On 27 April 1945, Clarence Henry Shearing, known to all as Harry, went to Paddington, NSW and signed up with the Australian Military Forces, it was 20 days after his 18th birthday and he was thus eligible to serve his country. His occupation was listed as a lorry driver and his identifying marks as an appendix scar and another scar on his right leg. On 1 May 1945 he was sent to the HQ Recruitment Training Centre at Ingleburn and was then based in Moorebank waiting to be deployed.
It must have been quite a shock to the system to suddenly be in a military environment at the age of 18 and thinking about going overseas for the first time. Harry had only ever travelled from Hobart to Sydney as a toddler, so heading off into battle would have been an exciting but also scary prospect. This could be why he went AWOL (from 17th to 22nd August 1945). He may have popped back home – who knows. But when he returned to barracks he was fined £1 plus 5 days’ pay and confined to barracks for 7 days. The military take a dim view of recruits that nick off without permission.
Harry was soon shipped up to Bathurst to complete final training, however, there was another slight deviation, when Harry again went AWOL this time for 7 weeks from 4 December 1945 until 29 January 1946. When he returned to barracks he was arrested and held for Court Martial on 4 February at Paddington in front of Colonel L E Vail. He pleaded not guilty, but the trial found him guilty and fined him £7 which was a huge sum in those days. His statement in the trial is reproduced below and gives an insight into how he felt about his family and what his responsibilities were:
"I am NX206837 Pte Shearing, Clarence Henry, 31 Garrison Battalion. My age is 18 years. My father died about two months before I was born. My mother lives at Green Valley, Liverpool. She brought up the family. I have two brothers older than me. One works in Sydney and the other one is usually with my mother. My mother has a small place for marketing gardening. I heard that she was ill, and at the time I think one brother had left the farm prior to her getting ill and the other brother had gone down to Sydney to do some temporary work to get some extra money for about 3 weeks."
"While working in Sydney he got some disease of the eyes that put him out of action for a while. When my mother became ill it was a question of carrying on this market gardening. Also she had to be looked after. She had gall bladder trouble I think. When I found out my mother was ill I made application for leave. She had been in hospital at Parramatta, and before she came out of hospital I tried to get leave; that was when I got the telegram to say she was ill. Then I was allocated to the Garrison Battalion. Shortly after I was allocated to the Garr Bn I had some weekend leave and when I went home I found my mother had to be looked after and my brother was not able to do it on account of his illness. What I did was to practically put the place in order – ploughing, planting etc and at the same time I looked after my mother. Once I got things in order and my mother improved a bit I surrendered. My mother is between 60 and 70 years of age."
"I only came into the Army in April 1945 and my only offence was when I took a couple of days without leave somewhere about VP Day."
"My mother married three times. She is a widow now. Her name is Mrs Sarah Davies. George Lloyd is the name of my step-brother; he works in the City. He cannot do any heavy work." (Author’s note: Medical certificates from Sarah Davies were provided as exhibits).
Cross-Examination:
Q. Before your second brother went to Sydney for temporary work was your mother well?
A. Not really well.
Q. Who was giving her a hand then?
A. My brother. I have 2 brothers, one at home and one in Sydney.
Q. When did the second one go to Sydney?
A. When there was nothing to do on the farm and mother was able to look after herself.
Q. When she was well enough she could carry on without anyone?
A. Yes
Q. What was your idea about coming back to the Army?
A. I wanted to go back and get a discharge.
Q. At the time you went away what was your intention of coming back?
A. I had to come back.
Q. What exactly was your intention?
A. I could not tell you that.
Q. Did you intend to come back at some specific date?
A. When I was finished at home. I would not come back until I finished.
Q. You were going to stay away until your mother could look after herself?
A. Yes
Q. Can she look after herself now?
A. Yes
Q. The doctor’s certificate of 3 Feb (Ex 1) says she was pretty bad?
A. I have not been in touch with anyone since I came back. I have not made inquiries. If I wrote her a letter it would not have got up to her till tomorrow.
Q. Does she know where you are?
A. As far as I know she does.
Q. What post are you from?
A. Moorebank.
Q. How far from your home?
A. About 7 miles.
Q. Is one brother not sufficient to do the work?
A. No.
Harry’s loyalty to his family was amazing. His Mum was ill so he left his barracks and worked on the farm, cared for Sarah until she was well and then handed himself in knowing he would be in some serious trouble. The medical certificates note she had cardiac issues as well as anaemia, low blood pressure and deemed unfit for work, especially farming.
It’s interesting to read the cross-examination as I feel the prosecutor was setting the scene of a young man, whose Mum was very ill and he wanted to make everything right and help out until she was well enough to start work again. The family did not have much money so needed the income. His sentence and fine could have been much worse and I think they showed leniency considering the circumstances.
With Japan’s surrender in 1945 there was a need for an occupation force in Japan and on 29 March 1946 Harry was assigned to the British Commonwealth Occupation Force formed to occupy the country, keep the peace and repatriate the Japanese. So he and 1500 of his Digger mates embarked on the Steam Ship Pachaug Victory that was docked at No 1 Wharf Glebe Island bound for Kure Japan. The SS Pachaug Victory was originally a cargo ship and was modified to be a troop carrier. It was owned by the US War Shipping Administration and built by the Bethlehem Fairfield Shipyard in Baltimore, Maryland. Launched on 13 October 1944, it was 455 ft long and travelled at a top speed of 15 knots. It operated in the Pacific Theatre before it was transferred to the Ministry of Transport, London which is why in 1946 it was transporting Australian troops to Japan. By 1947 it was back in the US having been laid up by the US Maritime Commission in the James River and ended up being scrapped in Philadelphia in 1974. So not the most luxurious of transport for the boys.
Bob Parker was one of the Diggers on that ship and his book, Bat On! Chaps describes some of the trip over to Japan. Bob spent some time on galley duty and reinforced that this was no easy job as the pots they had to cook the porridge and stew in were large enough for men to climb inside. Makes sense you would need big pots, as they were feeding 1500 young and hungry men. Bob also mentions some fairly serious weather being encountered near the Philippines that made him think they may not make it to Japan, but aside from that it seemed a fairly uneventful voyage notwithstanding a thriving trade in cigarettes and saccharine tablets. The latter may have been a reflection on the quality of their porridge.
Another soldier on that voyage was Rowan Waddy from A Company and ex Z Special Force. His account of the voyage was a little more sobering. Rowan describes the Pachaug Victory being manned by American officers with disgusting food “all steamed and cooked by Spanish speaking Mexicans – in fact the whole ship was filthy”. (He obviously missed out on Bob’s porridge and stew). There was a practice while eating in the mess area where each time the ship rolled, the men would all lift their feet off the deck when someone chanted ‘Hup’ to avoid the filthy swishing kitchen swill on the floor.
Boxing was a popular pastime on board with a boxing ring being placed on deck. Elimination bouts would be held across all weights to compete for the coveted “Ships Champion” title. Bookmakers of course made a killing accepting bets on the alleged favourites.
Bob Parker mentioned some rough weather near The Philippines and he was not joking. They sailed into a typhoon. The ship encountered ten metre waves that caused the bow to continually crash down into the sea making the ship shudder violently. The result of these huge seas was the bow getting submerged leaving the propellers up in clear air which only added to the shuddering of the whole vessel. Many on board knew that these mass-produced ships had, in heavy seas, split in two and to say they were apprehensive may be an understatement. They later learned that during that typhoon, eight large steel hull plates from the bow back to the bridge, had buckled.
During the typhoon, many troops had tried to take refuge in their bunks, which were in tiers of three. It was almost impossible to remain in the bunks, especially if you were located near the bow. Many of the men were thrown out of their bunks resulting in 30 serious casualties, consisting mainly of broken legs, arms and cracked skulls. There were also many broken fingers and toes – quite a rough ride.
When the seas had calmed, they noticed a number of Japanese and Allied mines floating in the ocean, torn loose from their moorings by the sheer force of the typhoon. The Captain twice stopped the ship to allow the crew to try and explode these with their US.30 carbines, but no luck. It’s no wonder Harry never wanted to go on a cruise.
In 2001, Antony Buckingham was conducting research for his website Australian Military Police and he interviewed Harry about his experience with BCOF. Antony has very kindly sent through the notes from their correspondence and the best way to describe part of Harry’s experience when he was with the Military Police is in his own words:
I joined the Australian Army in April 1945 and completed Recruit Training then waited for a posting to a unit. The war ended and I was posted to 2BOD (2 Base Ordnance Depot) at Moorebank, NSW. My home was near here and I was pleased that I could see my family and friends when on leave.
In October 1945, volunteers were asked for service with BCOF (British Commonwealth Occupation Force) Japan. I applied and was accepted and sent to Bathurst Camp in NSW. By January 1946 there were approximately 5000 troops present, mostly soldiers similar to myself. As I was a driver prior to joining up, I was looking for a Unit that wanted drivers.
Shortly after I noticed a GRO (General Routine Order) posted on the notice board requesting persons to be "drivers in the Military Police". I applied for a position and was accepted. I was informed that I would be on escort duties. I was happy about this and guessed that I would be driving a truck or driving a vehicle escorting other vehicles.
My first job as an MP "driver" was on board the USS Pachaug Victory bound for Japan in 1946 where I had to guard the bridge, crew quarters and engine room I quickly learned that "escort duties" had a wide scope in the MPs.
I was given no training for the job and never did a Basic MP course or similar and was there as a Provost NCO.
When we arrived in Japan, we were formed up on the wharf and asked which unit we wished to join. I joined with the 23 Ind Pro Pl (23rd Independent Provost Platoon). Other units to choose from were 24 Ind Pro Pl, 34 Brigade HQ Base Pro.
As stated earlier "I was given no training for the job and never did a Basic MP course or similar and was there as a Provost NCO". To the best of my knowledge, during my time as a Provost NCO in Japan there was no formal training school or instruction for being a Provost NCO/CPL.
I quickly settled into life with 23 Ind Pro PL and was first billeted in an old 2 storey wooden warehouse which had no windows, no doors, no heating. It had plenty of snow inside and was freezing. Six weeks later I was shifted to the 2nd floor of Kure House which was warmer. Eight weeks later I was shifted to permanent quarters at Eta Jima Naval Academy. (Eta Jima Naval Academy was the Japanese Navy Officer Training School. Built in 1938 it was considered to be one of the world’s most modern military training schools and produced most of the wartime Japanese Naval Officers).
Our uniform consisted of a Summer Issue uniform comprising Khaki Drill trousers and shirt, brown boots, white gaiters, white webbing belt and straps. We had a slouch hat with puggaree, black armband with red letters "MP", brass buckles and hat badges with brass Australia insignia. The Winter uniform was identical with the addition of Service Dress and Tie.
To carry out patrols and other duties as requested we drove a mix of Jeeps, Dodge 15 CWT trucks, motorcycles and for maritime patrols of docks and wharves we had a 30 foot launch manned with 2 Bren guns and 1 Owen gun.
Our patrols comprised a mix of the following personnel, depending on who was available: Australian Provost NCO, British RMP, Indian MP, New Zealand MP, RAN Shore Patrol and RAAF Police. As there was no fraternisation allowed, it was difficult to police as the troops were always looking for some entertainment. Patrols were made of out of bounds areas which included wharves, stores, goods yards, camp perimeters.
There was a lot of convoy work and posting signs where there was outbreak of disease (mainly cholera and typhoid). There was plenty of black market trading going on. The Military Police and Intelligence worked together to catch the bosses and their workers. The Provost Courts would then charge the criminals and they would be escorted to jail.
A typical day’s work would start at 0600 hrs - a driver and two others would go to the labour pick-up depot and see to the allocation of workers to units. Then we would drive around the roads and villages, railway yards and local markets to see if any troops were in the area. If so, they were asked why they were there and if they had passes. If not, they would be escorted back to their own camp and charged.
Trucks were searched at random - it was marvellous where they could hide things. Night-time was very quiet as there was nowhere to go and nothing to see. No leave was granted on weekdays. Sunday leave was spent sightseeing to such places as Hiroshima, the Naval Base at Eta Jima, Mia Jima and movies at Kure House. Another duty was to check the last ferry to Eta Jima and if the nurses had missed the last ferry, then they would be escorted back to Kure House - nurses had special quarters.
In Kure City we shared the Police HQ with the Japanese - it was half Japanese and half our troops. One night we picked up a civilian for possession of stolen goods and he wouldn’t talk. The SGT asked me to take him to the Japanese Police and so I escorted him down the hall and explained he would not tell us anything. They responded that they would fix the problem and proceeded to tie him to a concrete pillar and tipped petrol around him and set it alight. It frightened the Christ out of me, but he did talk.
A more serious side to our duties related to civilians who were shot by guards or Police for stealing and black market trading. They would bring the bodies back to the Police Station and put them out in the back yard placing a sheet of tin over them and they would stay there until the relatives came to pick them up. This could take weeks and the stench would be unbelievable.
Prostitution and the spread of disease was hard to clean up, so the Military Police set up two brothels, one at Kaitaichi and one on Hiro Hill. They were working well and helped cut the spread of disease down to zero. Unfortunately the one at Kaitaichi was burnt down on Christmas Eve by the Padres with the help of the YMCA. The one on Hiro Hill continued to work well until a British Admiral kicked up a huge fuss and it had to be closed down.
We were also on duty when the Provost Court was in session to guard the Judges. After sentencing and when the Court closed, we would put the prisoners, men and women, into the Dodge 15 CWT truck (bird cage) and escort them to jail. To get them there we would have to drive about 4 miles down the main road to Hiroshima and then pull over to the side of the road. As the road had been almost destroyed by the bombing and the torrential rain we would have to go the last 2 miles on foot. Before proceeding we would handcuff the prisoners and then tie a rope around each of their necks, which would join them together. One of us would lead and the other would take the rear. If it looked as though the prisoners would cause any trouble, we would, after a couple of hundred yards into the hills, stop them, draw our revolvers and fire half a dozen shots into the bank or a tree and try to explain that if they caused any trouble they would be shot as our initial orders were to shoot to kill.
I left the Provost Corp in July 1946 after refusing to obey an illegal order and was transferred."
What that illegal order was is unknown and Antony Buckingham has no further information on that either. Harry’s military record shows that on 30 August 1946 he went from the Provost Corp to the 34th Infantry Battalion and then on 2 September 1946 he was transferred to the 66th Australian Infantry Battalion. There is, however, an entry for 3 November 1946 noting an offence of neglecting to obey a Routine Order resulting in a fine of £5.
It can’t be understated how horrific the conditions were in Japan during this time. The troops had to deal with the aftermath of two nuclear explosions, the subsequent contamination of the area, the widespread destruction, the repatriation of Japanese troops – some of which did not know the war had ended, disease, snow and freezing conditions during the Winter with inadequate accommodation. Keep in mind that many of these troops were like Harry, 18 or 19 years of age. Imagine being that age and seeing first-hand people who had been exposed to the nuclear blasts and their horrific injuries, especially to the children, this would have had a huge impact on them all.
When Harry arrived in Kure, it was devastated. It had been razed by Allied aircraft, mostly B29 bombers, based in Okinawa and also from US aircraft carrier bombardment. Kure was a major military base and thus a prime target for the Allies. Kure at the time had a few concrete buildings that managed to survive but everything else was reduced to matchwood shacks along tiny streets. The majority of the burnt out buildings were now twisted iron shells. There were no shops at all and trading was of a few goods placed on some boards.
This meant that accommodation for the troops was quite basic with some of them in tents until better accommodation could be secured. Others were more ‘fortunate’ and could utilise some of the Japanese barracks in Kaitaichi. These huts were draughty, with no windows or heating and very little lighting. At least it was somewhere to rest until new barracks at Hiro could be built.
The impact of the occupation on the local population also needs to be considered. People had been living in Kure for generations. The military base there was off limits to civilians but aside from that their life had been quiet and normal until the war which delivered incendiary raids, bombings and havoc. Through propaganda they were made to fear the arrival of the occupation forces. It was reported that when news came of their impending arrival, half the population, especially the women, ran to hide in the surrounding hills. They feared the ‘barbarians’ would kill the men and rape the women.
Hunger and desperation drove these same people to come out of hiding and venture into the army camps to search bins for food, risking being caught by the victorious barbarians. It did not take too long for the local Japanese people to understand that they were not in danger and they returned to settle down to life under the Occupation Forces.
Harry, like most Diggers, kept his thoughts to himself of his time in service, but occasionally a story would emerge. There’s nothing an Aussie loves better than sticking it up the Yanks and Harry and his mates were no exception. They took great pleasure in sneaking up on the encampments of the Yanks and letting rip with a few grenades, just for the pure joy of watching these Americans run willy-nilly out of their tents firing guns wildly – pure chaos caused by a bunch of Aussies laughing hysterically.
Then came 4.00am on 21 December 1946, the date one of the largest earthquakes for almost 100 years hit the Nankai Trough. This quake was felt across the islands of Honshu and Shikoku and was estimated to be between 8.1 and 8.4 on the Richter scale, causing a 6 metre tsunami that washed away 1500 houses with the quake itself collapsing around 11,600 houses. Harry remembered the huge shaking and deafening noise very early in the morning and everyone running outside to see what was going on. The gasworks and power station that were behind the barracks caught fire and the parade ground was formed into huge undulating waves by the power of the quake. Many fires broke out in the area and large cracks and damage appeared in what were supposedly earthquake-proof buildings. A 50 metre long fissure that was over one metre wide appeared in the Kure dock area.
Immediately following the earthquake, BCOF troops rushed food, clothing and medical supplies across the area and the Japanese people were very thankful for this aid when they most needed it. The troops were also involved in search and rescue, digging up survivors and the deceased from collapsed buildings and mud slides that followed the disaster.
Battalions in Japan got the opportunity about twice per year to be rotated into Tokyo for duty. This would have been welcome relief from the conditions around Hiroshima and Kure. The duties they had to perform were more ceremonial, consisting mainly of guard duty outside the Imperial Palace, protecting the Australian Embassy and attending the odd social activity.
Harry also loved to reminisce about the burning of the brothel, as mentioned in his interview cited previously. This all started with a rise in the rates of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), in those days referred to as venereal disease, amongst the troops to some alarming levels. Although fraternisation was not allowed, it was obvious that it was going on. Of course, it is very hard to stop when you have a large contingent of young, healthy soldiers who had been exposed to horrific scenes over quite some time with very little opportunity to have any interactions with women. Add to this many Japanese women who were living in dreadful conditions, scraping for each meal, finding it incredibly difficult to feed their families, thus were quite willing to offer their services to these men. What other result would you expect?
Many programs were tried to get the infection rates down and these focused on education on the types and implications of STDs but they were unsuccessful. A solution was agreed between the Prophylactic Ablution Centres (that had been involved in treating these infections), the field ambulance, medical officers and the military police – and this was to open a brothel. Nope, you did not make a mistake reading that. The Army was opening a brothel. To continue in the words of Dr Roger Dunlop, Medical Officer, BCOF, Kure:
“After research we came up with Kaitaichi as the best location. Two of us visited the Mama San and put the proposition to her, and she was very enthusiastic about the idea. We eventually reached an agreement that we would examine the girls weekly and do various tests, all at army expense. She had thirty-one girls on call, and hired another thirty-one, and so began our share in the oldest occupation in the world.
Matters went extremely well. One of us would go down once a week, have tea with Mama San, and examine the girls and discuss any problems that arose. In the first six months we had 11,000 soldiers through, with only one case of urethritis, which was not a venereal disease. Our great success achieved a certain notoriety among the army personnel stationed in the Hiroshima prefecture, and on Christmas Eve the Young Men’s Christian Association and the Roman Catholic padre descended upon our brothel and set it alight. Being a wooden structure, it very rapidly went up in smoke.
This was a great pity, because our solution contributed very largely to bringing the venereal disease epidemic under control, even though it was in direct contradiction of the SCAP (Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers) directives. It was interesting to note that on that cold Christmas Eve a large number of staff cars and red hats were evident in the vicinity. It was a pity, also, because we were thinking of going into business thirty miles away in Kure, the headquarters of BCOF, and because – basically – it was a civilised way of dealing with an ineradicable problem.”
Harry thought it was rather ridiculous that the brothel was burnt down because it had such a good impact on both the women and the men. He just shook his head at the stupidity.
Aside from his military duties, Harry played football for his battalion. This would have been rugby league as he had some skin in the game playing for the Mounties Club near Liverpool. He also had the opportunity to travel a little around Japan when given leave. His official duties had him based initially in Kure, Eta Jima and then nearby in Hiro. He saw duty there and also in Hiroshima, Tokyo and Nagasaki. When not on duty, he managed to visit Tokyo, Nagasaki, Asakusa, Arashiyama and the island of Miyajima and his photos show the contrasts between the devastation of where he was based and the incredible beauty of areas untouched by war.
It is incredibly hard to portray the horror these troops faced while serving in Japan. Larry Lacey served in BCOF and wrote BCOF An Unofficial History where he tells the daily stories of his mates without fear or favour. To get some idea of what life was like for these men (and boys) it is worth quoting some of Larry’s work as any story is always better from the horse’s mouth. Following are direct excerpts from Larry’s book selected to show what troops had to deal with and that even sometimes, despite the horror, they could have a laugh:
To describe BCOF is to describe the unbelievable as it was the first Australian armed force to occupy a defeated enemy homeland…..The troops themselves were the best disciplined Australians to serve overseas. The ratio of Provosts to troops saw to that. Give the Provosts credit, they were usually fair.
And in Japan? It was like being on another planet. A different countryside was expected. Nothing prepared the troops for cities, towns and villages destroyed by incendiary raids. The reality of total destruction made everyone quiet and reflective on how civilians must have suffered. The revengeful soon quieted under this pall of desolation.
Everyone visited Hiroshima – once….It was downright depressing, as was the look of dull hopelessness on the face of people, particularly the women.
The biggest improvement (regarding the living conditions for the troops – author) was the employment of house girls by BCOF. These women were often war widows who took control of their charges completely. Many a young man, believing he had left parental control, found his house girl a surrogate nagging mother. Language may have been a problem, but her tone was the same as the one used at home for misbehaviour.
The Japanese women had a tough war. They wanted peace and forced their husbands to accept Japan’s defeat, or else.
Hiroshima Visits – Col (Mike) Connors:
Visits to Hiroshima were frequent and although by now I was no stranger to destruction caused by bombing, I think the approaches to this city made the greatest and most lasting impact of my journeys. I do not ever recollect visiting that flattened city without feeling a sense of awe at the havoc and death caused in one brief moment on that fateful morning in August ’45.
Added to this awesome feeling was the knowledge so many thousands of people just ceased to exist and of thousands more who survived, many must have wished they had not. Some injuries to survivors were indescribable and for many, survival was to prove short term, because of the largely unknown effects of radiation.
The Waifs:
Like most who went to Japan I found the plight of children the hardest to accept. I was at BritCom Base for a while and it was there I saw, for the first time, the cold reality of the debris of war.
Orphaned children there (and there were thousands – author) had no-one, I repeat, no-one to look after them and nowhere to live. They would stand outside the mess huts three times a day irrespective of the weather to collect leftovers from off our plates.
The children were dressed in dirty, filthy rags which, more often than not, were far too large for them and they had the sleeves and cuffs rolled up. They were unwashed, unkempt and they all seemed to be suffering from head colds, with yellow pussy muck running from nose to mouth. To go to the mess was, for me, the test of a strong stomach. To see the children like that wherever I visited Japan was bad enough. To me it seemed our waifs had the worst possible infections.
Apart from one incident, I have only respect and admiration for the Australians. They always made sure there was a part of their meal left untouched to give to the kids. It was done by men as naturally as breathing. I don’t remember feeling charitable or noble or, for that matter, anyone ever discussing the matter. It was just ‘the done thing’. We fed our pets at home and so it was with the kids.
They were more pets than anything else. Mascots in the form of animals showed more emotions than those children. They showed less expression than our old house cow back home, who would at least kick the milk bucket over when she reckoned she had been milked dry.
We had blokes with us who were good linguists. Any attempt to talk to the children was met with the same blank stare. The general consensus was the children were shell shocked and terrified to the stage of muteness from bombing and strafing that occurred at Kure and its environs. As the centre of the Japanese Navy, Kure had always been a prime target, so the kid’s condition was at least accepted by us as fact not fancy.
There were two I remember vividly. One looked about ten and the other about six. They stood together always. They held hands and I cannot remember them ever releasing their grip. They never spoke. They seemed mute and uncomprehending to everything except food. They were dressed in rags and were always there waiting for our scraps which they took away with them, to eat, sell, or whatever.
One day they were missing, along with several others known to us. Enquiries revealed they had been collected by authorities and placed in an orphanage. We were sad, in a happy sort of way, they would now be looked after by adults, rather than living such a feral existence. Others took their place.
Within a month our two waifs were back. It seemed right they should be there. We saved them extra food and smiled at them. Tiny hunted up some chocolate and handed it to them with great ceremony. They stood there hand in hand accepting all given to them with the same blank expression they wore all the time I knew them. They ate the chocolate but again there was no glimmer of expression.
I have always wondered what happened to these children after we left and when they became the responsibility of the Japanese Government.
In a way I’m still haunted, even now, by the mental picture of these kids, as are so many other BCOF veterans.
Harry often mentioned the terrible conditions the kids were in and the above gives a small insight into how orphaned kids were trying to survive in a world where the local population had no capacity to deal with them. The helplessness the troops must have felt for not being able to do anything, aside from providing scraps (lifesaving though they may have been) was something that stayed with these men forever. It certainly stayed with Harry as he could not stand to see anyone or any animal begging for food, his view was no living being should have to beg to eat and reading the above account it is easy to see why.
On a brighter note, Harry also mentioned the famous Honey Carts. Now don’t get too carried away with scenes of fields, flowers and fragrant nectar, no, no, no. These Honey Carts carried ‘honey’ of a different kind – back to Larry:
One of the least pleasant objects in Japan would have to be the ‘honey carts’. The fragrance was one not forgotten easily by those of us who experienced the pungent smell of the East for the first time. For the uninitiated, the honey cart was the means of removing the less pleasant remains of human waste.
The waste itself was carried in wooden barrels about a foot in diameter and a foot and a half tall and stacked four high. There was room for the driver on the four-wheeled cart usually pulled by an underfed and overworked horse. They were commonly seen carrying their cargo from villages to rice paddies for fertiliser. Normally they were avoided like the plague.
However, Blue (as Harry’s nickname was Blue and he had driving as one of his duties in Japan during part of his service, I can’t be sure whether this anecdote refers to him or not as ‘Blue’ remains unidentified, but it was his nickname at the time. Then again anyone with a bit of ginger in their complexion was known as Blue, so unlikely it was Harry, but it sounds just like him) discovered what was to him, a great game. He had come up behind one of the honey carts and switched off the ignition of his thirty hundredweight truck. As he drew alongside he switched on again and the engine gave an almighty backfire. The horse bolted, spilling the honey cart’s cargo over the road.
It was summer and the air was hot, humid and putrid. Blue had the passenger front window down on the bonnet to get a good draught through the cabin, in an effort to cool off on his trip from Hiro to Kure, when he spotted a target dead ahead. He lined up and switched off as he came up behind the cart. At the right moment he switched on and the truck backfired. Unfortunately for him, his judgment failed slightly and the truck collected the cart’s back wheel and contents of the barrels burst backwards over and into the cab. Blue was saturated.
Blue certainly got pay back for his game and was apparently avoided by all and sundry for quite some time afterwards due to his new fragrant nature.
Citing passages of Larry’s work is intended to give life and colour to the experiences of BCOF troops. No-one else can better describe these scenes than those who were there. Larry makes some poignant remarks at the beginning of his book, and as an aside, if you can get hold of a copy I highly recommend reading it. Larry notes two things that sum up what happened to BCOF personnel over many decades following their return and still to this day:
To all the spouses of all BCOF veterans, I would like to quote Bill Coffman who sums up their patience with the ‘browned off’ veterans who suffer The BCOF Syndrome: Only two really exciting things happened in my life, “You was the first, and BCOF the second”.
We (BCOF) served our penance in Japan and came back to take our place in civilian life. None were prepared for the attacks on our service in Japan. Most felt aggrieved. In all, BCOF served Australia far better than Australia served BCOF.
They sure did Larry. BCOFs motto was We Serve By Example and the dignity, compassion and devotion these men constantly demonstrated not only in Japan, but over the years following the war, reflected their commitment to this motto.
During his time in Japan Harry was involved in an accident while driving a jeep. This occurred in May 1946 while he was patrolling in Hiro. While driving on a very damaged road along a riverbank in heavy rain, Harry tried to manoeuvre the jeep around some pot holes when the road gave way. He was thrown out of the jeep and down the riverbank where the jeep rolled over the top of him, pinning him to the ground. He was admitted to the British General Hospital in Kure where he was treated for a skull laceration and bruised ribs.
His treatment included a number of x-rays and interestingly he was not allowed any visitors for the first 3-4 days. He was pretty sick. Harry remained in hospital for 11 days which as he thought “was a long time for a cut in the head”. His military record shows his admission to hospital and the treatment of his skull laceration but does not mention any other injuries.
Aside from dealing with the day-to-day conditions in occupied Japan and the ongoing symptoms from his accident, there was another issue. He had received no news from home for over 12 months. While his mates were getting letters and parcels from Australia, he received nothing. This caused him quite a lot of stress and anxiety as, looking back to when he went AWOL to help his mum when she could not manage the farm, he already knew that she was not in good health so not receiving any news at all from home was a great worry for him.
He was so concerned that he approached the local Red Cross to contact their Sydney office to see if someone could go out to this home and see what was going on. He eventually received a response and the news was not good. Whatever that news was is unknown but it was bad enough for him to see his Commanding Officer, a Major Phillips, and request leave to return home. This was granted, so the news must have been pretty bad as the Major approved his request and he was advised he would be on the next ship home. This ship was the Kanimbla and he set sail for home on 14 September. This may have been a blessing in disguise as if he had stayed, he may have been transferred to Korea with many of the BCOF troops once they had finished operations in Japan. One amusing anecdote from this voyage was discovered by an academic, Professor Robin Gerster who had asked a veteran what was his best memory of Japan? The veteran replied: “Its disappearing coastline seen from the deck of the HMAS Kanimbla as that vessel headed south to Australia in September 1947”.
Harry recalled a few things from that journey: the first was waking up early one morning and seeing lots of islands and thinking they were back in Japan which gave him a “hell of a fright” as he put it. The journey then continued on until they were approaching Sydney Harbour and of course the excitement must have been huge after having been away so long. Harry, as with many of the guys on board, had a few souvenirs from their time away. For Harry this included a set of pistols with mother-of-pearl handles and a samurai sword. Word got around the ship that they were going to be searched by Customs prior to arrival in Sydney and any ‘contraband’ needed to be got rid of and fast. Regrettably all of those treasures were thrown overboard. The search never happened and for any keen divers out there, a treasure awaits somewhere not too far from the entrance to Sydney Harbour. Harry was mightily annoyed at that.
It was 4 October 1947 and Harry had spent 555 days on overseas service for his country, was excited at the prospect of being home and keen to sort out whatever issues were there. After more than 18 months away from home, no one was there to meet him. So he did what he always did and sorted out what he had to with the Army and was demobilised on 22 October.
Like most veterans, Harry rarely spoke about his experience in the War. He left these discussions when the BCOF veterans would get together after forming the BCOF Association. These men and women lobbied hard for recognition of their service and to be awarded service medals. They stuck together for decades after getting back from Japan.
Harry passed away on 4 May 2013 with stage 4 stomach cancer, the third time cancer had attacked him. Like many BCOF veterans, cancer was an issue and whether this was a result of their radiation exposure has been debated for decades but the strength with which they fought this disease reflected the determination and grit with which they served their country.
