We Considered Them a Source of Protein

Heroes Remember

We Considered Them a Source of Protein

Transcript

The Japanese used a daikon, which is a white radish, you see it in grocery shops now, they’re a long white radish. You’d see a daikon chopped up in some soya sauce and water and that was soup. In North Point, when the rice came in, we’d get a bad bit of rice at first there, when you’d get served rice, you’d see little, what do you call them, little worms you know, maggots. We used to chuck them out. After a while we considered them a source of protein. Bed bugs, which stink to high heaven if they go across your face, you know. Lice. A lot of the places we couldn’t get a bath. I’ve been three months without a bath. That was in Japan. And it wasn’t a bath. It was when a section would get this big bath tub, maybe half the size of this room, you know, and a fellow would be on one side, the other side and your feet would just touch. And, that was the longest I went without a bath. You try to wash yourself off any way you could, you know. Soap was at a premium too, hard to get it. There were all sorts of diseases. Beriberi, which can take either a wet form, where your, the edema in your legs would swell up and all over your body, or a dry form which is just like putting electric wire to your foot and getting nerve shocks.

Description

Mr. Barton elaborates on nutrition and health issues in the POW camps.

Thomas Barton

Thomas Barton was born in Victoria, British Columbia, on June 8, 1920. His father worked as the Deputy Registrar with the Supreme Court in Victoria. After attending high school, Mr. Barton worked for the Victoria Times, a local newspaper before joining the Underwood Typewriter Company. He enlisted in September, 1939 as a staff clerk. Upon reaching Hong Kong, Mr. Barton was attached to Brigade Headquarters. Despite minimal training, he was compelled by heavy Canadian losses to assume a combat role. After the surrender of Hong Kong, he spent time in North Point and Sham Shui Po, POW camps in the colony, and was then sent to the Japanese labour camps, Sendai being the last. Mr. Barton feels that the Canadian Government was remiss in not recognizing the Veterans of Hong Kong much sooner than it did.

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