Escape to Pagan

by Brian Devereux

  “Though exhausted, Mother cooked a large evening meal. The only baby food left was a tin of powdered milk and gripe water. Most of the other baby food was left behind at the train station. My mother and I had to resort to the Burmese way of feeding you; chewing the food before giving it to you. You got used to this type of feeding and would stand in line waiting to be fed when other mothers were feeding their own children. The Burmese thought this most amusing and used to feed you.

  “Even though we now had food and a roof over our heads we could hardly consider ourselves safe even in the loosest terms. We were constantly looking over shoulders. The following day all the warehouses were deserted as people had gone back to their villages. We began to feel uneasy so kept a low profile talking in whispers. We expected the Japanese or the Chinese soldiers to arrive at any moment. Even without these physical dangers, any deserted town will always have its own ghosts. The bungalow only offered protection from the elements.

  “As night approached my mother and I slept uneasily; we always felt vulnerable. We decided if we had to leave quickly, we would escape into the thick surrounding scrub jungle behind the bungalows with just our basic possessions.”

  CHAPTER 10

  Sham Shui Po POW Camp

  HONG KONG

  By Christmas day isolated groups of soldiers, including Tam and Willie, were still holding out or hiding in the more remote parts of the island. Hong Kong was unusually quiet. Normally all the church bells would be ringing and the sound of Christmas carols would be drifting on the pleasant South China Sea breeze. Now the sounds of breaking glass replaced the sound of carols as bottles of alcohol were being smashed; this was the Lotus eaters’ last gesture of defiance, mourning the lost halcyon days. Alcohol was the second most common spirit on the island after petrol.

  The sounds of smashing bottles was often punctuated by the drunken singing of Cockney voices from the Middlesex Regiment or the just as distinctive Glaswegian or Edinburgh accents of the Royal Scots. Champagne bottles were being rolled down slopes in the streets and exploded like grenades when the gas inside the bottle expanded. The smell of gin and whisky and cordite dominated. Not all parts of Hong Kong had been touched by the fighting. Even before the fighting had ended several of the bars were still open, their Chinese owners long departed; free drinks were now being served by soldiers who were drunk themselves.

  Some of the long term British inhabitants of the island were surprised to notice that many Japanese professionals who where once resident came back in uniform as officers and grinned happily at their former clients.

  It may be appropriate to mention at this time, that many of the Indian defenders who fought bravely throughout the Hong Kong, Malayan, Singapore and Burma retreats, after capture were given the opportunity to join the Japanese cause. The alternative was to be used for live bayonet practice. Many did join the Japanese and were shipped to Singapore and Burma. Others refused to betray their salt and paid the price with a painful and traumatic death.

  British prisoners, including many Royal Scots who were out collecting Japanese dead, observed a line of Sikh prisoners, hands tied behind their backs, enter a depression behind St Stevens College where they were about to be used for live bayonet practice. Japanese soldiers with fixed bayonets stood in front of each prisoner. An order was shouted and each Japanese soldier slashed at the prisoners’ thighs to cause them to fall over. The British prisoners watched horrified as a deadly game of cat and mouse began as the bound prisoner by instinct desperately tried to protect his vital organs from the bayonet thrusts. This atrocity haunted them for the rest of their lives.

  On the mainland, Sham Shui Po Prisoner of War Camp awaited the British troops. This camp was a POW Camp in name only. The barbed wire fences would be erected by the prisoners later. Amazingly, it seems that the Japanese found supplies of barbed wire stored on the mainland; barbed wire that was once desperately needed by the defenders of the Gin Drinkers’ Line.

  By now Sergeant Devereux was in Sham Shui Po POW Camp although he was not aware of his precise movements due to long periods of unconsciousness. There were only a few iron beds in the medical area of the camp; the Sergeant was lucky to be on one of these. Most of the badly wounded were placed on the concrete floor. Food in the camp was adequate for the first few days. Some prisoners had time to collect tinned food before entering camp. There were also still many warehouses in Kowloon, albeit damaged; the more able prisoners helped themselves while the guards were still celebrating their victory. At the beginning the Medical Staff were not overwhelmed by the number of wounded patients. This would soon change.

  Back on the island hundreds of disarmed Allied and British soldiers were being marched into captivity back to the mainland. Many prisoners had not eaten or slept for days and were physically spent. Friends helped each other and the wounded. Many prisoners still had their hands tied with telegraph wire; those who fell on the march were quickly bayoneted by the guards. Their screams spurred the other exhausted prisoners onwards.

  “I am almost sure that Jack was in the POW camp on the mainland after his capture. The wounded were being treated by military doctors and orderlies who were mostly volunteers. The wounded here were lucky; small amounts of drugs were still available. However there was no cat-gut to stitch Jack’s wounds and so cotton thread was used again instead. Many of these men with stomach wounds died as complicated operations could not be carried out. The poor men who had been bayoneted in the stomachs soon had another serious problem: ants. Tiny ants were crawling under the soldiers’ bandages and biting them.”

  I wonder if these tiny ants were “Pharaohs Ants” brought to Hong Kong from the holy land by the Royal Scots. These miniature carnivorous ants caused problems in UK hospitals during the 1970s. Now overcrowded, Sham Shui Po camp was rife with disease; diphtheria and dysentery began spreading throughout the prisoners. Within days strong healthy men looked like walking corpses. Some prisoners quickly gave up hope when they found out that the Japanese Navy now ruled the Pacific. Perhaps they had heard of the sinking of the Prince of Wales and the Repulse, and the attack on Pearl Harbour. Without hope of immediate rescue by the navy, the mind and the body of the weaker men withered.

  There was also the cultural shock of being under the complete control of a brutal Asiatic Army they could not identify with. Many died. Others waited in vain for rescue by the American equipped Army of Chiang Kai-shek or the communists’ army.

  That night Tam and Willie (still in Hong Kong) decided to escape, and made their way to the harbour leaving their weapons behind. Tam, the non swimmer, had second thoughts about entering the water in the dark. Both men were so drunk they could barely walk. An argument ensued and they came to blows just as a Japanese patrol spotted them. After having their faces slapped, they were ordered to continue fighting each other, which they did willingly to the delight of the Japanese soldiers. Japanese soldiers found inebriation amusing. They were then given lessons on how to bow to their captors correctly and had their faces slapped again for good measure. The two friends ended up in Sham Shui Po POW camp and soon found themselves looking after soldiers who had suffered minor wounds caused by the small Japanese fragmentation grenades. By the time they met up with Sergeant Devereux he was able to walk around the barracks. Food was now becoming scarce. Tam and Willie were able to join the burial parties that left the camp under guard. The Japanese cremated their dead first with much ceremony. These outings for the fit prisoners were a chance to steal food and other useful items. As the perimeter fence was not completed around the camp, many prisoners began to sneak out and visit their Chinese girlfriends who lived nearby in Kowloon.

  “To Jack’s surprise, the Jap Sergeant who had first captured him occasionally came into the camp and would inspect his wounds, showing great surprise that he was still alive. At the end of each visit he received a packet of Players cigarettes. With much sign language and a few words of English, the Japanese Sergeant gave his name as Yoshida and conveyed that his Reg
iment was being posted to Australia, which had already fallen.

  “Jack told me that he dreaded the re-dressing of his wounds because it was extremely painful, especially the removal of the old dressings that had been pushed deep into his head and neck. Although he was hungry, the act of chewing was agony; he constantly heard and felt the torn muscles and sinews in his head making strange noises. After eating he could taste blood in his mouth. The entrance wound of the bullet in his temple had almost healed but the exit wound was still weeping.”

  By August 1942 nearly 200 prisoners had died of disease or of their wounds; others had just given up the struggle when no salvation was in sight. Then came another shock; over 600 prisoners were to be shipped to Japan. These men were handpicked by the Japanese and classed as “trouble makers.” The Shi Maru left Hong Kong in early September and reached Japan safely, loaded with a full cargo of troublemakers. It seemed that these prisoners had more than enough room below decks to sleep in and were often allowed on deck. The Japs now wanted another 2000 fit men for work in Japan. These prisoners would not be so lucky. Selecting fit men for Japan was a most difficult task for the British Officers, as there were no fit men as such. The officers in command refused to carry this out and the Japanese were forced to make the selections themselves.

  The prisoners selected were told by a Japanese interpreter, 2nd Lieutenant Wada “You are going to a wonderful place, the beautiful cherry blossom islands of Dai Nippon where you will be treated well.” Many men were eager to leave.

  The Sergeant was one of the prisoners selected. One thing I know, Dad’s head wounds were soon to be re-infected by maggots either on the way from Sham Shui Po POW camp to the Lisbon Maru, or in the No 2 hold of the ship while waiting in harbour. Perhaps the flies in Hong Kong were also eager to see the beautiful islands of Dai Nippon.

  Many miles to the South of Hong Kong, the Lisbon Maru’s sleek nemesis, the American submarine Grouper, was quietly slipping her moorings at Pearl Harbour for another war patrol. This would be her second war patrol under a new and more aggressive young commander.

  CHAPTER 11

  A Ghost Town

  BURMA

  “When the looters left, a shroud of suspense and silence descended on Yu. It made us feel very uneasy and we began to fear the next arrivals; would it be the Chinese Army? If the bodies we had seen in the river were the Chinese merchants and workers, reprisals would be based on an eye for an eye. Then there was the Japanese who had warned against looting. My mother knew that it was a risk to stay but we had all that we needed at Yu, a roof over our heads and clean fresh well water.”

  The Chinese Army were extremely protective of the lease lend equipment and stores, even denying it to their British and American allies. Chinese soldiers were still filtering through Burma into China and India. The Japanese were by now in most of the towns and the cities, counting the spoils of their victory. The loot and equipment the enemy had acquired greatly helped them extend the war. Much of the stores captured in their conquests helped sustain their troops in the Pacific for a year. They were exhausted; they had constantly marched and fought battles across southeast Asia without respite. The victors got drunk on their own heady hubris of success and our Johnny Walker. They had conquered vast territories across three time zones in a matter of weeks. They had outfought and outmanoeuvred the Americans, British and the Dutch. Dai Nippon now ruled Southeast Asia, the surrounding oceans, seas and the skies above. With the fighting now over, the Japanese would soon introduce their strict laws; punishment would be immediate.

  “My mother feared that if we overstayed our welcome at Yu we could also become victims of Dacoits. This situation would continue until the Japanese took full control of Burma. It may come as a surprise to many that when the Japanese Army controlled Burma, criminal activity was almost eradicated. Fear of Japanese physical reprisals and immediate justice made Burmese Dacoits and criminals suspend operations. The reasons for this, Jack told me after the war, was the high regard the Japanese have for conformity, order and respect in their society. Antisocial behaviour of any kind brought dishonour to the whole family; they became pariahs. Immediate justice also applied to the behaviour of their own soldiers. The Japanese have always been a law-abiding race living in such close proximity to each other in their overpopulated islands. Harmony and honesty is paramount in their culture.

  “We found out in Tada u, that once a Burmese Dacoit was caught by the Japanese, he was forced under torture by the Kempeitai to name his village and his relatives. The poor man would then be taken back there and hung from a tree by a metal hook inserted under his jaw. Two Japanese guards would be left behind to make sure he was not helped in any way by relatives or other villagers. He took days to die. His desiccated dead body would have to remain hanging in the tree as a lesson to all. How terrible it must have been for families to watch these men slowly die and not be able to help.

  “I never knew what was going on in my mother’s mind; I just left everything to her. I seldom knew what day of the month it was. Yu became a ghost town; my mother and I flitted from shadow to shadow of the ruined buildings and spoke in whispers. The water wells were still sweet but low. The Burmese would never think of contaminating any well with dead bodies; contaminating one well meant ruining the whole conduit of underground water.

  “To cook our meals, my mother lit fires with the driest tinder so as not make smoke. We spent much of the day watching the dusty road that entered and left Yu; we were always ready to escape into the scrub jungle behind the bungalows. My mother had found out from the looters that there was a village about two miles away that held a market. She had decided to change our identity by dressing like Burmese but this would use up all the spare money we had for emergencies. Next day after hiding our personal possessions in the scrub jungle behind the bungalows, we walked in the direction of the village and soon began following a well-worn path.

  “After a long walk we reached the village and market. Some kind of celebration was going on. There were musicians and dancers. But the main attraction was the beautiful young female snake charmer; a member of a religious sect that worshipped the giant hamadryad [king cobra].

  “Every year certain young virgin females were chosen to go out into the jungle alone to capture a large hamadryad. They had to do this without harming the reptile. When they had finished a display with the snake and earned their sect money, they then had to release the snake back into the jungle, in the exact place they had found it. If the snake was harmed in any way they would lose their sacred protection and be bitten. There was no anti-venom for the bite of the hamadryad at that time.”

  I do not remember this particular event, but I have seen these beautiful snake charmers at work when they were invited to Tada u, where we were finally interned. This act was a favourite with the Japanese officers and their young soldiers, many of whom had never seen a dangerous snake. First the sounds of cymbals, lutes and drums. Two men then carry out the tall basket; knocking the lid off with a stick, they quickly retire. Immediately the large head of the hamadryad would appear. Sixteen feet of graceful snake spills out of the basket like quicksilver; its first instinct is to attack the audience only to find its path blocked by the beautiful snake charmer. She dances gracefully and soon captures the snake’s sole attention while avoiding its powerful strikes. Every miss causes the hamadryad to hit the ground with its nose; the snake soon tires and becomes reluctant to strike. Picking her moment perfectly, the girl kisses the king cobra on its head.

  “The village was full of small Japanese flags. My mother told me to keep my mouth shut as my Burmese was poor. She said she would tell anyone who asked that I was a little simple and didn’t know the father of my child. I did not like this one bit, especially when they all stared at me. I told my mother that I had no intension of acting like a mad woman and chewing grass. ‘Just keep your mouth shut’ was all she said.

  “We bought two cheap Burmese longyis and white cotton blouses and a greased paper
Burmese parasol. We did not have enough money for slippers. With the little money left over we bought snacks from the stall holders. You loved the sweet orange fungus that grew inside old coconuts. We were now destitute. The villagers told my mother that the Burmese National Army was responsible for this area until the Japanese took over. This area would come under the Japanese administration at Meiktila. The local BNA was still busy following up the British retreat. On the way back to Yu, we changed into Burmese dress and threw our old ragged clothes away.

  “Arriving back at Yu we were both surprised and frightened to find a pack of dogs sheltering underneath one of the warehouses in front of our bungalow. As if intimidated by the emptiness, they remained silent. These canines may have been the same pack that had followed us some days before. The following day we noticed the dogs leaving silently at midday only to return a few hours later with distended stomachs. My mother was convinced these dogs were feeding on dead humans somewhere. At night they completely disappeared into the deep recesses of their shelters. Sometimes they barked at night, which terrified us. Your grandmother said they had probably smelt a leopard. Her wisdom was soon confirmed when we wandered further afield to collect sweet tamarind pods. We noticed the half eaten carcass of a dog wedged high up in the fork of a tree. I began to feel nervous at nights; we had no doors or windows to protect us.

  “One night my mother and I heard angry voices in the distance. We were terrified and could not go back to sleep. We waited until sunrise and collected all our possessions ready to escape into the scrub jungle behind the bungalows. My mother went out to investigate. She saw various types of expensive clothing scattered on the ground outside between the houses. She came in and said that there were people in one of the bungalows further down the road. ‘We must leave as soon as we can’ she said in whispered tones. We all remained silent; by now you seemed to sense our fear.