear liberal (One pint per meal) the quality of the mixture was such, that a bucketful would not have satisfied our hunger.

4. Red Cross parcels were issued twice during this period, the first occasion on the twenty fifth day of December, one thousand nine hundred and forty four, the other exactly one month later. All Prisoners of War began to show symptoms of starvation, many became ill and at least three Prisoners of War died as a result of the diet on which we were forced to work hard for long hours.

5. The accommodation was bad with one exception, it was weather proof. It was a barn like wooden shell and apart from the wooden shelves raised from the floor upon which we slept no articles of furniture or amenities were available. Taps were continually frozen, and no hot water was available. Clothing was inadequate for the severe winter climate. We were only allowed wear greatcoats in camp and then only during certain hours.

6. We were plagued by fleas and spent most of the nights miserably and sleepless because of the countless flea bites.

7. The only clothing issued by the Japanese were inferior quality work dress. No footwear was issued during this period.

8. Medical supplies were practically nil. The only medicines I recall having seen was a small quantity of aspirin. Many Prisoners of War were suffering from diarrhoea, dysentery, beri beri and malnutritional diseases but no medicines were available for their treatment. VX36824 Gnr L CHALKER, 4 A/Tank Regt; WX20076 Pte W. DWYER, 2/4 M.G. Bn; and S/Sgt SIMS were all suffering badly from malnutrition and diarrhoea.

9. Despite many pleadings on their behalf to the Camp Commander commonly known to Prisoners as "THE OLD MAN" nothing was done for them.

10. S/Sgt SIMS eventually collapsed and was admitted to the crude camp Hospital where he died a few days after his admittance. Shortly after his death approximately fifty American Officers were brought into the camp in an exhausted condition. They had been wrecked at sea and apparently had gone through a terrific ordeal. They were admitted to hospital and apparently the Japanese considered that the hospital was full. CHALKER and DWYER became very ill and, at times, were unable to move about but were still forced to work. Eventually CHALKER collapsed and was admitted to the hospital where he lay almost unattended for three days before he died. DWYER also collapsed and died within a few days of his admittance.

11. "THE OLD MAN" relied greatly upon his interpreter named KATSURA (Phonetic) who spoke fluent English with an American accent, so much that KATSURA ran the camp. Most of the ill treatment I saw in this camp came from his hands or through his instructions.

12. I remember on one occasion I was pushing a truck; I was weak at the time and stopped pushing to regain my breath. KATSURA came up behind me and knocked me unconscious with a shovel. He struck me several blows across the head with this instrument before I dropped. I have often witnessed KATSURA strike many other Prisoners of War in a similar manner.

13. Most of the guards in this camp were changed at frequent intervals however, a few were more or less permanent; of those a guard known as "BUCK TOOTH" was well known to Prisoners of War. "BUCK TOOTH" was a particularly uncouth and brutal man. He accepted every opportunity given to inflict punishment on the weak and starving Prisoners of War. He frequently assaulted myself for trivialities and was a source of worry and fear among the Prisoner of War population.

14. A description of the Camp Commander commonly known to Prisoners of War as "THE OLD MAN" is as follows:-

Age, approximately Thirty five years; Height approximately five feet five inches; Thick set, medium to heavy build. Dark Complexioned and rather strong handsome features by comparative Japanese standards.

15. A description of the Interpreter known to Prisoners of War as KATSURA is as follows:-

Age approximately forty five to fifty years; height approximately five feet three inches; heavy build, broad shoulders, heavy corporation, thin legs, spoke fluent English with American accent. Was a three star private.

16. A description of the Guard known to Prisoners of War as "BUCK TOOTH" is as follows:-

Age approximately forty years; height approximately five feet eleven inches; Powerful build, prominent buck Teeth, broad forehead tapering down to a pointed chin. From his actions was considered to be slightly insane.

I swear that the contents of this my affidavit are to the best of my knowledge and belief true and correct in every particular.

SIGNED and SWORN by the within-named Deponent at BRISBANE on the ?? day of August 1947.
(signed) G. Underwood

Before me (signed) A. H. Deakin?
A Justice of the Peace.

Allen Godfrey Jones webpage -- "A prisoner of war at Changi, Great World Camp, River Valley Road Camp, Fukuoka #1 and #17"