L/Cpl Bruce Cadoret, Royal Rifles of Canada
Click
Ω
to listen to recording
Bruce Cadoret had been a regular soldier in the Royal Rifles of
Canada for a year before being sent to Hong Kong together with
the Winnipeg Grenadiers to reinforce the Hong Kong garrison.
They arrived on 16th November 1941. Despite fierce
resistance, the battle for Hong Kong was relatively brief and he
was taken prisoner after being wounded. The brutality of the
Japanese towards prisoners became immediately obvious
Ω.
This was reinforced as their lives were threatened.
Saved by
the formal surrender they went into captivity in Stanley Camp
before returning to a ruined Shamshuipo for the period 8th
March to 18th April 1942. Dangerous trips outside the
camp supplemented the meagre diet but the Japanese showed no
mercy to would be escapees
Ω.
Medical facilities were practically non existent and disease was
responsible for many prisoner deaths
Ω.
They were transferred from the camp in Kowloon by sea to Omine
in Japan with their every move being tightly controlled
Ω.
After arriving in Japan they had to learn how to work
underground under difficult and dangerous conditions in a coal
mine
Ω.
Although they were paid for their labour, it was largely a token
gesture
Ω.
Food rations were always meagre and sometimes supplemented by
the addition of snakes killed by the POWs
Ω.The guards were only used to organise transfer to and from the
mine, about ½ mile from the camp, after which civilian foremen
took over
Ω.
The normal working period was 14 days followed by one day off.
However, even the day off was employed on camp tasks such as
cleaning out the bathrooms (Ed note: latrines), or other works.
Every day, in camp, there was P.T., with no exceptions
Ω.
As clothing deteriorated it became difficult to stay clean
Ω
and even though some Red Cross parcels arrived they
were never fully distributed. Anyone suspected of stealing was
very harshly dealt with
Ω.
Some written contact with family was allowed but only under
conditions of strict censorship
Ω.
As always the ingenuity of the POWs provided entertainment to
break up the monotony of camp life
Ω.
Although some guards were reasonable, the presence of a Canadian
Japanese guard served to underline deeper tensions
Ω.
Even among the POWs, occasional breaches of camp norms caused
great upset
Ω.
The first indication that something major had happened was the
sudden stoppage of work – the news of the end of the war was
finally confirmed when a Chinese POW translated a newspaper and
the camp guards disappeared one night
Ω.
The US air-dropped supplies and although the clothes were
initially incomplete, they represented a sense of real luxury
for the prisoners
Ω.
Inevitably, the more enterprising immediately took the
opportunity to supplement their diet with things they could
scrounge from the surrounding area
Ω.
Liberation became a reality with the distribution of boat
tickets for Vancouver, then medical checks upon arrival in
Vancouver and finally the journey home after being in Japanese
camps from 27th December 1941 to 23rd
September 1945
Ω.
Recorded June 2006
Listen to another
recording
|
