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| - Dark Side of the Sun - George Palmer's Journey From Prince Edward Island to Hong Kong and the Omine Camp in WWII His Story Chronology Capt. Wilson Interview Dr. Gingras Interview |
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| DR. GINGRAS INTERVIEW |
| SECTION 7: DIETARY ASPECTS A. HOW MANY MEALS PER DAY DID YOU HAVE? Three. B. DID YOU HAVE BREAKFAST? Yes. C. IF YES, WHAT WAS SERVED? Rice. D. DID YOU HAVE LUNCH? Yes. We took lunch with us to the mines. E. IF YES, WHAT WAS SERVED? Rice in a tin. F. DID YOU HAVE DINNER? Yes. G. IF YES, WHAT WAS SERVED? Rice - sometimes a little dogfish or squid. H. WHAT WAS THE QUALITY OF THE FOOD? This rice was brown - something like whole wheat. It must have been nutritious, otherwise we would not have lived at all. I. COMMENT ON THE QUANTITY OF THE FOOD? There was never enough to eat. We were always hungry. We never got more than about one cup per meal, three times a day. J. DID YOU HAVE ANY VEGETABLES? Sometimes we had a sort of soup. Sometimes a leek. K. DID YOU HAVE ANY FRUITS? I think we had one orange in the four years. L. DID YOU HAVE ANY MEAT? A couple of times we had whalemeat, but there was so little of it you could hardly taste it. M. WHAT KIND OF FLUID WAS SERVED WITH THE MEALS? None. I quite drinking water. The water wasn't good. I don't think anyone drank very much. We never felt thirsty - maybe it was the rice. N. IF ONE WAS WORKING, DID ONE RECEIVE A BETTER OR MORE GENEROUS DIET? No, we all got the same. Some of the men traded their food for cigarettes between each other. O. IS IT TRUE THAT OFTEN ONE COULD OBSERVE MAGGOTS IN THE RICE? Yes, especially in Hong Kong. You almost had to go to a dark corner to eat it so you wouldn't see. But there was never enough food and you had to eat every bite or you wouldn't live. If you missed just one meal it would knock you out. P. DID YOU EVER RECEIVE RED CROSS FOOD PARCELS? Yes. Q. IF YES, HOW MANY DURING INCARCERATION? One Red Cross parcel in four years. R. DID YOUR FAMILY SEND YOU FOOD PARCELS? Yes. S. IF YES, DID YOU RECEIVE THEM? One parcel from my family in four years - my wife sent a sweater. T. IS IT YOUR FEELING THAT FOOD PARCELS ORIGINATING FROM THE RED CROSS OR FAMILIES WERE RECEIVED BUT NOT DELIVERED BY THE JAPANESE AUTHORITIES? Yes. U. IF YES, WHAT ARE YOUR REASONS FOR THE AFFIRMATION? I was told by different people - including the Japanese - that there were warehouses full of our parcels. V. DID YOU LOSE A GREAT DEAL OF WEIGHT DURING YOUR INCARCERATION? Yes. W. WHAT WAS YOUR WEIGHT UPON ENLISTMENT? 165 lbs. X. WHAT WAS YOUR WEIGHT WHEN LIBERATED? A little over 100 lbs. But one of the men I had to bury had been a 140 or 150 lbs and when he died he was just 49 lbs. Just the bones of him. Y. WOULD YOU STATE THAT THE ABOVE GENERALLY APPLIED TO ALL YOUR FELLOW PRISONERS? Yes. |