Alf Kirk 1916-2005
    Life as a Far East POW.
    Researched by Mark Andrew Kirk

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Please note  there are various sources that have been used to tell Alf's story.
I try  to be clear on  where i have  used these.
Initial pages mostly use the  source  'The Defence and Fall of Singapore' - Brian Farrell.
But all others can be found at the bottom of the web site.
I take zero profit from my web sites and books, they are provided for education only.

Thank-you

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THE SINGAPORE STRATEGY - GIBRALTAR OF THE EAST

After last great War from 1919 Britain had taken steps to reduce its spending on the military. The British territory's in the Far East relied upon outside help, for example the UK Government had to rely on help from local allies to cover the over stretched Navy, these included the Japanese who had been military allies since 1902, but the friction between the  U.S.A and Japan was increasing, clashing over Japan's ambitions over China and the wider Pacific region. 

Australia would have preferred that a battlefleet was permanently kept in the region to protect against any Japanese aggression and Singapore was the obvious base, being located between Australia, India and Japan but the fact was, it simply was not affordable. Instead the plan would be to build a base at Singapore and then deploy any fleet when needed. 

In 1922 agreement was made with the U.S.A to limit the sizes of the American, British and Japanese Navy. This avoided an arms race with the United States but left doubts as to whether any threat in the east could be dealt with. If hostilities broke out anywhere in the world, particularly in the far East, Britain would be stretched, it's Empire was now too big for it to afford to defend. The  Singapore Strategy became a political football in the 1920's and the building of the  base was delayed many times while the scope and cost were argued over. In the end a watered down plan was adopted that left no realistic hope of defending the territories east of India.

In 1933 the ten year plan of limiting military spending was dropped after Japan overran Manchuria in China. After the U.S.A abdicated from the League of Nations Britain and France were left to carry the load if a country complained of aggression, which China promptly did. Lord Lytton was despatched to China to report back and when he said the Japanese had instigated a war of conquest, the Japanese stormed out of the League conference room and the League altogether. Circumstances were now declining rapidly and the defences at Singapore now looked very weak particularly as a increasingly aggressive Germany would mean war in Europe was highly likely. 

Neville Chamberlain argued that home defence came first and the way to do that and not harm any diplomacy was to build up the Air Force, this didn't help protect the Far East though. In 1935 Hitler renounced the Treaty of Versailles and announced full-scale rearmament so protecting the country against the closer threat of Germany remained the priority.  

For  Singapore to be defended it depended on the situation in Europe to be under control and with the fall of France in June 1940 it was anything but, Britain was literally fighting for its life. As the war progressed Churchill, the  Prime Minister, had to concentrate the forces at his disposal in the other theatres of Egypt, Middle East, Mediterranean and on the home front and hope that the Americans would intervene in the East if Japan attacked. It was probably a relief when Germany attacked Russia in 1941 which kept German forces occupied on the Eastern Front. 

The United States had avoided entering the war as the public did not want Americans risking their lives in a European war. They had been helping Britain in other ways, such as repairing British ships in American ship yards, helping with supplies and their destroyers escorting supply vessels bound for the UK as far as Iceland. This led to German U-boats attacking and sinking American ships, but the US were still reluctant to declare war against Germany. Although the events of the 7th and 8th December would change the direction of the war.

JAPAN ATTACKS

When hostilities began in 1939 the 2nd Battalion, Loyal Regiment was stationed in the Far East as part of Singapore Fortress's 1st Malaya Infantry Brigade.  The 2nd Loyals were in garrison at Singapore when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbour on the 7th December and when on 8th December 1941, without warning  or declaration of war, Japan launched attacks on British and American bases throughout the Pacific.  

On  the 11th December 1941, four days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour and the United States declaration of war against the Japanese Empire, Hitler rashly  declared war against the United States, which avoided Roosevelt having to make the decision himself. 

Churchill and his aids sailed to Washington to meet up with  Roosevelt and Marshall to thrash out the plan of action now the United States would be properly joining the war. They agreed to pool together their armies with the combined Chief of Staff sitting in Washington, but Germany would be their first consideration. This was good news for Churchill for the war as a whole but the situation in Malaya was bleak.

Britain's colony of Malaya was a major producer of rubber and tin, vital for aircraft and vehicle production and Singapore on the southern end was of strategic value to  the Japanese.  General Tomoyuki Yamashita's 25th Army landed at Singora, Patani and Kota Bharu initially and were aided by the compliance of  Thailand to allow the passage of men and supplies through their country and over the border.

MALAYA

The Japanese were quickly  in control of the sea and air within a week of the start of hostilities in Northern Malaya. They quickly overran the Thailand border and swept in crushing any beach defences. The Allies simply could not cope with the break neck speed that the Japanese were charging south, they made use of bicycles and light tanks to remain mobile. Several Air Bases were lost without them being put out of action and even worse they were left with fuel, the Air Bases were later put to good use and this would put Singapore within reach of the Japanese aircraft. In fact the Japanese charge South probably would have stalled if it wasn't for all the supplies recovered at Kuala Lumpur, nicknamed 'Churchill supplies'.

General Archibald P. Wavell was now put in overall charge and acknowledged that mistakes has been made, he set about amending this. The plan was to try and halt the Japanese advance or at least slow it down until reinforcements and equipment would arrive from the Middle East, but they were at least a month away. 48 Hurricanes would be arriving on HMS Indomitable but they wouldn't be arriving until the end of January. 

As part of this strategy on the 12th January 1942 the Loyals were brought forward from the reserve at Singapore to aid the hard pressed Indian and Australian  troops who were falling back through the region of Johore. Over the next fortnight they fought  several desperate rear guard actions, notably north of Batu Pahat, to assist in the Allied  withdrawal from the mainland. Many Loyals were cut off in the fighting but managed to  evade the enemy and re-join the Battalion. 

The fighting around the road to Parit Sulong was particularly fierce. At one point the Japanese rounded up 110 Australian and 40 Indian Injured soldiers who were unable to retreat and escape. They were then tied together and then tortured throughout the day, some were beheaded and some covered in petrol and set alight, a sign of the brutality to come.

This main battle in Northern Johore would end in a costly defeat. The men on the ground fought bravely and well in parts but were badly let down by poor communications and decisions by the officers, the speed and flexibility of the Japanese attack once again over whelmed the static defences that relied on old fashioned firepower.

Wavell's plans to halt the Japanese paid a high price, out of the 4500 men thrown into the battle only 500 Australians and 400 Indians returned to fight on. The 45th Indian Brigade was completely wiped out.

Wavell sent a telegram on the 19th January reporting the situation on the ground, it provided grim reading. He stated the number of troops needed to defend Singapore island was probably greater than they had used to defend Johore. He warned that Singapore would not be held for long, the guns were setup to fire seawards with ammunition for that purpose (I.E. armour piercing rounds for warships). He concluded rather hopefully with the statement that he hoped Johore may be held until the next convoy arrives.

Churchill received the report on the 21st and was shocked, why were the defences so poor at the so called fortress of Singapore ?

The COS and the defence committee met to discuss what to do with the approaching reinforcements. As a military decision it made sense to divert the convoy to now cover Burma, the gateway into China. But Britain had a duty to defend it's colony, it's prestige would have been severely dented if it had just pulled out and Australia was putting on real pressure to fight on, they were worried that after the fall of  Singapore they would be attacked themselves. So the decision was to fight on. Ayer Hitam was the last action for the Loyals on the mainland, Jahore was lost and they withdrew to Singapore Island, arriving on the 26th of January. Percival had ordered a phased withdrawal to get as many men back as possible.

SGT STANLEY STRANGE 

We are lucky that we have a pictorial record of  the battle in Singapore and the  POW life  of  the 2nd Loyals. They  can be seen in a series of contemporary sketches made during the war. These were made on scraps of paper, secreted in bamboo tubes and brought back to England after their liberation from Japanese captivity.  They are taken from “In Defence of Singapore”  A Series of drawings by L/Bdr. A.V.Toze, R.A. and Sgt. S. Strange, The Loyal Regt.  

They were mostly drawn in 1943 when he was at Keijo No 1 camp, Korea. The materials were smuggled from the working parties who were able to smuggle items into the camp. Lookouts were posted when the drawings were being made. The sketches were published in 1947 and includes a forward by Colonel Elrington, commanding officer of the 2nd Loyals. When Strange and Toze were moved to other camps the sketches were kept safe by Major Lyddon.

Below :  On the left is a photo of Sgt Stanley Strange, who risked his life to document life as a POW in his drawings. This photo was kindly supplied by Sgt Strange's Granddaughter Julia Lippitt.

SURRENDER OF SINGAPORE

Back on Singapore Island, 2nd Loyals held the  reserved demolition on the causeway until it was blown on 31st January. Reinforcements were still arriving at Singapore, the very last unit being the 18th  Reconnaissance Battalion  aboard the Empress of Asia, but on the 4th February ten miles out from Singapore the ship was attacked by Japanese  dive-bombers and set ablaze. 18th Recce were ordered to abandon ship, losing all their  arms and equipment. 

On 8th February the Japanese crossed the causeway and landed on Singapore Island. Some counter-attacks were  attempted, including one made at Bukit Timah on 11th February by the re-equipped 18th  Recce, but in general the Japanese retained  the initiative as the garrison  fell back towards the suburbs of Singapore city.

Towards the end the exhausted and demoralised  men of the defeated armies were seen hanging around Singapore avoiding being sent back to fight. Some Australian units were even forcibly taking boats by gunpoint to try and escape, controversially their General G Bennett escaped with a party of men on the 11th February, he would later make the excuse this was because he wanted to fight on, many others thought he should have stayed with his men. 

The 2nd Battalion Loyals defended positions on  Reformatory Road before starting a series of withdrawals starting on the 12th, which took them to Gillman Barracks, their former peacetime base. They endured a further two days of heavy pressure and on 15th February they made a final withdrawal to Mount Washington where the surviving  Loyals were ordered to lay down their arms. 

Percival held a meeting on the morning of the 15th, he was told that the army were close to running out of ammunition, also petrol and water were all running low. Counter attacking was discussed but all agreed the army was now in such a poor state it could not be done. Wavell sent a telegram to Percival authorising the surrender. 

Alf's 2nd Battalion surrendered along with the rest of the Singapore garrison on 15th February 1942. Following the destruction of the 2nd Loyals with its surrender at Singapore, the battalion was reformed in Britain. The 10th Battalion, a hostilities-only battalion created in 1940, was re-designated as the new 2nd Battalion on 28th May 1942. 

Following the surrender most of the captives were marched east to Changi. Several atrocities were made by the Japanese around this time, including a massacre of 200 patients and staff at the Alexandra Military Hospital on the 14th. Yamashita ordered the elimination of all anti-Japanese elements from the population and many Chinese nationals and locals were executed whether they were servicemen or military during a two week period which the Japanese Army called  Dai Kensho "The Great Inspection", but the Chinese simply called it Sook Ching "cleansing".

Below : Lieutenant General Yamashita Tomoyuki and Lieutenant General Arthur Percival discuss surrender terms. Taken at the Ford Works Building near the Bukit Timah Road, Singapore, 15th February 1942.

Lieutenant-General Arthur Ernest Percival commanded the forces of the British Commonwealth during the campaign. When he finally surrendered on the 15th February 1942  to the Imperial Japanese Army it became the largest capitulation in British military history.

PRISONERS OF WAR

On the 15th February 1942 Singapore was finally taken and Alfred's unit was captured by the Japanese, the survivors including Alfred became prisoners for the rest of the war. Where POW's were taken & held is a complicated picture with prisoners moved about and camps being renamed etc. Many of the men captured at Singapore were initially held at the transit camp Changi and then moved on. Over the next three and a half years the survivors of both battalions suffered severe beatings and many deaths at the hands of their brutal captors. Alfred can probably consider himself lucky as the 2nd Loyals were sent to Keijo, in Korea, while other regiments   were taken to Thailand to construct the  notorious Burma Railway, many of them did not survive the war.

In the early stages of the Pacific War the Japanese won some unexpected victories. Japan captured approximately 350,000 Allied soldiers as prisoners of war from the areas the Japanese conquered in South East Asia and the wider Western Pacific. In order to deal with those POWs, the POW Information Bureau was established in the Japanese Army Ministry in Tokyo at the end of 1941. Some of the local native soldiers were released but around 140,000 western soldiers were interned in camps. 

Alfred was initially reported on a missing list, he then resurfaces and listed as a POW, this was reported to War Office Casualty Section on the 7th December 1942 on the Previously Missing List. I expect it was a huge relief to Alf's parents Frederick and Harriett on finding out the news he was still alive, if they were notified. After Alf was captured at Singapore he was marched north east towards the Changi jail complex, where he would be initially held or more accurately he would have been held at the Selarang Barracks within the Changi complex, the former home of the Gordon Highlanders. The Japanese military detained about 3,000 civilians in Changi Prison, which was built to house only 600 prisoners but the Japanese used the British Army's Selarang Barracks, near the prison as a prisoner of war camp, initially holding some 50,000 Allied soldiers, predominantly British and Australian and from 1943 some Dutch civilians. Alf was held at Changi from February  to August 1942. 

Conditions were poor inside the Japanese camp in Changi and when the Japanese tried to make the men sign an agreement not to try and escape this eventually led to a revolt of British and Australian prisoners interned within the camp. Although initially leaving the prisoners to get along unheeded the Japanese regime began to change, becoming increasingly harsh and they started to use the POW’s for forced labour. The rules were simple, If you worked you would get food but If you did not work you would get no food or reduced rations. Men were initially made to work in the docks where they loaded munitions onto ships, they were also used to clear sewers damaged in the attack on Singapore and later to build an airport for the Japanese. The men who were too ill to work relied on those who could work to share their food. The issue of food and the fear of constant beatings would became a way of life for the next three and a half years whichever camp you were held at. Film and media tend to highlight the story of the men working on the Thailand-Burma railway but there were hundreds of camps across the pacific region all with their stories to tell.

HELLSHIP : FUKAI MARU

On the 4th March 1942 the Commander of the Korean Army, General Seishiro Itagaki sent a telegram to the Japanese War Ministry requesting 2,000 white prisoners of war consisting of half British and half American to be sent to Korea. The purpose of this draft of prisoners was to "stamp out respect and admiration of the Korean people for Britain and America" and at the same time "establishing in them a strong faith" in a Japanese victory in the war.  The original order received at Changi was they needed to supply 3,300 men to go to Japan and the Loyal regiment were asked to go. It was a tough decision, to go to Japan meant no chance of release until the war ended but it would mean avoiding the hot sticky Singapore climate. The Loyals did decide in the end to volunteer to go, but Japan would not be their destination.

We now know Alf was in this group, called Japan Party 'B' group,  they were transported on the Hellship 'Fukai Maru',  but the ultimate destination would not be Japan but it would be Chosen (Korea). The group were marched from the Changi Camp at Singapore on the 12th August to Keppel Harbour and then processed before being loaded onto the ship. Ironically the old ship had been built in England back in 1898. For three hours the Officers argued that the small ship would not take all the men, a small concession was made as 400 were put into the hold of the 'England Maru'.   The men were first all forced to strip and take a fumigation bath before boarding. Conditions were poor on board, the men were crowded onto small holds, insects and rats ran free all over the ship.  The men had to endure the cramped conditions for 4 days before even setting sail on the 16th. They were divided between the forward and aft holds, the upper part of each was divided by a shelf, leaving just three feet of space, no one could stand or even kneel, they just had to lie or crawl. The journey became a living hell, not only the cramped and poor conditions to deal with and the rough seas but the men also became increasingly ill, falling prey to various exotic diseases such as malaria, beriberi and worse of all, dysentery. There was a complete lack of privacy with only basic latrines on deck, which would be swept overboard during the storms experienced on the journey. There was also the danger of ships being sunk by allied submarines, unaware of their human cargo. 

Below :  You can see the Party 'B' group list, it looks like Alfred was a late change as he replaced the existing man listed, this single turn of events probably saved his life, although he wouldn't know it at that time as he had to endure the hellish and perilous trip  onto Korea via Taiwan.   

A fellow POW on the ship was a Dick Swarbrick who left us a detail of the conditions on the ship
Transcribed by Dave Swarbrick- see below -

"And so, on Sunday 16th August of 1942, in company with approximately one thousand one hundred other English and Australian prisoners, Dick finally embarked on the Japanese cargo ship, the Fukai Maru. Dick and the others had actually been on the ship for four days before it sailed on the 20th; four days in hot and overcrowded conditions without even a sense of movement to distract the mind from the horrendous conditions. The ship’s holds were dirty and infested with vermin, which rendered rather pointless all the disinfecting and fumigating that had preceded the men’s arrival on board. On the Tuesday it rained heavily and all the men were kept in the holds with the hatch covers on. It must have been a relief when, at quarter past eight in the morning of Wednesday 19th August, the ship slipped its moorings and headed out to sea. Whatever lay in store, they were at least on the move.

At twelve noon on Saturday 22nd August the ship anchored off Cholon Sunyak on the Sunyak River. Here the ship joined a small convoy of six other ships, which sailed the following day at about two o’clock in the afternoon. That morning a number of boats had come alongside the Fukai Maru selling cigarettes, eggs, fruit and even beer, to the prisoners. The only problem was it had to be paid for in Japanese currency, so most of the men could buy little or nothing.

The ship’s next port of call was Takao, Formosa. The ship anchored in the harbour on the afternoon of Saturday 29th August. Dick and his fellow prisoners spent some two weeks working in the docks to load the Fukai Maru with its cargo of bauxite. The men had to load the cargo into lighters, either shovelling it or carrying it on their backs like sacks of coal. It then had to be unloaded from the lighters into the ship’s holds the same way. It was hard physical labour; the only consolation being that the men were fed better rations and had three meals a day. On most of the days that they were in harbour it rained, usually heavily; it was the beginning of the typhoon season. Finally the ship was fully loaded and set sail on Tuesday 15th September. The men were then housed on top of the cargo of bauxite for the duration of the next part of the voyage.

The ship sailed up the West Coast of Formosa and joined a small convoy at the Pescadores, which then sailed north. The ships then doubled back apparently following a report of American submarine activity in the area. Then on the 17th September they headed off into the China Sea. Conditions aboard the old and rusting 3,821 ton Fukai Maru were far from ideal. It had been a cargo ship, a tramp steamer, and it had already seen better days. The men were divided between two holds, 550 men in each. Wooden shelving had been placed on top of the cargo in each hold, making two tiers each with about a metre of space. There was not room to stand or even kneel; it was sit, lie or crawl. The men stripped off their clothes, sweated and made the best of it. At first the weather continued to be extremely hot, many of the men suffered from heat rash and beriberi was all too common. Meals, if such they could be called, were twice a day at 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. The mainstay was rice, steamed using steam from the boilers, and a thin soup made with flour, water, a few onions and 14 tins of Irish stew – 14 tins between 1,100 men.

As the Fukai Maru steamed north towards Korea the weather deteriorated and the sea became increasingly rough. As they headed into the South China Sea the ship pitched and tossed for hours on end; a good many of the men now fell prey to seasickness. In order to accommodate the thousand men on board several outrigger style latrines had been rigged on the decks; these were washed overboard as the ship ploughed through the tail end of a typhoon. Conditions in the overcrowded holds now worsened considerably as the men suffered from seasickness, diarrhoea and dysentery. It also got distinctly colder. On Tuesday 22nd September the ship finally reached its destination, Fusan in Korea. Although the men had initially believed that they were heading for Japan, the majority of them were destined to see out the rest of the War in Korea.

The ship docked, the holds were fumigated and the men subjected to a medical examination by a team of Japanese doctors. More than twenty men were found to have contracted dysentery and most of the others were suffering from beriberi and acute diarrhoea. The serious dysentery cases were taken ashore immediately to the local military hospital. The men then spent the next day, Wednesday 23rd September, stuck in the same holds, going nowhere and not knowing what was in store for them. It was the next day before the men were finally ordered to disembark. The Fukai Maru sailed away and continued to ply its trade in the area for another year or so. It was torpedoed, carrying Japanese troops, off Palau on the 13th December 1943."

- Source - http://www.far-eastern-heroes.org.uk/richard_swarbricks_war/html/fukai_maru.htm

FUSAN VICTORY PARADE

You can read below about the 'Fusan Victory Parade' that the men were forced to make after the ship arrived in Korea.

This is taken & adapted from 'https://www.awm.gov.au/events/conference/2002/degroen.asp'

After the ship docked it appears that the Japanese guard split the prisoners into two groups, assigning the Loyals, the AIF and all field officers to Keijo prisoner of war camp, and the 122nd Field Regiment and personnel from other corps to Jinsen camp. A further day’s delay on board ensured that the disembarkation of the prisoners coincided with the Japanese autumn equinox festival on 24 September. As in Takao, the entire local population, clad in their holiday finery had been commandeered to line the streets as compulsory spectators of the victory parade.

No sooner had the Fukkai Maru tied up at Fusan dock than Japanese journalists and photographers swarmed aboard to interview selected prisoners about the Malayan campaign. As the captives filed down the gangplanks, their boots and hands were sprayed with disinfectant. On the dock, Kempeitai officers and customs officials subjected them to a double search, confiscating gold rings, packs of cards and cameras but sometimes missing more incriminating items, like Capt Des Brennan’s Malay kris and a British prisoner’s compass and makeshift brass knife. (Another British prisoner of war managed to discard a large handgun prior to being searched.) Like several of his mates, Bill Gray from the 2/4th Machine Gun Battalion had filled his pack with unlabelled tins of M&V "liberated" from the hold under the ‘tween-decks planking where the purser had stashed them for sale later in Japan. His booty exposed, he anxiously awaited punishment for theft. Instead, the Kempeitai NCO who found them accused him of hiding "bombs" in his kit. To Bill’s amazement and relief, he was permitted to keep them after proving that the tins contained food by opening one. His delight soon turned to woe, however, when he and his fellows were formed up into lines of four abreast and forced to march with full kit for three and a half hours around the streets of Fusan.

The victory parade was supervised by scores of red-capped, red-booted Japanese Kempeitai officers and followed closely by the press corps who "snapped every wilting or fainting soldier". Lieutenant Terada, adjutant at Keijo, and the detested "mad major" Okuda from Jinsen camp accompanied the parade. Okuda was on horseback during the march and, according to AIF Lt Hugh Frazer, "appeared to derive great enjoyment from stepping his horse almost on the heels of the rear men and having the animal snort and slaver over their shoulders." Many prisoners noted that the festively clad Korean population appeared cowed, sullen and apathetic if momentarily curious about the tartan kilts of the few Highlanders in the column and the slouch hats and colour patches of the AIF. The Japanese in the crowd, recognizable among the Koreans by their distinctive dress, were more inclined to jeer. In response to the jeering, the British sang "There’ll always be an England".

Eventually at 4.30pm, the parade halted at Fusan railway station where bento boxes containing the best food the prisoners had encountered since the fall of Singapore were issued for the overnight journey to camps at Keijo [Seoul] and Jinsen [Inchon]. Guarded by armed sentries and still accompanied by press representatives who continued to ask questions and take photographs, the party was ushered aboard surprisingly modern and comfortable third class rail carriages. The next day when the two roughly equal groups reached their separate destinations, they were again paraded publicly en route to their camps, the first party through the streets of the capital Keijo [Seoul], the second through Jinsen [Inchon], Keijo’s important west-coast port some thirty miles distant on the mouth of the Han River.

It may be that as a consequence, conditions in the Korean camps, and especially at Keijo, were significantly better than in most other Japanese controlled camps. This more benign regimen included better food, adequate accommodation, access to Red Cross parcels, delivery of mail (albeit slow), fewer atrocities and well-stage-managed annual inspections by International Red Cross Committee [IRCC] teams. Keijo, and to a lesser extent Jinsen and Mukden, were manipulated by the Japanese as "show" camps, open to the IRCC, to demonstrate to the Allied powers Japanese chivalry towards prisoners.

KEIJO CAMP - SEOUL - CHOSEN  (KOREA)

The sites in Chosen include the main camp at Keijo (Seoul) which provided labour for the Korean Army Warehouse,  Camp 1B -Jinsen (Inchon) which provided labour for the Port Maintenance / Monopoly Bureau and camp 1-D at Konan which provided labour for the Nippon Chisso, Konan Plant. The 2nd Loyal regiment were taken to Keijo in Seoul.

Keijo Camp in Seoul was the main camp for Korea. It was situated on a flat fertile plain, thirty metres above sea level, near Keijo-Fu, which was the capital of the province Chosen Korea. The men were housed in a disused silk factory in long wooden huts, each eighty feet long and thirty five feet wide each with a low shelf on which they were expected to sleep on. Each man having an allocated space approximately six feet long and half a foot wide in which he had his bedding, kit and eating utensils. The men were issued with five blankets when they arrived on site.  The first working party did not actually go out until the 27th October, the men were required for to work for some local contractors such as shifting goods at railway stations and military warehouses, excavating roads and railway embankments, working at  the Mikuni factory, unpicking knots in straw ropes and sometimes repairing Japanese military uniforms.

Conditions at Keijo were significantly better than those in most Japanese POW camps. POW camps in Korea - Keijo, Jinsen and Konan were purposely created to serve a propaganda function for the Japanese Prisoner of War Information Office (Huryojohokyoku) and  they manipulated the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) as part of its overall strategy to cover up the bad conditions at other sites. The prisoners received Red Cross parcels and letters from home, and all ranks received a small amount of pay. They were even permitted to keep diaries under the assurance that they could express themselves freely and were allowed to buy the photographs which the guards occasionally took of them. The officers refused to work and acted instead as overseers of the labour of the other ranks. 

Although Keijo was a Japanese ‘show camp’ the conditions for the men were still harsh, they lived under the constant fear of physical punishment and possible death. Face smacking of POWs was commonplace but this was preferable to other punishments. One Japanese Corporal earned the nickname ‘Scoops’ following an incident in which he hit a prisoner in the face with a ladle five times. Commands were given in Japanese and the men initially spent six weeks learning Japanese military drill. Weight loss and malnutrition became a significant problem, the men became unrecognisable from the soldiers they had been before the surrender. Their physical and mental health just about held on by the Red Cross parcels which made a refreshing change to the usual rice and stew. The conditions in the camp were poor, but morale was maintained by holding theatre shows and producing a magazine called “Nor Iron Bars”. 

Towards the end of the war at Keijo the Russians were fast approaching the city, in a last act of defiance and cruelty the Japanese guards threatened to shoot all the officers still imprisoned at the Keijo camp. As the Japanese were to die at their posts then the allied  officers were too. The officers were only saved by the dropping of the second atom bomb and the consequent surrender of Japan on the 15th August. Brigadier Elrington concludes his memoirs with this passage After the unbelievable news of VJ Day (August 15) had turned to weeks of inpatient waiting for deliverance, the great moment for us arrived on the 9th September. Amid tremendous excitement and noise of tanks, trucks, bewildered Japs and frantic soldiery, a very large and confident American Company Commander sort out our CO, saluted smartly and shouted, “Say, Colonel, who d’ya want shot?”.

KEIJO REPORT

Shortly after the Japanese surrender Keijo was investigated by an American intelligence unit as part of the general survey of Japanese POW camps.  The prisoners experience at Korea did not appear to the investigators to be unusually good, and they summarised conditions as ‘fair’. The report gives a comprehensive description of infrastructure and amenities which is corroborated by the prisoners Keijo diaries. 

Heating was satisfactory between December and March, but in early and late winter there was no heat [...] The lighting in the room were poor. All windows were glassed and of the shuttered type. In the summer the ventilation was almost non-existent and in winter the inside temperature was often below zero at night. No beds were available and the prisoners slept on straw mattresses. Cells used for punishment were 8 feet by 10 feet, with no windows and a small door […] The hospital consisted of a small hut. In the winter the temperature would often be at freezing point and many cases of illnesses  were concealed and nursed in the barracks as conditions were more favourable than in the hospital. [...] There were two Japanese-type lavatories with twelve cubicles in each. There were also a sufficient number of the standing-up type cubicles, but the drainage was very poor.

In fact the conditions were unhygienic in all areas. Brigadier Elrington’s first impression of the camp was of a ‘fly-blown, poxy dust heap in the midst of a filthy, evil-smelling slum area’. The POWs would soon discover that the living quarters were lice-ridden and verminous, on occasion the camp would be invaded by swarms of fleas. The flies that infested the camp in the warmer months spread disease, including an outbreak of dysentery in 1945.

There was constant sickness at the camp caused by malnutrition, inadequate protection from the cold and the unhygienic living conditions. The common illnesses of the camp included malaria, dysentery, diphtheria, beriberi, and those prevalent in camps in colder climates such as pleurisy, bronchitis and pneumonia. Although on a smaller scale than elsewhere, there were also serious workplace injuries resulting in permanent disablement and death. Many suffered from diarrhoea for the entire period of captivity, most suffered from worm infestations and all of them from diseases caused by vitamin deficiencies, which in more severe form caused temporary blindness and permanent damage to the heart.

Alf was at Keijo from the 24th September 1942 when he and his fellow Loyals disembarked from the Fukkai Maru and were paraded through the streets to the camp. He would leave the camp in July 1943 when he  was transported to the mainland of Japan and onto the Kobe House camp.

JAPANESE ARMY LIFE

Life in the the Japanese Army was a particularly brutal one, Japanese Army regulations had a tradition of senior ranks inflicting physical punishment on more junior ranks. For example one particular command that was issued allowed the recipient to prepare himself and offer his face to be slapped, sometimes so hard this could knock out his teeth. As well as the beatings, more serious crimes would mean the guilty soldier was allowed to commit suicide, in some cases by beheading.  This brutality was used as a way of maintaining discipline in the expanding Imperial Army. The fear created ensured unquestioning compliance with orders and this violence coupled with the conformity of Japanese life ensured a dedication to the Emperor that was absolute. This discipline also applied to POWs who received anything from a face slapping to beatings with bamboo canes and in the worst cases beating with staves or sledgehammers until death resulted. Beatings were an aspect of captivity remembered and dreaded by all POWs and could be inflicted for the most minor of offences.

Thousands of POW's died from malnutrition, disease and being worked beyond the limits of human endurance. Camps closer to population centres tended to be better treated than the camps on the outskirts in remote islands and those working on the Burma railway. The percentage that survived in Korea was considerably higher than a lot of other areas. During the war among the main groups of POWs (British, Australian and American)  it is estimated that approximately one in three perished, the percentage being far less at Chosen (Korea) initially good for Alfred, although the mainland of Japan would be a new level of brutality.

KEMPEITAI (JAPANESE MILITARY POLICE)

Kempeitai or Kenpeitai was the infamous Japanese military police wing of the Imperial Japanese Army, they were Japan’s version of the Nazi Gestapo. In  Japan and Japanese-occupied territories the Kempeitai were in charge of arresting. torture and executing those who were suspected of any crime or just displaying an anti-Japanese sentiment. They also  had other duties  including maintaining military discipline, spreading propaganda, enforcing conscription laws, protecting vital military zones and investigating crimes among soldiers. They were notorious for their brutal treatment of prisoners during World War II.  You may know them from the interrogation scenes from the 2013 film "The Railway man".

They were trained under Japan’s War Ministry, an interrogation manual was provided by their government and they were also trained in the martial art of  ju-jitsu.  Kempeitai investigators cared little whether confessions were made voluntarily or made under duress so torture served a useful role in confirming any of their suspicions. If you were arrested by the kempeitai you were doomed to misery, pain and probable death. For those who were to escape from the interrogation rooms alive they would often die later due to their injuries and if they did survive  they would suffer mentally for the rest of their lives.

Various methods of torture and interrogation was deployed by the Kempeitai during World War II, as well as the basics of depriving human beings of food, water and medical care, other cruel methods were used to extract a confession. Flogging and severe beatings were routinely used, also Waterboarding, where water was  poured over a cloth covering the face, so the victim felt like they were drowning. Rice torture was where they pumped uncooked rice into their victims, they would then put a hose in the victim’s mouth and he would swallow a large amount of water which caused the rice to expand in already shrunken stomachs.  

Alf would be aware of them as they had organised the  Fusan Victory Parade when the  boat first docked in Fusan, Chosen (Korea),  he would have also seen them  when traveling from the various POW camps to any daily job he may have been appointed  and would no doubt try to avoid them if at all possible.

JAPAN :  KOBE  HOUSE CAMP

Alf was transported to the mainland of Japan in July 1943, after being held  at the Keijo camp in Korea for the previous year.  More labour was needed in the mainland of Japan and as the allies closed in around the Japanese more men were transported to the mainland or at least the men who were healthy and economically close enough to Japan were transported.  Alfred was initially transported to Kobe in July 1943 and then later moved onto Hiroshima 8b Motoyama camp in May 1945 and was imprisoned there for the rest of the war. 

The location of the Kobe House POW Camp  or Osaka 2-B (NIPPON TSUUUN) was KOBE-shi, FUKIAI-ku, WAKIHAMA-cho, Japan. It was renamed as  Osaka 1-B on the 18th February 1943. According to Alf's questionnaire, taken at the end of the war, he was transferred there from Chosen (Korea) in July 1943. It was originally the Swire and Butterfield warehouse, a former British trading company. John Swire & Sons initially opened a Yokohama office near Tokyo in Japan in 1867. this sold goods such as cotton and woollens consigned to Butterfield & Swire by Barlows of Manchester, Novelli & Co, Dewhursts & Redman & Holt.  During the Japanese occupation all of Swire's far eastern activities were suspended. By the time of the Japanese surrender in September 1945 more than half of Swire's ships, the sugar refinery, and the dockyard had been destroyed.  

The primary labour use of the POWs at Kobe was as Stevedores, moving cargo at the nearby Kobe docks. They were used as labour in warehouses owned by companies such as Mutsui, Mitsubishi, Sumitomo, Kamagumi, Ohamagumi, Utsumigumi, Takahama, Kobe-go and Sempaku, who all had large warehouses scattered along the artificially constructed waterfront. If you want to read details of life in the Kobe House Camp I recommend the excellent book "Kobe House P.O.W. #13"  By A.J. Locke, Sergeant Arthur 'Bud' Locke was an American, based at Clark Field in the Philippines. He was taken prisoner when the Japanese invaded the region. He endured the Bataan Death March and was then moved on to Kobe POW camp where he was held for much of the war, the same camp as Alf. The book describes the hard existence of the lowly POW under the Japanese Imperial Army, when new men first arrived they would have to learn Japanese Army close order drill, learn to salute and how to bow. These lessons had to be learnt quickly because if they did not perform them properly when passing a Japanese soldier they would be punished, often with one or more hard slaps to the face or beaten with a wooden sword. Rations were meagre and barely enough to keep them alive, If you worked you got more than the men left behind in the camp. Men in the make shift Hospital were on half rations, so it was difficult for their health to improve once you became ill, around 120 British POWs died of pneumonia during the Winter of 42/43.  Many men would die at Kobe House because of the hard working regime combined with little food. Initially the men were given full honours when they passed away but this was soon replaced by the deceased being forced into old empty soya bean barrels and taken up to the hills above Kobe for cremation. Sometimes if the barrels were too small the orderlies had to resort to various methods to  force the bodies into the barrels, which i will not go into detail here.

Work often consisted of working on the Kobe docks, moving goods from the ships to the warehouses or shovelling coal (sekitan), the worst jobs consisted of moving cement or lime which got into your skin and burnt. Some jobs involved shifting foods which allowed for some theft on the side to supplement the diet or to be smuggled into Kobe House to trade, tins of Salmon or Core Beef traded for good prices. Sugar was also smuggled in, often hidden in long johns tied at the bottom, becoming a thief (dorobo) and eating anything you could get your hands on was sometimes the difference between life and death. The routine at Kobe settled into 13 days of work followed by every other Sunday off (Yasumi day), but this meant a day spent in the camp with less food and a chance of a beating by a guard in a bad mood. Lunch may consist of a watery soup with some daikon (Japanese radish) and later in the day some more pickled daikon with rice. Once a week the men may have got bean soup with kind of bean paste (miso) and once a fortnight fish bone soup, complete with fish eyes containing a few extra vitamins. The occasional Red Cross parcels would be delivered, but once the guards and staff had taken their share this left the men with around one parcel to every nine and half men.

Another excellent book regarding Kobe is 'The Story of J Force' by A.Dandie, this tells the story of the Australian POWs held there.  He goes into detail of one of the punishments handed out to a John Fuller after a bottle of oil was found after the officers quarters were searched by Sgt Maj Marita.  Fuller was questioned and when he would not reveal how he came to have the oil in his possession, was then made to stand to attention in front of the Guards House from 08:45 to 18:50 (over 10 hours). While there he was the target of every Japanese soldier who passed by,  inviting kicks, spitting, hits with rifle butts, bayonet scabbards and swordstick if he relaxed his position. He was made to urinate and excrete where he stood, only allowed to clean up after his ordeal. John was kicked in the groin and broke his tooth. These punishments for little or no reason were dished out were commonplace.

Alf was at Kobe from July 1943, so was there at Christmas 1943 when A.J. Locke describes the day which was announced to be a day off (Yasume day). Hand made decorations were hung and extra rations were dished out include fried fish for Christmas dinner. Afterwards a concert was arranged by some of the men, the Japanese officers were guests of honour, sitting in the front row while songs were sung including 'God save the King' which the Japanese officers joined in with, but these days of some joy were scarce, the standard day consisted of hard work, meagre rations and beatings from the guards.  

Just after midnight, on 6th Aug 1945, 261 B-29s bombed Kobe,  the Kobe camp was destroyed in an incendiary air raid.  Once again lady luck was on Alf's side as he had been transferred to the Motoyama Camp at Hiroshima in May as  POWs had been redistributed to other camps.  Originally the camps had been set up near coal mines and in the industrial areas such as Keihin (Tokyo and Yokohama) and Hanshin (Osaka and Kobe). Toward the end of the war, the Japanese Army Ministry moved many of the camps in the industrial areas inland or to areas closer to the Sea of Japan because of air raids by the U.S. Air Force and in anticipation of the invasion of Japan. The Motoyama camp supplied the workforce for the local coal mines, the mine was in the nearby hills in Okinoyama, a suburb of Ube. Each person were required to dig 1.5 tons of coal per day, injuries were a common occurrence.  There seems to be various groups of men moved out of Kobe around May time,  for example one party of Australians on the 8th May 1945 were moved to work in the coal mines of Yusui (no 26 Camp Fukuoka).

Air raids by the B-29s were getting more frequent by March of 1945 and on St Patricks day (17th March 1945) Kobe House had been close to the resulting fires. Alf and his fellow POWs were woken by the air raid sirens just before midnight on the 16th, the camp guards rushed off to their air raid shelters, the POWs were left locked inside Kobe House, tonnes of incendiary bombs fell just east of Kobe House and the resulting fires came up to the buildings just across the street from the camp. On the 5th/6th June raids Kobe house was hit directly by incendiary bombs, A,J.Locke describes the roof disintegrating as the bombs penetrated the floors of the various camp buildings spewing fire in all directions, the men made it out and were grouped together on the cricket ground opposite Kobe House. The men plus what supplies they could salvage were marched through the foothills to the nearby Kawasaki POW camp, one sick guy, Jack Schlosser was carried on a door as a make shift stretcher. Conditions were poor at the Kawasaki Camp and they were eventually moved back to the city to the Wakinohama Camp. Just 8 hours later the ‘Little Boy’ atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima.  Kobe was bombed 25 times throughout 1945 leaving 17,000 dead and 530,850 homeless.  In all 65 Japanese cities were targeted for bombing, of the six major cities 51% of Tokyo was destroyed, 56% of Kobe, 26% of Osaka, 31% of Nagoya, 33% of Kawasaki and 44% of Yokohama. 

Below : Photos taken of the bombing of Kobe in  the summer of 1945.
source- http://mansell.com/

JAPAN : HIROSHIMA 8B MOTOYAMA CAMP

NECCESSARY EVIL

Near the end of his captivity Alfred may well have witnessed the detonation of the atomic bombs in Japan.  His particular camp is within 100 Miles of Hiroshima. The United States with agreement of the UK dropped nuclear weapons on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6th and 9th 1945. These two bombings thankfully remain the only use of nuclear weapons for warfare in history. 

Nazi Germany had surrendered on May 8th 1945 but the Japanese were still refusing to accept the Allies demands for unconditional surrender, the U.S. had firebombed many Japanese cities but they still had refused to sign any agreement. To surrender was unthinkable for the Japanese Empire. The plane chosen to drop the first atomic bomb was called Enola Gay, a Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber, named after Enola Gay Tibbets, the mother of the pilot, Colonel Paul Tibbets.  By July 1945, the secret Manhattan Project had produced two types of atomic bombs, "Little Boy", an enriched uranium gun-type fission weapon, and "Fat Man", a plutonium implosion-type nuclear weapon. On August 6th, the U.S. dropped the Little Boy bomb on Hiroshima,  the American President Harry S. Truman warned Japan to "expect a rain of ruin from the air, the like of which has never been seen on this earth."  and called for Japan's complete surrender, they still refused. Three days later, on August 9th,  the Fat Man bomb was dropped on Nagasaki.

 Within the first two to four months of the bombings, the acute effects of the atomic bombings killed 90,000–146,000 people in Hiroshima and 39,000–80,000 in Nagasaki. Roughly half of the deaths in each city occurred on the first day. During the following months, large numbers died from the effect of burns, radiation sickness, and other injuries, compounded by illness and malnutrition. In both cities most of the dead were civilians, although Hiroshima had a sizable military garrison. 

On August 15th, six days after the bombing of Nagasaki and the Soviet Union's declaration of war, Japan finally announced its surrender to the Allies. On September 2nd 1945 it signed the instrument of surrender, effectively ending World War II.

"SENSO OWARI"   (WAR FINISHED)

As Japan realised that it was losing the war the infamous order to annihilate all prisoners in the event of allied invasion, and remove all evidence, was given. Not all Japanese camp commanders adhered to these instructions from Tokyo, but there are numerous examples where they were. At Sandakan, in British North Borneo, 2434 Australian and British POWs were systematically killed, there were only six survivors, all escapees. Luckily for Alf  the camp commanders at the Hiroshima  Motoyama did not follow this particular order. 

Following the Hiroshima bombing on August 6, the Soviet declaration of war and then the Nagasaki bombing on August 9 Japan was finally forced to surrender. The  surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was announced by Emperor Hirohito on the 15th August 1945 and formally signed on the 2nd September 1945, finally ending the Second World War. The Japanese came together to huddle around radios and loudspeakers to listen to the Emperor's address, this was the first time they would have heard his voice. He officially announced to the Japanese people that the Japanese government had accepted the Potsdam Declaration, which demanded the unconditional surrender of the Japanese military, many were crying at the news that the Japanese nation had surrendered and the actual shock of hearing the Emperor's voice. POWs who witnessed the address were left rather confused at what this all meant, at first the only change initially was that they were told they didn't have to go to work.  Over the next few days  camp guards disappeared and in some camps the POWs took over the security of the camps, they were back in the Army. There was a period where food supply started to slow and so when the first relief supply drops for the POW camps in mainland Japan dropped on August 25th.

SUPPLIES

While the American Air Force  dropping supplies at this time was a lifeline  it was also quite dangerous situation in itself with property damaged and several people killed by the heavy drums being dropped from the planes. The POWs had been asked to mark the camp roofs to help focus the supplies.  For some camps it took a while for the news of the  surrender of Japan to filter through and for the most part once it did the POWs remained disciplined and did not try to retaliate against the Japanese,  but where they did  some sites had to be secured by martial  law to stop the men going  out and looking for trouble. For a while they would be still trapped in a foreign country and not knowing how the local population would react it was often better to  keep the men contained within the camps, but for the most part the local population were more wary of the POWs and any retribution they would seek. Eventually the men would be reached by the recovery teams to be processed and begin the long journey back home, this was a massive logistical task. Some men did go on walk abouts with their new found freedom and  where necessary they did go looking for food, particularly in the period from the 15th August until the air drops started to appear.

THE OFFICIAL  SURRENDER

The official Japanese surrender took place in Tokyo Bay on September 2nd, 1945 on board the USS Missouri . Every aspect of the Japanese surrender on board  was carefully choreographed. General Douglas MacArthur was selected to oversee the ceremonies. Alongside  MacArthur stood British General Arthur E. Percival and American General Jonathan M. Wainwright, who had respectively endured the humiliation of presiding over the surrender of Singapore and the Philippines in 1942.

WAKAYAMA

Alf Kirk was eventually evacuated through Wakayama, Honshu on  the 14th/15th of September 1945. Ships leaving here include USS Hopping, USS Cabildo, USS Sanctuary and USS. Consolation. Alf, was on the appropriately named USS. Sanctuary, this would be the first leg on his return to freedom and home. Wakayama is just south of Kobe where Alf spent much of the war. He was probably transferred from his last camp, Hiroshima Motoyama by train to Wakayama. Once the men arrived at the station they boarded open electric trams which took them to the quay and from there they were transported across the bay via the L.S.T's (Landing Ships, Tanks). Once on the beach at the other side they were told to throw everything away and they were then processed. They were given soap and towels to wash via steaming showers and then they were sprayed with D.D.T powder for good measure, they were then rather unceremoniously identified by four large numbers painted on their chests. The men then went from table to table where they were examined by  doctors  and their aides, once finished the U.S.N Quartermaster supplied them with a pair of socks, a pair of navy jeans, a singlet, a shirt and belt. Each man was then given a circular with the ship they would be leaving on such as the USS Sanctuary.

Above Photos : source- http://mansell.com/

USS SANCTUARY

USS Sanctuary (AH-17) was a Haven-class hospital ship, she provided the first leg of Alf Kirk's journey home. She served with the U.S. Navy in World War II and the Vietnam War. Sanctuary was laid down as SS Marine Owl by the Sun Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co, Chester, Pennsylvania and then launched as Sanctuary (AH-17) on  the 15th August 1944. Sanctuary departed Norfolk, U.S. on the 31st July 1945 for the Pacific and she arrived at Pearl Harbour, Hawaii, just four days after the Japanese acceptance of surrender terms. On the 22nd August she continued on to the far east to assist in the repatriation of POWs. Proceeding via the Japanese Island of Okinawa, USS Sanctuary arrived off Wakayama in Task Group 56.5 on the 11th September, it then had to wait as minecraft cleared the channels. On the afternoon of the 13th she started to take on the sick, injured and ambulatory cases. By 03:00am on the 14th, she had exceeded her rated bed capacity of 786. A call was put out to the fleet requesting cots, the request was answered and seven hours later she sailed back south for Naha on the Island of Okinawa with 1,139 British, Australian and Javanese liberated POWs, including Alf Kirk. Because of  a tropical storm ships were held back and delayed back at Wakayama, but USS Sanctuary was already under way and had a bad time being battered by typhoons on route, this must of brought back bad memories of his journey to Korea back in 1942. But despite the storm the USS Sanctuary delivered her passengers safely to army personnel at Naha, Okinawa and by the 21st was underway back to Japan for more POWs from Nagasaki.  Okinawa is known for 'The Battle of Okinawa', which lasted from April to June 1945. Okinawa was considered the gateway to Japan and had to be taken. This was one of the bloodiest battles in the Pacific Theatre. Below you can see Alf on the roster list for USS Sanctuary.

BRING OUR BOYS HOME

After the sudden surrender of the Japanese Empire General MacArthur initially halted the recovery of prisoners until the official surrender had been signed in Tokyo Bay. So during this time preparations were made by Lord Louis Mountbatten (Supreme Allied Commander of the South East Asia Command -SEAC) to find, process and bring our boys home.  He set up various committees, commands and sub-commands to help repatriate the  British and Commonwealth POWs.  Stores and RAPWII teams (Rehabilitation of Allied Prisoners of War and Internees) were created and leaflets were printed to be dropped informing the local populations that the war was over and former prisoners would be recovered as soon as possible. After some initial opposition from Japanese commanders the Japanese largely cooperated with the return of prisoners, most Japanese forces were withdrawn to barracks and holding areas. 

Men who had previously been on the verge of starvation now began to eat well from the various supply drops, too well in some cases which caused complications after their bodies were used to starvation rations. Once rescued by the recovery teams they were also able to gain weight on their long journey home, the journey also allowed them to recover from their various injuries and tropical diseases. Recovery teams including Red Cross personnel educated the men on the events of the war and news of back home, Britain was much changed from when they had left at the start of the war. A large portion of the men when first recovered from the camps were extremely ill, it was commented that the former prisoners arriving from camps looked like living skeletons. Some men were found in such poor condition retribution was dealt out to any Japanese found, such as in Borneo Australian troops could not contain their anger and on the Solomon Islands Japanese soldiers who had surrendered were shot. 

When the men were first processed, they were fed as much coffee and doughnuts as they could manage, medical staff gave them an examination and took details of the health conditions they suffered while incarcerated in the POW camps, the coffee created some issues by causing rapid heart rates. Later they were stripped of the few clothes they had, any processions they wanted to keep were placed in a kit bag which was disinfected with DDT. They were examined for scabies and lice and then cleaned down under high pressure hot and cold showers. The men were then re-clothed and had their kit bags returned along with a Red Cross bag, cigarettes, toilet gear and newspapers. They were treated to ice cream, malted milk and a sandwich bar before being loaded into landing craft and taken to evacuating ships. While the British POWs were repatriated by British-led operations in southern areas across the wider Asian area, the estimated 16,000 British troops on the Japanese mainland were returned by American-led northern areas teams with the help of some British and Red Cross officials. Some men would be flown back home fairly quickly such as the very ill or high ranking officials but most would be repatriated by means of several lengthy sea voyages.  There were seven main camp groups in Japan, Hakodate, Sendai, Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, Hiroshima and Fukuoka. They were then split down into smaller camps,  around a hundred and thirty in all. 

Data Source :  'Planning and Realities : the recovery of Britain's Far East Prisoners of War 1941-1945' - Andrew Chesworth

LONG JOURNEY BACK HOME

Alf left the port of Wakayama on the 14th/15th of September and was first taken to the island of Okinawa on the USS Sanctuary, from there he was transported to the Manilla reception centre via a smaller boat or by plane, the men were flew in groups of 20 in the American B24 Liberator Bombers. Initially service personnel from the 3rd Australian POW Reception Group handled the British and Commonwealth prisoners at Manilla, British personnel were processed and interrogated before being moved on within days. Many men would then travel onto the U.S. or Canada before making it back to Britain. Prisoners arriving in Vancouver or Seattle were mainly routed via Canada, those arriving in San Francisco or Los Angeles were routed via New York, this would be Alf's route home. By September 1945 the Canadian government had accepted responsibility for the administration and movement of the UK prisoners via Canada, a reception centre was set up in Esquimalt in British Columbia for ships travelling from Manilla. On board the ships Red Cross welfare officers tried to answer any questions the men had regarding returning home. When the men returned to Britain officials stopped short of banning them from speaking of their experiences to reporters but they were told not to give to much detail in connection and out of respect of the men who did not return. Also families were told to not ask too many difficult questions on their captivity. Effectively the men were gagged as they were unsure of what details they could talk about and together with their weight gain on their journeys home this effectively covered up the horrors they had endured under the Japanese.  At some points in the journey they received  mail from back home, some contained unwanted news that their girlfriends, fiancée and sometimes their wife's had moved on and met other men, some would have received telegrams that their husbands were dead, so they had then re-married.  On board the ship SS Orbita it was such an issue  'The Jilted Lovers Club' was setup and held regular meetings.

FROM MANILLA TO SAN FRANCISCO TO NEW YORK

Alf's homeward journey continued on the ship Marine Shark, leaving from Manila on the 8th October 1945, bound for San Francisco. It sailed via Hawaii, arriving at San Francisco on 1st November 1945, he was passenger number 1228.  The Marine series of ships were built for troop and cargo transport. Marine series C4 ships were operated by the 'War Shipping Administration' (WSA) through commercial companies acting as agents during World War II, a number became Navy hospital ships.  Marine Shark was completed as a War Shipping Administration troop ship, operating in the Pacific between September 1945 to the  21st February 1946, when she sailed from San Francisco to France for operations in Atlantic. She was sold privately in 1968, renamed Charleston and converted to a container ship, later being scrapped. Alf's onward journey continued after arriving at San Francisco, he travelled via rail-road up the west coast of USA to Seattle. After a 4 day stay they boarded another train that took them over the border into Canada and then 4 and a half days later they arrived in New York. It was perhaps this time spent in North America and the fact he had been liberated by the Americans led to Alf wanting to return and make it his home, also Alf and his fellow soldiers captured must have felt let down by the British hierarchy as they were left to their fate in Malaya and the Island of Singapore.

NEW YORK & THE QUEEN MARY

The RMS Queen Mary is one of the most famous passenger liners in the world and was one of the largest. She spent most of her service life undertaking transatlantic crossings as a Cunard liner and survives today as a floating hotel in California. Queen Mary was Britain’s answer to an influx of new liners on the transatlantic run. Construction was interrupted by the Great Depression, but following the merger of Cunard with White Star Line, work restarted, thanks to a British Government subsidy. Queen Mary became the most beloved liner of the 1930s, a British icon of style and holder of the prestigious Blue Riband, so one of the fastest to ever cross the Atlantic. 

During World War II  she and her sister ship the Queen Elizabeth  were stripped of all their luxury fittings when they were converted to be  troopships to help in the war effort.  As a troopship, the Queen Mary’s conversion allowed for 5,500 troops to be carried, but would often carry 10,000-15,000 as necessary and by September 1946 she had transported  a total of 765,429 military personnel including repatriations and wounded personnel, she was put to work immediately the Americans joined the war and on February 18th 1942 she set sail from Boston to Sydney with 14,000 American troops. The sheer number of personnel the two Cunard  Queens could carry plus the speed of delivery alarmed Adolf Hitler so much be put a bounty on  the two troopships being destroyed, but with their new grey painted hulls,  speed and zig-zagging course set for any destination kept them safe.

The Queen Mary would provide Alf's final leg  back home, sailing home in fine style, he boarded the Queen Mary and set sail  on Friday 13th November from  New York, destined for England and home. On board the Captain welcomed everyone on board particularly the POWs and gave them freedom of the ship except for the bridge and engine room. He even persuaded 120 Dutch soldiers who had been training in America during the war to act at orderlies for the ex prisoners. When a first class passenger had complained that the soldiers were on the first class sun deck the Captain explained over the tannoy they had been given freedom of the ship and after what they have been through, i am sure we cannot do no less. The Queen Mary and Corporal Alfred Kirk arrived in Southampton on the 18th November 1945, they were met by a huge crowd, finally back in England after suffering in the Japanese camps.

ALFRED KIRK

Alfred is noted as officially being liberated on the 2nd of September 1945, the date of the official surrender of the Japanese, in reality he did not leave mainland Japan until the 14th/15th of September. Debbie, Alf's daughter, said that when he was liberated by the Americans he weighed just 78 lbs (5 1/2 stone). He was suffering from malaria, scurvy, rickets and various other tropical ailments, but most importantly he had survived and he was able to return home to England after the war, although he would suffer from bouts of malaria throughout the rest of his life. The very next year he married  Margaret Sullivan at the St Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Grangetown, Yorkshire. The date was the 27th April 1946.

Alfred and Margaret left England for a new life in America at the end of 1946. They set off from Southampton to New York on the 19th December 1946 on the ship John Ericcsson, they were living in Taylor Street, Middleborough at the time and Alfred was working as a  bus conductor. 

They stayed in New York for a number of years and then later moved to Sebastian, Miami. While in the USA Alfred found work with the Airline Industry. This is where he lived for the rest of his days until he passed away on October 30th 2005, at Martin Memorial Medical Center in Sebastian.

Alfred's Obituary stated before retirement, he had worked for the Airways Industry for 25 years. He served in the British Army during World War II and was a Japanese POW. He was a past master with the Masons in New York. Survivors include a daughter, Debbie Trotman of Hollywood; two grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.

Summary

As soon as the Japanese attacked Malaya Singapore was almost certainly doomed.  The Japanese were helped by the politics of the region and the failure of proper defensive plans. inadequate training and poor decisions made by the officers in the heat of battle sealed its fate.  The  plan to defend the naval dockyard with few or no ships and to protect airfields and ships with no aircraft was fatally flawed. The Japanese were quickly  in control of the sea and air after the start of hostilities and the speed and knowledge of fighting in the Jungle simply overran the static defences. The British Commonwealth forces were stuck trying to preserve the bulk of the fighting force to defend Singapore so were always fearful of throwing too many men into any single engagement, they were always having to plan for retreat in every situation, this played into the Japanese hands. 

Around 140,000 western prisoners of war passed through Japanese concentration camps during World War II.  Approximately one in three died of starvation, forced labour, punishment, or illness.  From the Japanese mainland the remains of the Americans and the Dutch were brought back to their home countries after the War. The British, Australians, Canadians, Indians, New Zealanders and other Commonwealth countrymen were interred in the Commonwealth War Cemetery in Yokohama.

Ultimately the British had to forfeit their Empire territory of Singapore to enable them to win the war elsewhere. This unfortunately condemned Alf and thousands of his comrades to misery and the risk of death for more than three and half years and we should not forget their sacrifice.

*Alf's full story is now  available in Book form with even more details - direct from the links below .

"Loyal To The End - Alfred Kirk's POW Story"

Hard Cover
Loyal To The End : Alfred Kirk's POW Story by Mark Andrew Kirk | Blurb Books UK 

Loyal To The End : Alfred Kirk's POW Story by Mark Andrew Kirk | Blurb Books  (USA)

Soft Cover
Loyal To The End : Alfred Kirk's POW Story by Mark Andrew Kirk | Blurb Books UK

Loyal To The End : Alfred Kirk's POW Story by Mark Andrew Kirk | Blurb Books (USA)

*Look out for money off codes from Blurb or sign up for offers !

*if you want to read more about the fall of Singapore and the battle in Malaya you can read Brian Farrell's excellent book 'The Defence and Fall of Singapore'

Note :  COFEPOW is a Registered Charity dedicated to perpetuating the memory of the Far East Prisoners of War.  https://www.cofepow.org.uk/  
They have a memorial and Museum at the National Memorial Arboretum at Croxall Road, Alrewas, Burton-On-Trent DE13 7AR and is well worth a visit.
Alf Kirk's details has been registered with the charity database.

COFEPOW | Children & Families of Far East Prisoners of War 

To see further official documents for Alfred
Go to associated images - Alf Kirk (1916)

Alf's Brother Ray Kirk (RAF)
Go to Ray Kirk (1921)

Go to Kirk Family Tree