I had jaundice for quite some time before being moved to the hospital. I was already recovering when admitted so in three weeks I asked to be sent back to work. This was a request the Japs always granted whether you were fit or near death. The Japanese could care less. All they were interested in was to get as much work out of us as possible.
I was taken before the British Commander and a Japanese doctor. Upon examination they noticed my arm, which I could not straighten. It had been broken during the shelling at Hong Kong and had healed itself without treatment. The Jap made a quick motion of breaking something, meaning that it should be broken and reset. I heard our Commander explain in Japanese and English that there was a growth in the elbow and re breaking the arm would do no good. The Jap then made the motion of whittling and said impatiently, “ Scrape it off. Scrape it off.” The Commander then informed him that if they operated I might possibly lose my arm and that in any case he was certain I would be unable to use the arm for a very long time. This seemed to convince the Jap. He asked if I could now work with the arm. I said, “Yes!” and demonstrated its use. They seemed pleased so I was allowed to return to Camp D3.
Our Commander that day saved my arm and no doubt my life for I believe I was in no shape to endure such a painful operation and a prolonged recovery.
Tom Marsh - Chapter 20 - The Coal Mines of Sendai
We left Camp D3 one afternoon in April 1945. We were under Captain Reid and a Lieutenant Finn, an American Naval Officer, who had accompanied us from Hong Kong. Traveling all night we arrived the following morning at a way station near the coal-mining town of Sendai in northern Honshu Island.
By Japanese standards we were well equipped when we left D3, each man had a uniform, overcoat, shirt, underwear and new boots. Most of this was from our own British Army stores. The boots were from a shipment of Red Cross supplies. In comparison to what had happened to us in the last three years we now considered ourselves well off. Most of us now felt that the war could no last much longer and that we had a fair chance of survival. We had also been issued a little extra food from Red Cross stories on our departure. This bucked us up a lot.
Another thing that helped our morale was the opportunity to learn the latest war news. One of our boys, Charlie Clark, at some risk to himself, got in touch with a Japanese civilian worker in the shipyards. For the price of three hundred yen this worker agreed to go to Tokyo and obtain a current copy of the Nippon Times. This was an enormous price in Japan when one considers that we were paid ten sen a day and there are one hundred sen to a yen. This paper was smuggled back to camp in one of the men’s shoes and was eagerly read as it is printed in English. It told of the collapse of Germany and the death of Hitler. It also told indirectly of the advance of the Americans in the Pacific. We were jubilant! It was the first authentic news we had since our imprisonment and definitely the best.
As soon as the train stopped we detrained into a large siding used for loading coal. This is where we first saw our new camp officials. They had come down to inspect and greet us. Our train guard did not leave until they had escorted us to the camp. Our new camp bosses were a nondescript lot. The Japanese system of running each camp was much the same. First there was a Japanese Officer as Commandant. Usually this officer was unfit for front line service or had money, like Charlie at D3, and desired a safe haven or was the fool of an influential family and was thus put out of the way.
