‘Oh Boy’ Liberation (Aug 1945)

Oh Boy Liberation 1945

 There is not much to be said about this image, as they say ‘a picture paints a thousand words’.

As the end of the Pacific War approached, rations to the POW’s were reduced and the work requirement increased. POW’s were made to dig tunnels and fox holes in the hills around Singapore so that the Japanese would have places to hide and fight when the Allies finally reached Singapore. Many POW’s believed that the Japanese would kill them as the Allies approached Singapore. This never happened. When Emperor Hirohito told the people of Japan that the war ‘has gone not necessarily to our advantage’, the Japanese soldiers at Changi simply handed over the prison to those who had been the prisoners. To these soldiers, they were obeying an Imperial order and thus were not disgracing their families or country.

For over sixty years the name Changi has remained synonymous with hardship and cruelty, borne during this horrific chapter in British military history, a name that will not easily be forgotten. It will remain a lasting bitter memory to all those who were unfortunate enough to have been interned within its formidable stone walls or in the surrounding camps within its shadows.

When Lord Mountbatten arrived in Singapore, he was joined by RAPWI – ‘Rehabilitation of Allied Prisoners of War and Internees’. The Americans were the first to leave Changi. Those remaining christened RAPWI ‘Retain all Prisoners of War Indefinitely’. When men were repatriated they went to either Sri Lanka or Australia to convalesce.’

‘For over sixty years the name Changi has remained synonymous with hardship and cruelty, borne during this horrific chapter in British military history, a name that will not easily be forgotten. It will remain a lasting bitter memory to all those who were unfortunate enough to have been interned in the miserable foulness within its formidable stone walls or in the surrounding camps within its shadows.’

Source:  http://www.cofepow.org.uk/pages/asia_singapore_changi_story.htm; http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/changi_pow_camp.htm

‘Slowly the years of agony rolled on until men and women, who could hardly remember anything other than the stifling atmosphere of the camp, suddenly began to sniff a new and heady scent – the scent of victory, of liberation. V.E. – day came and went. On the secret radios – now operating again – news filtered through of the massive American naval victories in the Pacific;, to be followed by the details of Hiroshima.’

Source: Sinister Twilight: The Fall of Singapore by Noel Barker, pg 274.

“On August 15th 1945 Paddy Matthews stole a radio and heard that the war was over. The Emperor of Japan, overwhelmed by the power of atomic bombs and faced with the prospect of an invasion of Nippon, had unconditionally surrendered.
Three days later even the Japanese themselves admitted that we need no longer work. But the war had not been won; nor lost. It had simply, for the moment, stopped. They ceased to bellow ‘Currah’ and instead bowed politely when we passed. The food which they had recently declared to be non- existent, they now produced in vast quantities so that we might eat our fill. Likewise drugs appeared from everywhere and in profusion.
Then we all assembled, thousands upon thousands of men, until there were 17,000 there in Changi Gaol. British paratroopers arrived and were greeted politely by the Japanese.”
Source: The Naked Island by Russell Braddon; 1955 edition Pan Books Ltd, Pg 282

‘It was a long time in coming when the Emperor of Japan finally surrendered to the might of the Allied Forces. The complete destruction to the two cities from the “doovers” (atomic bombs), was the final blow to bring the Imperial Japanese Army to its knees. The Emperor’s announcement was made at noon on the 15th Day of August 1945. The time and date is ital to remember in the light of future events that were planned to happen but didn’t because of the two factors’

Source: Changi Teenage Soldiers by Gerard Sampson, pg270 (an unpublished manuscript / book)

‘After days of men watching vacant skies for Allied planes bringing relief, and subsequently feeling deflated, radios broadcast on the evening of 29 August that a food drop would occur over the Changi aerodrome the following day. Around midday the next day a lone four-engine B-24 Liberator from Ceylon flew over the camp and dropped six British soldiers by parachute. They comprised two officers, two medical officers and two medical orderlies. Later that day three more B-24s flew over the camp and began dropping tons of supplies by parachute.’

Source: Lachlan Grant, ‘Thoughts of Home: Liberation & Repatriation’, The AIF Forestry Company’, in Lachlan Grant (ed.), The Changi Book, Published by New South in association with the Australian War Memorial, 2015, pg., 340

‘In order to cope, I believe, most men surrounded themselves in their own personal and protective armour. Mine, as I have already written, was work, an almost obsessive sense of duty; for others it was humour or religious faith; and for nearly all of us, it was the setting of a deadline: ‘home by Christmas’ or ‘home for my wife’s birthday, or some other date of personal significance. In establishing a mental goal to work towards we were focussing on a future life which we could anticipate living and, in the process, attempt to reject the reality of what we were experiencing, deferring our disappointment. Keeping an ‘end point’ in mind, even though deep down we know it was artificial, gave us hope – one of the most powerful weapons in the limited armoury of defence we could own. If we were to not only survive but also remain sane, it was all we could do. ‘

Source: A Doctors War, by Dr Rowley Richards, pg 157, Harper Collins Publishers, 2006.

‘On August 14th 1945 Japan accepted the final terms of surrender and formally surrendered on the September 2nd aboard the U.S. battleship, Missouri.
There was intense jubilation among the men but still a vague sense of dread. The Japanese had not given any indication that they would use the machine-guns on us, but the rumour spread that General Saito commanding the Singapore War Zone would not surrender even though the Emperor had done so. He hung out for some days. It was not until September 12th that the ceremony of surrender was carried out. Lord Louis Mountbatten as Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in the Far East insisted that this surrender be quite separate from the American arranged ceremony.’

Source: Love is the Spur by Geoffrey Bingham, pg 84, Eyrie Books, 2004.