Scant Rations and Hard Labour

Heroes Remember

Scant Rations and Hard Labour

Transcript

Interviewer: After a number of weeks the Canadians were moved to Sham Shui Po prison camp. Do you remember what the, were the conditions any different there at Sham Shui Po? Well, that's when the, the work party started. They had to work on the KaiTak airport and it was miserable work, it was miserable work. We were supposed to be mixing concrete and laying it down and doing all with, it was just pick and shovel work, pick and shovel work, pick and shovel. Interviewer: Were you men still fed the same amount of food? We were supposed to get a bun, supposed to get a bun, but then again the flour had, had been exposed, there was, had been insects in the flour, insects in the flour, and it was a miserable poor diet. It was a pitiful poor diet. It was, it was. Interviewer: So on that diet of three bowls of rice, you men were expected to do heavy manual labour out in the Kai Tak airport. Yes we were, we were. Absolutely, we were. Interviewer: There were diseases in the camp, was there dysentery? All kinds of dysentery, all kinds of dysentery. And the worst of all, of course, was the diphtheria. Interviewer: Tell me about the diphtheria epidemic. Well, there's something gathers like a, a thick phlegm in the throat, it gathers in the throat and, and you, in the advanced cases it, it's so thick in there that you, the men couldn't swallow, they couldn't swallow. And they didn't last long then, they didn't last long. A terribly thick, sticky, rubbery phlegm that seemed impossible to, mind you, I did not, by a miracle, I did not get diphtheria. But I came awful close to it, and I'll tell you why. I came in from, from Kai Tak airport late one night and Robadeau said, "Do you know that there was a little bit meat came in?" And he said, "I chewed on mine and I then thought I'd better save the rest of it for you." And I said, "Did you have this in your mouth?" "Well," he said, "I couldn't chew it without putting it in my mouth." "Well," I said, "you know, I'm so tired I don't even feel like eating." And the next morning Robadeau, was down with the, with the diphtheria. So I came that close to getting diphtheria. And Robadeau died. Interviewer: Were there many men that died from diphtheria? Oh yes, oh yes. They were, they were fenced off from the, from the rest of the camp and, with barbed wire, and, and there was a guard there to see that you didn't visit them and, yeah. Interviewer: What did the Japanese authorities do to remedy this epidemic? Well after quite a number had died, then after a number of the POWs had died, then, they finally got in some vaccine, and were vaccinated then against diphtheria.

Description

Mr. Forsyth recalls the labour they were expected to perform while on meagre rations at Sham Shui Po POW camp, and the disease and ailments which resulted.

Thomas Smith Forsyth

Mr. Forsyth was born on a farm just outside of Pipestone, Manitoba, on April 26, 1910. He worked on the farm and attended school until grade 11, joining the army the following year when war was declared. After being accepted into the Winnipeg Grenadiers, Mr. Forsyth was briefly stationed in Jamaica guarding German POWs before being posted to Hong Kong. Captured in the Battle of Hong Kong, Mr. Forsyth was interned as a POW in North Point and Sham Shui Po prison camps, before being sent to Niigata Camp 5B in Japan as a slave labourer. After years of heavy labour, physical abuse, and terrible living conditions, Mr. Forsyth was liberated from 5B when Japan surrendered. He returned to his family in Manitoba soon thereafter.

Meta Data

Medium:: Video
Owner:: Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:: 04:18
Person Interviewed:: Thomas Smith Forsyth
War, Conflict or Mission:: Second World War
Location/Theatre:: Hong Kong
Branch:: Army
Units/Ship:: Winnipeg Grenadiers
Occupation:: Garrison Military Police

Language selection

Scant Rations and Hard Labour

Heroes Remember