Sacrifice, Captivity and Escape, page 15
Our expertise was more limited. We selected the largest of the fish, about the size of a medium herring, and roasted them two or three at a time. We found they were quite edible, although very bony. It took a long time to cook and eat them but that just prolonged the pleasure. The smaller fry we put into the pot and boiled with some salt, which made the bones easy to remove. We then mixed the fish with our rice. Today I would probably think it revolting, but after starving for a week it was like cordon bleu.
Shortly after the fishing expedition the rains came and we spent most of the time huddled round our camp fire. We had had the good sense to stockpile as much wood as we could find in anticipation of spending a long period in the cave. We were also eking out food very carefully as none of us was in a fit state to undertake any sort of journey in the wet conditions. Eddie, Bernard and I had tried to go back to the occupied village hoping to get some supplies, but after two or three hours we turned back.
All of us were exhausted and had found several leeches, swollen with our blood, clinging to us. This was my first experience of leeches. I had been told never to pull a leech off as its jaws can rip your skin and cause bad bleeding. The best way to get rid of them is to apply heat, such as a burning cigarette or a red hot ember of wood. Once when I got back to camp I found three on me, one on each leg and one on my upper arm. I tried the burning ember trick and within a few seconds the filthy things dropped off. Fortunately, they were quite small; some can grow to 3in or 4in.
One morning we again heard voices. Some men were calling out to us but we did not show ourselves. Eddie whispered that he didn’t understand the language but he was sure it wasn’t Japanese. We wondered if they were friend or foe. All went quiet and we hoped they had gone but the voices started again and they appeared to be having a discussion. We went into the small cave behind the rock to try and hide. In a few moments two men appeared at the top of the path to the cave and stood looking around. They saw our fire and scant belongings and knew the cave was occupied. We heard them calling out and soon there were seven of them, the same number as us.
They started to look around. We all thought that they may try to steal what few belongings we had. At a signal from Eddie we decided to show ourselves in a threatening manner. We all stepped out from behind the boulder together. They were surprised to see us. Eddie spoke first and then the two men who had first appeared began to speak. There was lots of talking and sign language and all appeared amicable.
Finally, they left. Eddie explained that they were Burmese men who were going to work in a village he thought was called Chon Dow. He had also heard our cave called the Jam Bhat cave. I cannot guarantee the authenticity of these names or the spelling as I have never been able to find either of them on a map. One other thing he had heard was the mention of Japanese soldiers. This rather scared him as he thought that the men may be going to work for the Japs.
During the rainy season our stream had become a muddy river and the river under the bamboo bridge had become quite a lot bigger. Within a few days of the visit from the Burmese men it was obvious that the worst of the rain was over and we should think about moving on. None of us relished the idea but we knew we could not stay in the cave forever.
Eddie, Taffy and Joe volunteered to go over the hill to the deserted kampong to see if there was any food left. While they were there they would also explore the track on the other side of the kampong, as we had never been further than the village exit. Eddie thought it possible that the Burmese men had come that way. This left Bernard, Ian, Fred and me back at the cave. When the others returned we would go to the occupied village to see if they could help us in any way. Eddie, Taffy and Joe left in the morning with a small amount of food and we settled down to await their return.
Chapter 18
Recaptured
The morning was clear and fine. We stoked up the fire, measured out our small ration of food and cooked breakfast. Suddenly we heard a voice say loudly, ‘Hands up and don’t look around.’ I was so surprised that my first reaction was to do just that, to look around. I was going to do more when the voice said, ‘Keep still, don’t move.’
A Japanese soldier appeared in front of us and the voice said, ‘Hand over your weapons.’ We just sat there petrified, not moving a muscle. The soldier stood there looking at us with his rifle pointed in our direction. Again, the voice said, ‘Hand over your weapons.’ We all looked at each other and, more or less in unison, said, ‘We haven’t got any weapons.’ Our only weapon was the parang and Eddie had taken it with him.
The voice then said, ‘Stand up and walk slowly to the wall of the cave and don’t turn round.’ We did this and stood staring at the cave wall. I don’t remember feeling fear as such, but do remember thinking, ‘I’ve gone through all this and now I’m going to be shot in the back.’ The next thought I had was about my Mum and Dad and Margaret, my wife. I thought, ‘What a way to die, they’ll never know what happened to me.’
We must have stood there for four or five minutes and could hear people moving around, probably looking for weapons. The voice then said, ‘Put your hands down and behind your backs.’ This we were glad to do so as mine were aching badly. I felt someone behind me tying my hands together.
The next order was, ‘Turn around and face me.’ We turned around and saw a Japanese officer complete with sword, a corporal, a quite well-dressed dark-skinned civilian and a group of other villagers, one with a rifle and the others with pointed sticks.
The voice, we found out, came from the civilian, who told us to sit down. He said he was Burmese and an interpreter. We were to speak through him to our Japanese captors. The first question was why were there only four of us when they had been told seven? We were wide awake enough to be careful how we answered. I said the other three men had gone off and left us.
The interpreter said, ‘Ah, you have a disagreement.’
Of course we said, ‘Yes, a very bad one.’ He seemed quite satisfied with our explanation and jabbered away to the officer. He then asked where we came from and we all tried to tell him at the same time who we were and where we had escaped from. We also told him that we had no idea where we were at the time we had escaped. Once again he spoke to the Jap officer and I twice heard something that sounded like Songkrai No. 2 Campo.
After several other questions, I said, ‘One of our men, Jimmy, died.’ He said this to the officer who immediately wanted to see the grave. We took them to where we had buried Jimmy and were surprised. The officer spoke to us in English and said, ‘You English Christians?’ Pointing to the grave, he said, ‘No cross, you make one.’
We then went back to the cave and, once again, were told to sit down. I was finding it very uncomfortable with my hands tied behind my back and asked if it was necessary for us to be tied up as we were unarmed and in no fit state to run away.
The interpreter spoke to the officer for a few moments and he said that if we all promised on our honour not to escape, we could be untied. We agreed instantly. Once we were untied the officer pointed to our pile of wood and said to use some creeper to make a cross for Jimmy’s grave. Fred did that, and then went with the Japanese soldier to place it on the grave. The officer then made us douse the fire and pack up our meagre belongings.
We left the cave, with one of the villagers leading the way and the soldier behind him. We followed, with the interpreter and the officer next and then, in the rear, the other villager. We got back to the main track and expected that we would go back the way we had come, but instead turned in the opposite direction. We guessed we were heading for Burma. We walked for hours. The guards and the villagers set up a cracking pace and if any of us slowed down we got poked with a stick or yelled at. I was on the point of collapse when suddenly we found ourselves in a village. We were shown to a hut and the interpreter said we would spend the night there. We were exhausted and hungry. My sandals were starting to fall to pieces and my feet were very sore. I call it a hut, but it was more of a bamboo open-sided structure, raised about 4ft off the ground on stilts, with a short ladder to enter it.
The officer, interpreter and the others all disappeared and left the Jap soldier sitting on the ground at the foot of the steps to guard us. We settled down on the bamboo floor which was covered with a couple of woven mats, which made it comfortable. It got dark and, although miserable and hungry, we were quickly asleep.
Within a few hours a voice called out, ‘English soldiers wake up.’ We looked out to see several fires had been lit around the village. Standing by the steps were two men, one with a hurricane lamp and the other with a large tray of food. One man put the lamp on the floor and the other pushed the tray of food forward and said in passable English, ‘You have plenty food and good sleep, tomorrow have long way to go.’ We tucked into the food, which was fried garnished rice with small pieces of either pork or chicken in it.
A while later the interpreter came to the hut and asked if we had finished eating. He then reminded us of our promise not to run away and took the lamp. We settled down for the night with no guard. If we had so desired, and been stupid enough, we could have walked back into the jungle.
The next morning we were awake early. The tray was replenished, this time with rice rissoles and patties. Instead of hot drinks we were given cold lime juice which we found refreshing. The officer, the guard and the interpreter came to the hut to collect us. As we walked through the village we could not see any women or children, only men. This time we were only accompanied by our three captors; the villagers were local and stayed at home.
This time we were not so rushed and although my feet were sore I was able to keep going without too much discomfort. Although we stopped for several short breaks, no food was produced. Our captors smoked cigarettes and drank water. The drinking of water bothered us as we still had memories of the cholera epidemic at the camp. We tried to speak to each other several times, but each time the officer would bark out, ‘No speak’.
We kept going and reached another village, similar to the last one, but this time some large mats had been spread out on the ground. We were invited to sit down near a fire and were very glad to do this as the nights had become cold. Very soon, plates of food were brought and although ours was placed separately from the guards we all ate together. After we had finished eating, the guards and interpreter spoke to someone who we thought was the head man and he pointed to a hut on stilts. The interpreter told us to pick up the mats we had been sitting on and lay them out underneath the hut as that was where we would sleep. The officer and soldier would be above us in the hut.
Any orders were relayed to us through the interpreter. The Japanese soldier spoke only to his officer and to our ears most of what he said consisted of ai (yes), and obeying orders. I knew that the officer understood some English. I remembered his remark about us being Christians and making a cross.
Once again, the weather was fine, the track was well-used and we were making good progress. At last the officer gave the order to halt. We sat in a small clearing and the interpreter and the officer exchanged a few words. The officer was very pleased with our behaviour and if we wished we could talk to each other. We started to chat among ourselves and the officer interrupted us by saying, ‘You all English, no Australians?’ This took us by surprise and we said we were all English.
The officer’s curiosity had got the better of him and he asked our ranks, names and before long we were having quite an informal chat. The Japs produced some cigarettes and the soldier lit one and passed it to Ian, motioning that he should pass it around for us all to have a few puffs each.
In that short interlude things had changed. We had a short discussion among ourselves as to how we should address the officer. The interpreter called him ‘Master’, such as, ‘Master says stop,’ or, ‘Master says hurry,’ but we did not agree to that, neither did we agree on ‘Sir’. Finally, we decided that as he was the boss we would ask the interpreter if we could call him ‘Number One’. We explained what we would like to do and he agreed to translate our wishes to the officer. The interpreter launched into a torrent of Japanese and we could hear, ‘Number One’, mentioned several times and, ‘ichi may’ (one man), quite often. It appeared to us that he was making a bit of a hash of his explanation. Finally, the officer spoke to us in English and said, ‘Why you call me Number One?’
We explained, ‘In England anyone who is the top man or in charge, someone who is the best, is always called Number One. We think you are a good man and so we want to call you Number One.’ This was good old-fashioned flattery and we managed to convey it to him without the aid of the interpreter. He was pleased and from then on he became Number One.
The Japanese soldier had no intention of being left out and, pointing to himself, said two or three times, ‘Yamoto’. Of course, we were only too pleased to repeat, ‘Yamoto,’ several times. He was pleased with that. The officer, through the interpreter, told us that had we not been recaptured we would have died or been murdered as we were heading for dangerous hill country. It seemed that even the Jap soldiers were very wary in this part of Thailand.
Night followed day followed night and we stopped at several villages. We were treated well and benefited from the food we were given. My biggest problem was that my footwear was now completely worn out and my feet were in a dreadful state. I had been reduced to tearing my blanket into strips to bind around my feet to give them some protection. But it seemed that after only an hour of walking the strips were reduced to flapping rags.
Eventually we came to the bank of a river and the path skirted around a large rocky bluff. As we approached the rocks it became clear that it was some kind of quarry. There were smashed rocks and there was sharp gravel all over the place. The Japs, the interpreter, Ian and the others all had good or reasonable footwear. I, on the other hand, was practically barefooted but had no option but to cross the rocks with the others. After walking for only a few yards I knew I was in deep trouble; each step was agonizing.
Somehow I made my way across, but tears were streaming down my face. I think the worst part was that none of my companions tried to help me. In fact, Ian was more concerned that I was letting the Japs see me in distress. Finally, I made it to the smooth ground and it felt wonderful. A very short time after that we arrived at a village situated almost on the riverbank. We were allowed to rest and I was able to bathe my badly cut feet.
Later in the day the interpreter visited us to tell us that in the morning we would continue our journey by boat. Number One had also told the interpreter to tell us that he thought we were brave men to have escaped from the railway camp. A lot of men had died there, including some Japanese. One other item of interest was that it was the party of Burmese labourers that had given our position away. There was a reward of $60 per head on any white man found in the jungle. I was sure that the interpreter may have had something to do with them as he kept asking us about the other missing men.
I was delighted to hear that for the time being at least we had finished walking. Apart from the cuts from the stones, my feet festered from debris on the track as it was full of thorns. All I could do was to try and pull them out with my fingers, or just wait until they popped out on their own.
After our usual small ration of rice for breakfast we were escorted to a landing stage where our river transport waited. There were two boats tied up. They were sailing vessels and obviously used for river transport as they were loaded up with goods covered over with mats and tarpaulins. There were two crewmen aboard each boat. The men in the first boat signalled for two of us prisoners to step aboard. It seemed that Bernard and Ian wanted to stay together, so Fred and I boarded the other boat together and Yamoto came on board with us. Bernard, Ian, the interpreter and Number One boarded the other larger boat and we set off down the river.
Our boat was not built to carry passengers but we managed to make ourselves comfortable by sitting in a well in the stern, with our backs resting against some cargo. The crew hoisted the sail and, as the river had a fairly fast flowing current and we were heading downstream, there didn’t seem much for them to do except to steer the boat with a large oar at the stern.
For a while I gazed at the jungle slipping by. I looked across at Yamoto and saw that he had made himself comfortable with his rifle across his bent knees. Fred was sitting beside me and we were both surprised when Yamoto raised his hand in greeting and said, ‘Goodaga, jhato English asta awardi.’ The ‘goodaga’ was the Japanese version of ‘good’, as ‘speedo’ is the Japanese version of ‘hurry’. The rest was in Japanese and meant, ‘Good tomorrow English finish.’ Exactly what he meant by that we couldn’t fathom, but he was obviously pleased about it. We gave him a smile and a wave in return and in about five or ten minutes our guard was asleep.
At about noon I could smell wood smoke drifting back to where we were sitting and not long afterwards one of the crew came and offered each of us a bowl of food, complete with chopsticks. It was fried rice with pork and a chilli sauce. It was a tasty meal and I managed to use the chopsticks. Yamoto carefully picked out the meat and then putting the bowl to his lips proceeded to shovel the rice into his mouth, making animal-like noises while doing so. A short time later we were given some bowls of hot tea. Had we been offered a cold drink I would have refused it, as I noticed that any water was from a bucket that had been hauled out of the river.
Later in the day we came to a landing stage with a single wooden building on the riverbank. Our boat made for the landing stage and tied up. Number One’s boat arrived almost before we had time to disembark. The interpreter told us we would be spending the night in the hut as the river was too fast flowing and dangerous to navigate at night. The crew started to cook the evening meal. It was then that I realized the smoke I had smelt earlier in the day had come from a fireplace on board the boat. The food they served up was almost identical to the midday meal, but was still welcome. After the meal, everyone sat around talking. Ian told us that Number One had been asking them about Jimmy and had somehow got the idea that Jim had been the leader of the party. Ian felt that it was best to let him think that was the case.
