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.