Fleas, Bugs and Body Lice

Heroes Remember

Fleas, Bugs and Body Lice

Transcript

Now we’re now at a place called Garoet - G-A-R-O-E-T. Now where we were in Garoet, no living quarters, no anything and we’re caught here living off of the land as best we could, pineapples, lots of pineapples and lots of bananas, but over and above that we had nothing to live on. So we stayed at Garoet for maybe a week and the Japanese came in after they landed on both sides of the Island, they cut the Java right in two and they came in and they said, “you fellows can go up in the mountains now and grow your own vegetables” and that was only a skylark see. We went on the mountains alright. We didn’t grow any vegetables. We were only giving them time to get their army in and their transports. After they got their transports in they came up and took us down to Batavia and they put us in an old cattle bin, all rock floors and they put us in that and they said you’re gonna stay here now until we get a chance to move ya somewhere else, and we stayed on that. Slept on hard rock, big cobble stones for about a week and the only bit of food we got is what they pushed to us under the fence. Talk about animals! My dear man. You couldn’t believe it, then they said “We’d like for you, everybody to write a letter home to their loved ones.” Anyhow we were tickled to death to write a letter. We knew they didn’t go anywhere. We wrote them anyway but the letters never ever left from Java, they never left there. They were trying to get some information about us, who we were and what we were and so on and so forth. Anyhow we stayed there for a little while then they took us into Batavia Proper. We did nothing in Batavia anymore than sat around huts all day, lots of bed bugs, lots of fleas, lots of body lice. We sat around there all day living on a little bit of rice and a few bananas. After we were there for a little while, they decided that some of us were going to move to Japan and someone said to me not long ago “Why did you go to Japan?” Slave labour certainly because we going to Japan they could release their own personnel, put us in their jobs and release the other fellow to the army. Now somebody asked me that, “Obvious”, I said, “the question is they were looking for slave labour.” So we stayed at Batavia for a little while and this night I was called down to go down and load a boat and I remember the boat quite well, the Manchester City. We had to go down and load some tucks. Now this came from Britain now. She got through to Batavia. Unloading the trucks and a fellow said to me, he said, “Boy you’re not going to stay here are ya?’ One of the crew. I said, “Well I got no choice. I’m in 36 Torpedo Squadron and I’m not going to leave here unless my squadron leaves here. I’m not going to desert the squadron.” “I tell you what to do,” he said, “you come aboard” he says, “and I’ll stow you away because we’re going to Australia,” and the Manchester City did get to Australia safe and sound but I stayed with my squadron. I wouldn’t go.

Description

Mr. Ford speaks about his move from Garoet to Batavia and the severe conditions of fleas, bed bugs and body lice. With a chance to stow away onboard a ship to Australia, Mr. Ford refuses to leave his squadron.

John Ford

Mr. John Ford was born March 25, 1919 in Port-aux-Basques, Newfoundland. Both parents were previously married and Mr. Ford was raised in a family of 14 children, him being one of the younger children. As a child he attended school at the United School Academy graduating in Grade 11. After school he worked with the Newfoundland railway as a machinist for three years. In May of 1940, Mr. Ford decided to join the Royal Air Force. In August he went overseas onboard the Nova Scotia and landed in Liverpool, England. During his service, he was captured as a POW in Japan experiencing horrible conditions. He has dedicated much of his time to the Legion and volunteered as a board member for over 13 years. Mr. Ford is an active participant in visiting local schools and educating the youth of what life was really like as a solider and as a prisoner of war while serving with the Royal Air Force.

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