Andrew Salmon Personal Diary Pacific 1939-1945: View pages

The 31st January 1944 was a day for celebration. On that day we received our first mail since we had been taken prisoner, and we were overjoyed to receive news of our loved ones.

As the year dragged on, our spirits were raised when we noticed that the war was not proceeding too well for “Nippon”. Ships we were to have unloaded never arrived in harbour; others were struggling into port in a battered and damaged condition; hospital ships unloaded thousands of boxes containing ashes of men who had been killed on islands in the Pacific; air raid precautions were intensified; cigarettes, food, clothing, etc. were hard to obtain by the civilians; anti-aircraft guns were taken off ships for shore batteries; machinery in the factories were stationary, as precision parts were unobtainable; steel foundries were at a standstill due to lack of suitable coal. There was hardly a petrol-driven car on the roads, while lorries ran on charcoal, and some even on wood. The morale of the Japanese, previously so high after the quick victories at the outbreak of war, was now deteriorating rapidly, as the stark realities of total war were brought home to them.

No longer were the guards boasting of their "victories"; instead, they were uneasy, over the growing might of the Allies vast war production. Newspapers carried a pessimistic undertone, telling the people that air-raids on Japan itself were imminent. 

At this stage we noticed that the attitude of the Japanese camp staff underwent a change. They either developed a friendly attitude, giving us items of news, and offering us cigarettes, etc., or they went to the other extreme and turned very vicious and brutal, punishing us on the slightest pretext. However, this did not stop our spirits from lifting, as we knew that the time was fast approaching when the "Rising Sun" would set forever.

On the 17th September 1944, an incident happened, which considerably relieved the monotony of our existence. A typhoon had approached the coast and caused a tidal wave which covered a good third of Osaka with water to a depth of seven feet. As our camp was close to the waterfront, we were able to watch the water rising higher and higher but, fortunately, our camp was built about five feet above ground-level, and we gave a sigh of relief when the water ceased rising. When the camp was flooded to a depth of two feet, we could see part of the havoc caused; bales of cotton and wool, drums of gasoline, timber, and various other goods from the wharf and warehouses went floating along the streets.

The water did not subside for about two weeks, and after the first day, we waded our way to the docks, driven by the Japanese to help salvage goods. The destruction that met our eyes filled us with joy; the bottom bales of huge stacks of rice had swollen in the water, and toppled the whole stacks into the water, rendering it useless; thousands of bales of wool, rice, silk, beans, and other perishable commodities were damaged. Hundreds of Japanese homes had been swamped, and owing to the primitive sanitary conditions, typhoid, and other diseases soon abounded. Luckily for us, a supply of Red Cross medicines and drugs had been issued recently to our camp, and our medical staff were able to inoculate us against these diseases.

After a week or two, when working parties returned to the cement factories, and steel mills, we found that the floods had filled up the tunnels carrying cement powder with water and had hardened it until the factories had to close down for a long while. While the moulds in the steel mills had filled with water, production ceased.

Another setback for Japan, occurred on the 7th December 1944, when a severe earthquake took place. To most of us it was our first experience, and we hoped our last, of such a calamity. Buildings swayed with a terrific creaking, telegraph poles and factory chimneys crashed down, large cracks appeared in the roads, water-mains burst spouting water dozens of feet into the air, and power cables were broken. Although the tremor lasted only a few minutes, it plunged Osaka, Kobe, Wakayama, and Kyoto into confusion and brought production to a standstill.

In December 1944, we experienced our first air-raid in Japan. During the night the sirens sounded, and we listened to the sound of aircraft overhead. The "All Clear" sounded about an hour later.

Almost every night during January 1945, at approximately the same time, 9.00p.m., one lone aircraft would come over and drop small bombs on Osaka. We became so used to this plane that we named it "The Lone Raider", and it came over so regularly that our nightly roll call was put forward an hour in order that we should finish before the raid started. The nearest bombs dropped on a warehouse about 200 yards from our camp.

During these air-raids, our position was not very reassuring. We were confined to our rooms and armed guards posted around the camp, and as our huts were of wood, the situation looked grim if our camp were ever hit. However, we developed a fatalistic outlook, and hoped for the best. 

When the air-raid siren sounded on the night of 13th/14th March, we just turned over and went to sleep again, but only for a moment, as short blasts on the sirens warned us that a large number of planes were approaching. Suddenly, every A.A. gun in the vicinity opened up, and the scream of diving planes were heard, then the shrill whistle of bombs falling. This raid lasted several hours- and we lost count of the number of planes to be seen in the sky, which was as bright as day from the glow of so many fires for over half of the city of Osaka was burning. Not realizing our danger, we crowded around cracks in the boarded windows, to see what was to us, a glorious sight. The Allied planes were hitting Japan - hard, and it was a never-to-be forgotten sight; the firework display of the A.A. tracer, the falling incendiaries, the ghostly planes weaving in and out of the many searchlights and, as an awe-inspiring background, the tremendous conflagration of the burning city.

By the morning, the Japanese were both dazed and bewildered.  Never had their propaganda led them to anticipate anything such as this, and I think, it was from this moment that they began to lose faith in their own invincibility and greatness. This raid caused practically all industry in our area to close down, as hundreds of thousands of civilians were made homeless, and had to be shifted to other localities, more remote from the crowded coastal areas of Japan. Labour apart from POWs could not be obtained, and shipyards, factories, workshops etc., still standing, came to a standstill, and transport was at a premium. Parties of POWs were put on building air-raid shelters for the Japanese staff.

A few days after the raid I was among a party travelling by lorry to the other side of the city to collect sand from a riverbed, and it would be hard to describe the destruction we saw. Not house upon house, street upon street, nor block upon block, but square mile upon square mile was as flat as a desert. It was possible to stand one side of the city and see people nearly five miles away, with nothing to obscure our view, overlooking an area which had previously housed nearly two million people, and with high-storeyed buildings now just ashes. It would have been possible to drive a car from one side of the city to the other over the ashes of the buildings. This was total destruction in its true sense. It was impossible to tell where the roads had been, and the only things which had stopped the whole city from getting wiped completely off the map were the canals, 100 to 150 feet in width, which criss-crossed the city, although in some instances the fires had jumped across them. Thousands must have perished, for escape had been impossible for many. Bodies still lay everywhere and those of us who had seen the destruction caused in China and elsewhere by the "Imperial Japanese Army" realised that the day had come for Japan to have a taste of what war, in all its grimness and cruelty, meant. The people of Japan had at last realised that a war was not something which happened thousands of miles from their homeland, but an event which meant that soldier and civilian suffered together, with their own homeland as the battlefront. 

As we sensed the rapidly lowering morale of the people, after this one raid, we could imagine the reaction which would be felt by the Japanese troops fighting thousands of miles away, when they heard that their homeland had been hit so hard, especially after their Army newspapers had assured them that Japan could never be bombed. We heard that Tokyo and other cities had also been hit. From this day onwards, air-raids occurred night and day. Working parties were cut down, and even when they went out to work, the sirens were blown so frequently, that the work done was practically nil, because as soon as the warning sounded, the Japanese civilians and guards disappeared into the nearest air raid shelter, which we were not allowed to use. It suited us very well, as we took the opportunity of entering the different warehouses and helping ourselves to food and anything else that was handy.

June the 1st, 1945, dawned bright and sunny, and when the air raid alarm sounded at about 9 a.m., we guessed it would be a heavy raid, as in the previous few days, we had had many observation planes over our area.

Since our camp was situated on a peninsular, with the whole area for at least five miles north of us burnt out, we realised that sooner or later we were due for a blasting, especially as we were surrounded by docks, warehouses, and shipyards.

June the 1st brought this expected attack. The first wave of B.29's passed over at about 10 a.m. and the first stick of bombs hit our camp in 3 places, fortunately by incendiaries. Luckily, the majority of POWs were at their working places, and nobody was injured in this first attack. Fires were kept under control, though with difficulty, as the bombs were 50-kilo oil bombs which, when exploded, flung burning oil in all directions. The next two hours passed in a crescendo of noise and terror, as waves of B.29’s dropped their deadly loads all around us.

Wharves, warehouses, offices, and homes were ablaze in all directions and a huge pile of black smoke lay over the area. After the first bombardment, our camp was not hit again, until the last wave came over about noon. Our camp was then struck in a dozen places, and within minutes was a blazing inferno. We had no time to take any belongings, except a few medical supplies and all of us, Japanese and POWs together rushed to the sea wall. The heat from the burning godowns was intense, causing strong gales to develop, which in turn caused the fires to spread more rapidly, until the whole district was ablaze, laid waste from a modern city to desolation in a matter of a few hours. Fires were still burning four days later.

The rest of the day was spent in carrying in wounded and injured Japanese civilians and POWs alike. Casualties were high among the Japanese and must have run into thousands. As the day wore on, our lads who had been out on the docks in working parties straggled back in ones and twos. Many had been cut off by the flames and had had to swim across the harbour.

It seemed as if Providence had watched over them for many had had remarkable escapes. In one instance, a working party of 20 men had been locked up in a warehouse full of cotton, which had received direct hits from a number of bombs, setting on fire the goods within. It seemed as if they were doomed, but they worked with a will and stacking a number of bales close to a wall, climbed up and forced a small ventilator barely wide enough to scramble through. Miraculously, all were saved, although a number had serious burns.

We spent that night in an old, dilapidated shed which had escaped being burnt, as it was at the water's edge. That night was as bright as day, and during the night when the sirens sounded, we huddled together in our over-crowded abode and hoped for the best. Fortunately, no bombs were dropped during the night, or at least, not near our district.

In the morning, we were shifted by lighters to a temporary camp. Between Osaka and Wakayama, called “Tsumori”, was a hutted camp, which previously had been Japanese troop barracks, lice and bugs were widespread. This was in an area of factories and shipyards and had escaped severe bombing so far. We did not feel at all comfortable, as we knew that sooner or later this area would be "carpet bombed". However, for the majority of us, "nil desperandum" was our motto. 

The 5th of June brought another heavy raid at Kobe (about 20 miles from us), a raid of between 600 to 700 planes causing damage equivalent to that suffered by Osaka on the 1st. We later heard the bad news - that the POWs’ hospital in Kobe had been set on fire and many had been burnt to death in their beds.

Raids now occurred practically every day. 

The following is an extract from a diary I kept of attacks on our particular district:

• June 5th - 600 to 700 planes attacked Kobe. POW camp and hospital hit.
• June 7th - Large raid (3 hours) north of camp. Water cut off.
• June 8th-12th - 15 alarms. Mainly Wakayama district.
• June 14th - Pamphlet raid. Giving warning of heavy raid tomorrow.
• June 15th  - Raid at 8 a.m. (55 planes) around our camp, too close for comfort. Fires within 100 yards. Water Scarce, food cut by half.
• June 17th - Night raid, mines laid in harbour. 3 ships caught next day.
• June 21st - Pamphlet raid promising heavy raid on the 25th.
• June 25th-26th    Heavy raid 350 planes, Osaka, Kobe, Nagoya, Chico hit (high explosive)
• July 2nd - Night raid, mines laid in harbour
• July 3rd - Night raid (3 hours) on Wakayama district
• July 4th - 2 night alarms
• July 5th - 5 raids
• July 7th - Night raid, Kobe and Osaka, many fires started
• July 9th - Raid by P-51’s on Senriyama and shipping in harbour
• July 10th - Day raid (1 ½ hrs). Night raid (3 hrs) east of camp
• July 11th to August 1st - Many raids both night and day.
• July 23rd - two machines brought down. 3 escaped by parachute.
• August 1st -  Camp and working parties travelling, Machine gunned by P-51’s, especially Senriyama. Also shipping in harbour.  
• August 5th - Large night raid (incendiaries) close to camp
• August 6th - Raids night and day
• August 14th - Large raid on Osaka, over 200 B-29’s preceded by P-38's

On the 6th July we left the Tsumori camp and proceeded to a new site a few miles away, where our accommodation consisted of an old concrete warehouse, a two-storeyed building. We were housed in the upper portion, the only means of exit and entrance being a narrow iron ladder and a door only two feet by four feet - a certain trap if 350 POWs had to get out of the building in a hurry.

We built, out of scrap timber, our own cookhouse, latrines, etc. No water was laid on, so once a day we were marched in parties to a canal a few hundred yards away, where we were able to wash ourselves. Due to the destruction caused by the bombing raids, our food was just the bare minimum to keep us alive. However, we realised that the day of liberation was close at hand, and our spirits were high. Now that the Japanese realised that they had no chance of winning the war, they attempted to adopt a friendly attitude with us, and tried to cover up their brutal and vicious attitude of the past.

The Japanese civilians who were left in Osaka were in a bad plight. They lived in hovels, built of scraps of tin and wood that had survived the air-raids, while their food was just a handful of soya beans, rice being practically unobtainable, as all remaining supplies had been commandeered by the Army. Vegetables were unobtainable, and each day we noticed the people gathering grass and weeds to supplement their rations. Many had to walk miles to get water from hastily dug wells, as water-mains had been damaged beyond repair by the raids.

Money had little or no value and even the lowest paid coolie was drawing money which in pre-war days could have kept him in luxury, and which now would not even buy him a handful of rice or a cigarette. The morale of the Japanese collapsed completely when Russia declared war on Japan in 1945. News of the "Atomic" bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima were kept out of the papers, but it soon reached the ears of the Japanese people and internal strife developed. They disobeyed the Government's orders to stay, and carrying their worldly goods on their backs, hastened away from the industrial and city areas into the open country. Riots were frequent, and even the "Kempei Tai" and Army were powerless to keep completely in check the raids of a starving population on food stores and warehouses. 

On the morning of August 15th, 1945, a party of us were sent to a place called Senriyama to build air raid shelters for the military staff. On arrival a Japanese who had given us reliable information in the past, told us that the "Dai Ichi" (Emperor) was making a speech that day, which would give us the news we had waited for so long to hear. We were inclined to be skeptical, as in the past we had heard rumours of peace which had turned out to be false.

However, at noon we were hastily led up the mountain side and told to stay there; but we were too excited to obey this order and sneaked back to a position where we could hear the radio. As most of us could understand some Japanese, we could hardly keep from shouting for joy, when we realised that at long last the war was actually over.

That afternoon we were taken back to the camp under a strong escort, in case the civil population turned unpleasant, but everyone seemed dazed and bewildered. They could not understand that they were a defeated nation. 

On arrival at the camp, it took us some time to convince everyone that the war was over, but we had evidence of it when the following incident occurred:

A few days before, two American officers had been brought into our camp. They had escaped from an Officers' camp on the Island of Shikoku and attempted to steal a boat and head out to sea, hoping to be picked up by Allied warships. However, they were caught after 5 days and having been sentenced to execution had been brought to our camp for the sentence to be carried out. As a further mental torture, they had not been informed when this was to take place. They were bound hand and foot in full view of the camp and given no food. On the night of the 15th August, the Japanese guards released these officers and informed them that the end of the war had saved them. The next few days were days of indecision, and no one was allowed out of the camp. Food and water were still a problem.  We were all excited and rumours ran rife. We did not see much of the Japanese camp staff, who did not bother to take roll call, so that our own officers in the camp set up our own administration.

Out of the blue on the morning of August 21st, two men arrived from Kobe POW camp, who informed us that the personnel at the Kobe camp had taken the law into their own hands and left. They had commandeered lorries and broke into warehouses and stores, taking whatever food they needed. They also brought papers which confirmed beyond doubt that the war was at an end.

Our officers immediately demanded to see the Japanese camp commandant and informed him of what had happened in Kobe. They told him that unless he brought into our camp by noon the next day, decent food, cigarettes, medicines, etc., they would order all POWs to break camp and commandeer their own food.

That night we noticed that the Japanese guards had been reinforced and that barriers had been erected on the road outside the camp.  We eagerly looked forward to noon for a "show-down".

Noon arrived, but there were still no signs of anything arriving in the camp, so we all assembled and then walked out of the camp. The Japanese did not lift a finger to stop us. We took over some lorries and travelled to Kobe, and late that night we returned loaded with food, cigarettes, and clothing and, of all things, beer! That night, our first of freedom, was a celebration in which those who took part will never forget.

From this time onwards, we were able to go where we wished, and actually we took over the whole city of Osaka or what was left of it. We went into the main section of the city (which was still intact in parts) and entered the hotels, ordering what we wished.

In the next few days many of us took the opportunity to travel on the railways to see other parts of Japan and also to try to contact other POWs in the mountains who might not have been informed that the war was over. Osaka, Kobe, Nagoya, Kyoto, Wakayama, Kyama, Hiroshima and many other places were visited, by parties of POWs.

During the morning of the 24th August, a large number of Allied planes flew low over Kobe and Osaka, apparently trying to spot POW camps. We immediately obtained some paint, and clearly marked our roof top "POW Camp".

The next day many B.29's flew over and we managed to attract their attention with the aid of mirrors. After circling around the camp, they opened the bomb-bays and dropped large cannisters containing food, clothing, medical supplies, cigarettes, books, and newspapers. Although these cannisters were fastened to parachutes, the planes were so low that many of the packages were damaged, and others fell into the canals; but what did land safely was more than enough for our immediate needs.

From then onwards, supplies were dropped daily. P.51's and P.38's also came over with small gift parcels, contributed by the different messes on the aircraft carriers. After dropping these gifts, they circled and did victory rolls over the camp. We obtained an Aldis lamp and were able to communicate with the planes and give locations of the camps. Before many days passed, the area for hundreds of yards around the camp was covered with parachutes of all colours. We forced the Japanese guards, who had dominated us for so long, to gather in the packages which were dropped.

In the afternoons and evenings, we would fill a bag of sugar or other valuable commodities and would go into the town and enjoy ourselves. We would go into shops and hotels, and if we required an article, give in exchange a handful of sugar, etc. Geisha houses in the Yoshiwara district soon became favourite haunts for those seeking wine, women, and song. Others spent their time visiting the historic and beautiful temples at Kyoto which, incidentally, being noted for its temples and shrines, had never been bombed. 

It was interesting to know that, although our fellows were going everywhere, mostly in ones or twos, there was not one case of them ever meeting trouble from the Japanese. The latter were docile and, I think, afraid of us. They had never before, in all their history, suffered the humiliation of being a conquered nation, and they were afraid that our troops when they arrived, would behave in the same way, that their own troops had done in captured towns and cities in China and the Pacific.

The days passed all too rapidly, and about the 2nd September, a number of American officers and war correspondents arrived in Osaka, expecting to see us shut up in the POW camp. They were amazed when they found that for the past fortnight, we had been living a life of ease and luxury. The following days passed in excitement and anticipation.

Many men from camps up in the hills had found their way into Osaka and Kobe and joined the growing throng of “pleasure starved” POWs sightseeing and enjoying themselves in their newfound freedom. By the 10th September, when arrangements were made to transport us to Tokyo for repatriation, they had dispersed over such a large area that the only way which all the POWs could be gathered together was by means of the air raid sirens, which were blown as a signal for everyone to report back to camp. 

On the 11th September 1945, we were taken to the railway station (except for about 50 volunteers who offered to stay behind with the occupation troops, to act as guards, and to facilitate finding the location of the POW camps in the mountains), on the first stage of our journey home.

We derived great satisfaction from seeing the Japanese Colonel and staff, who had ruled us with an iron hand for so many years, humiliating us at every opportunity, and causing the deaths of so many of our comrades, bow low to every POW who boarded the train. Stripped of all badges and guarded by ex­POWs, they themselves were now humiliated and had lost all their arrogance and swagger.

We travelled in complete comfort and early next morning had our first sight of Mount Fujiyama, the sacred mountain of Japan.  No longer was it a monument to the long vaunted "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere", but a silent witness to the defeat of the former military might of Japanese imperialism.

On arrival in Tokyo, we found a wonderful welcome awaiting us by the American authorities. What brought home to us that we were free, more than anything else was the sight of American Red Cross nurses, the first white women we had seen since we had been taken prisoners. We were given hot showers, change of clothing, a good meal, and a thorough medical examination (including an 'X' ray) and then some of us who were fit enough, were driven to the Atsugi airfield, on the outskirts of Tokyo.

At last, on the 13th September 1945, we took off at 11 a.m. and saw Japan, and all the horror, and indescribable ghastliness which Japan had symbolised to us during the past four years, slip away beneath us, as we headed for Okinawa - our first stop on the way to home and our loved ones. 

We left Japan in American US Air Force C-54's (DC-4’s), hastily equipped with rough seating made out of wooden 4 x 2's, we were each given a parachute. A very uncomfortable trip but we didn't care, only to be happy to be free again. We arrived at about 6.30 p.m. at Okinawa. On landing, we were given coffee and refreshments, before being taken by army trucks to a large, tented camp, about an hour's journey from the aerodrome. It was a large camp and about 3,000 of us ex-POWs were there. For the next few days, we did nothing but eat and sleep. The hospitality of the American Forces was tremendous. Luxuries we had not seen for many a year were to be had for the asking. They even had an ice-cream-making facility. We also were able to send telegrams to our families overseas. Unfortunately, it poured with tropical rain, nearly all the time we were there. The tents we were in were on a gently sloping area, so that the water came in one side and out the other. We were all on camp beds, so it didn't bother us too much. It was fun in an evening, to sit in the pouring rain, watching an outdoor movie!

On arrival, we were put into groups of 50 with a group number. All day long the loudspeakers called out group numbers. When your number was called it meant that we were required to gather at the Camp entrance, to be taken in trucks to the aerodrome. We were in this Camp for about four days, before our group was called.    We were taken to the aerodrome and loaded into B-24 Liberators. Wooden 4 x 2's had been put in the bomb-bays. We sat on one and put our feet on another. There were about 20 of us in our plane. We took off with a rather frightening experience as, to allow light and air to enter, the bomb-bay doors were partly open. One could look down between one's feet and see the metal grid of the runway, rushing past. However, once in the air, we were allowed in ones and twos, to move to other parts of the aircraft and to have a chat with the pilot and crew. We flew South, skirting the east coast of Formosa, and eventually down the west coast of the Phili ppines, to Clark Field where we landed.

After a refreshing cup of coffee and doughnuts, we transferred to a smaller plane a DC-3 (Dakota), which took off and headed for a small airfield, just outside Manila. More coffee and doughnuts, before we were taken by truck to a large, tented Camp, near a large lake just outside the City. This was a huge camp, with ex-POWs from all over Japan and other occupied territories, including Hong Kong. Many joyful reunions took place, and anxious enquiries made regarding many friends and comrades.

We were (in our group) about twelve days in this camp. We were given a thorough medical check-up, inoculations, and outfitted with clothing. The Red Cross were on hand to help where necessary and keep us supplied with books, writing materials, cigarettes, etc. There were open-air cinema shows every night. Also, transport was available to take those who wished to go into Manila city, although few of us had any money.