Hi Sharon,
Thanks for the photo, but no, my dad was not in the photo.
Dad was in Toyama when the war ended, and was one of the lucky ones to be on
one of the first planes home.
This is what I have written as part of Dad's history.
Ron had been moved to Showa and then Toyama where he was when the war came
to an end. Like most prison camps there was no announcement that the war
had ended. When the POWs realised that there had been a complete change
of guards, and no faces amongst the Japs that they recognised, and then
when one of the POW's decided to walk out of the gate and was not
challenged, the men realised that the war was over.
My Dad never talked about very much about the war, however I do remember him
saying that when it came time for the POWs to be returned to Australia there
was only a certain number of planes available. Dad was amongst the first
of the men listed to be flown home, only the number of planes expected were
suddenly reduced and so they had to draw lots as to who would be on the
first planes home. Dad thought well that was it, he wouldn't be amongst
them, and when his name was drawn out he felt as though he had won the
lottery, (the only time in his life that he ever won anything). Luckily,
and I thank God, that Dad was not on one of the planes that did not make it
home.
Regards,
Betty
-----Original Message-----
From: Sharon. McBride
Sent: Monday, March 27, 2017 4:39 PM
To: dps-chat@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [dps-chat] Re: 2/4MG Battalion
Hi Betty,
I couldn't get the link to work to look at the 2/4 page. Attached is a photo
taken at the end of the war in Japan of some of the J Force survivors before
they were returned home. My husbands uncle Mick McBride is first on left
front row. He was sent to Japan after surviving the Burma Railway and was at
the Ohama 9B coal mine. Also attached is a list of names of those in the
photo, some 2/4 men's names aren't known, perhaps your dad may be one of
them? Another of my husbands uncles was in the 2/4 but unfortunately was
sent to Sandakan and was one of the two and a half thousand young men
murdered there. Lest we forget.
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Genealogy: Tracing yourself back to better people
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