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POW |
Surrender - 1942
| Singapore - from Feb.1942
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"D" Force | "E"
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"F" Force
| "G" Force | "H" Force |
"J"
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Singapore - from March, 1945 |
Surrender - 1945
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NX47523 - POWER, Arthur Kelso (Artie), Pte.
"NX47523 Pte. Arthur Kelso Power
- D Coy and "J" Force to
Japan.
In May 1945 he was taken by train from KOBE to NOTOGAWA and
remained there until the middle of September 1945.
"Kobe House" was a brick building with three floors,
approximately 125 Ps.O.W. occupying each floor, there being very
little ventilation. The ground floor contained the kitchen,
twelve lavatories, a bath and showers. Approximately 35 men
slept above the lavatories, which were continually running over,
only being emptied every four months.
Our food consisted of one bowl of rice for each meal, the rice
being of poor quality and gritty as if swept off the floor.
Occasionally we were given a stew containing soup bone. The only
vegetables we received were diagon tops or leaves which were
issued for about one week and then we would receive the diagon
roots.
We received very little medical attention from the Japanese Camp
Staff.
Capt. BOYCE (QX23518
- Capt. Clive Rodney BOYCE) was the M.O. in our camp.
On one occasion, while working on a coal boat,
Pte. HALL of 2/30
Bn was knocked off the deck into a barge, and later died.
At Kobe there was a Japanese Lieut., nicknamed "The Mad Doctor",
who was about 5' 6” high, weight about 13 stone and was fat,
being built like a beer barrel. On one occasion he flogged an
Aust. P.O.W.,
"Tibby" Jeans
(QX23340
- Pte. Arthur Stevens JEYNES) in front of the guardhouse
with a belt, striking him, with the buckle and cutting his face
badly. The Japanese Camp Commandant, known to us as "Jack Oakie"
and whose name was Marimoto, did not seem to do anything about
this. The "Mad Doctor" was later sent to Osaka.
The interpreter in this camp was Higashi Guchi, nicknamed
"Henery". He was very hard on the P.O.W. as we could not
understand his version of English. He held back our mall and
would not issue it to us for weeks on end. He was later moved.
A Japanese medical orderly known to us as "Rat Shit". was very
harsh towards sick Ps.O.W., who reported on sick parade - his
usual procedure was to bash them and send them back to work.
During the first twelve months at Kobe I worked at the Toyo
Steel Works in a big shed on "Jack Hammers" cleaning moulds,
which were sometimes red hot. This was very dusty work, and on
one occasion I got a piece of steel in my left eye, this steel
was later removed by a Jap. Medical Officer. I also worked on
the furnaces and was made to carry heavy loads of steel.
During Nov. 1944 a Red Cross ship arrived from Russia with
U.S.A. Red Cross supplies. The ship was unloaded by English and
Australian Ps.O.W. We did not receive any of these supplies in
"Kobe House". Clothing in this camp was of very poor quality,
consisting of dirty Japanese Army clothing full of lice.
We were given one small piece of soap every two or three months
to wash our clothing and ourselves.
During May 1945 a Party of 54 Australian Ps O.W., including
myself, led by
Corporal Pescod
(NX65657
- Cpl. Keith Milne PESCOD), left for NOTOGAWA, where we were
put to work on canals carrying rope baskets of mud, there being
two men to each basket. We had to work in mud up to our waists
and we were often belted with sticks by the guards. We had to
walk to work a mile each way, four times daily.
The food here consisted of three small bowls of rice daily with
green cucumber and water. The rice was mixed with green wheat,
which caused severe diarrhoea and stomach trouble, which lasted
until we were released. Living quarters in this camp were very
poor and we had to sleep shoulder to shoulder. We bathed and
washed our dishes in a big cement trough. The latrines consisted
of a hole dug in the ground next to the sleeping quarters.
On one occasion when we were returning from a working party we
were stood outside the main gate of the camp and told by Higashi
Guchi, the interpreter, that we were not doing enough work on
the dykes and then punished with the "BODY PRESS".
This treatment was as follows:
We had to lay down with our hands flat on the ground under our
chests and support our bodies down to the toes. We then had to
rise up and down as ordered, which was very severe. If our
bodies touched the ground we were kicked on the face, hands and
stomach. I was bashed and kicked severely by “Rat Shit”.
Pte.
Melrose (NX21428
- Pte. Clarence William MELROSE) was beaten with a large bamboo pole across the back of
the legs by "Nakamuri" and this left bruises for some time.
Pte.
McDonald (NX34489
- Pte. Gordon Grant MACDONALD), when in the "Body Press" was told to get up by
"Rat Shit". He suffered from hernia and could not rise
straightway, and when he did get up, "Rat Shit" bashed him about
the head and face until his mouth bled. Whilst this was going on
Lt. NAKAHISHI stood by and laughed. When McDonald was dismissed,
he collapsed in barracks. Another guard known as “The Black
Bastard” also took his turn to kick and bash the Ps.O.W."
(Source: War
Crimes and Trials - Affidavits and Sworn Statements: AWM54 -
1010/4/117; and The Story of "J" Force, Alex Dandie, 1985)
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Last updated
31/08/2021 |
