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(gentle music)
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(wind whooshing)
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(seagulls gawking)
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- This is an heirloom
really, the Japanese keep.
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It's a very old sword.
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00:00:51,050 --> 00:00:55,780
And when the Japanese die,
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the very wealthy ones,
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and they have their ashes.
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And they put their ashes
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in these little grooves at the back.
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We have about seven or
eight grooves there.
12
00:01:06,770 --> 00:01:10,053
So I feel I've seven or
eight Japs in the house.
13
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So that makes me nervous at times.
14
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- I was always curious about
it because it was in the house.
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It was always in the house
16
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and we knew there was
something special about it
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because dad had got it in the war.
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- So we would say to him,
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"Oh, Dad, tell us about
the war and what happened?"
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And he would say, "Well,
21
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"maybe when you're a little bit older."
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Or, "I'll tell you another time, maybe."
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And we knew not to probe.
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And then later on I asked mum,
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"Did you ever ask dad
about the experiences
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"when you first met him?"
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And she said, "No,
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"because really he'd been through so much.
29
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"He used to have terrible nightmares
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"and why bring all that back?"
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1979, he had brain surgery,
which they think he got a tumor
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as a result of all the
beatings on his head.
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And he was told to use his mind and think,
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and just go into his memory.
35
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(anxious music)
(guns firing)
36
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So he did write it all out longhand.
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And then the book came out.
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(gentle music)
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- [Interviewer] What would you say
40
00:02:16,460 --> 00:02:18,900
was the single characteristic
that enabled you
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to survive all of that period?
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- [Aidan] Well, it's a combination really
43
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of my Irish Catholic
heritage, my family background
44
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and lots and lots of luck.
45
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(gentle music)
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(waves crashing)
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- Well, my father's
love growing up in Beara
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and it was his roots.
49
00:03:02,130 --> 00:03:05,200
So even though he traveled the
world and was away so long,
50
00:03:05,200 --> 00:03:06,700
his heart was still back here.
51
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This was it.
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It was where his grandfather
had started the business
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and where he had grown up.
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And, you know, home is
so important, isn't it?
55
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And we saw that all the way
through all our travels.
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This was the place to get back to.
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This was the Mecca for him.
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He just adored Beara, in
fact he was one of 10.
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Yep, five girls and five boys.
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00:03:37,870 --> 00:03:40,510
But it was his memories of growing up
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and his happiness of
learning to swim and been
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so able in the water, it
was most important to him.
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- He was sent away to boarding school
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and he went to Clongowes Wood.
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So he had a good education
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and his interest
obviously lay in medicine.
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So you went to UCC and
he studied medicine.
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00:04:05,860 --> 00:04:08,460
I say part time, studying medicine really,
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considering all the other
activities like the swimming
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00:04:11,210 --> 00:04:15,350
and the polo and the general
sort of student life really,
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00:04:15,350 --> 00:04:18,550
that was a big part of his thing as well.
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He graduated in 1938 and at that time
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it was pretty difficult
to get jobs in Ireland.
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So he went to the UK.
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(train chugging)
(train whistle blowing)
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And again jobs weren't particularly easy
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to get there either.
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- [Aidan] I ran into
two more friends of mine
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who are qualified, it was two Cork chaps,
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00:04:42,580 --> 00:04:47,020
and we had a boisterous evening
around the bars of London,
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finished up in the nightclub sometime,
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the early hours of the morning
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and we had, by that time
decided we're all going
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to join one of the services.
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(upbeat music)
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And the Navy and the Air Force
were the choice between us.
87
00:05:04,360 --> 00:05:07,990
and we eventually got one
of the hostesses to toss up
88
00:05:07,990 --> 00:05:10,853
and it came down on the
side of the Air Force.
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00:05:19,450 --> 00:05:20,340
The following morning,
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three very hung-over
young doctors arrived down
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at the airman street to make inquiries.
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They were all so glad to see
us that we were interviewed,
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medically examined and accepted
94
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and we were out in time
to have the first drink
95
00:05:34,620 --> 00:05:37,132
in the pubs opening at half past 11.
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(patrons chattering)
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- As 1939, obviously war was eminent.
98
00:05:44,750 --> 00:05:48,070
But I suppose being young
and foolish, if you like,
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they thought it was a big adventure.
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(happy music)
101
00:06:01,170 --> 00:06:03,643
- I see someone that's kind
of interested in my dad,
102
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I go over and tell them, well,
103
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that's my dad and very proud to tell them.
104
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And then if they're really interested,
105
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I bring down the sword and the metals.
106
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It's a weapon, no matter what, isn't it?
107
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But it's such an important
part of my dad's life
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that it's like part of our family.
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They actually used to test its sharpness
110
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by hold it under a cherry blossom tree,
111
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shake the tree and as the petals fell,
112
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they would be cut in half.
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(plane engine roaring)
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(bomb exploding)
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(tank engine rumbling)
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- Then the war started
and he was sent to France.
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And I suppose at that time,
he thought that that was
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as far as this war
adventure was going to go.
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(anxious music)
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- [Aidan] We got to Boulogne
and we weren't very popular
121
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because most of our
chaps were technicians,
122
00:06:51,530 --> 00:06:54,670
fitters, rigors, and
weren't soldier material
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00:06:54,670 --> 00:06:57,340
as such and so we were much
use to the Boulogne people
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for defending it.
125
00:07:08,083 --> 00:07:09,789
(plane engines roaring)
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00:07:09,789 --> 00:07:11,430
(bomb exploding)
127
00:07:11,430 --> 00:07:14,690
The German started to dive-bomb us
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so we had to scrap our lorries and walk.
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(machine gun firing)
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00:07:21,961 --> 00:07:23,150
(bombs exploding)
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And we eventually got to
the outskirts of Dunkirk
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where we were formed into a unit
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and they were marched down the beach.
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And there, your name was
put into a sort of a lotto,
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if you put it a high
number, you'll be told
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to go back to the beach and wait.
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If you get a low number you have to stay.
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(gentle music)
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(bombs exploding)
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(fires blazing)
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We had two bad days and
three horrible nights there.
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00:08:01,390 --> 00:08:02,820
You see we were completely defenseless
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00:08:02,820 --> 00:08:07,230
and we were using just what
we could dig into the sand,
144
00:08:07,230 --> 00:08:09,963
sort of fox holes to protect
ourself from the bombing.
145
00:08:10,810 --> 00:08:15,153
And a direct hit would've,
of course killed us.
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The whole thing was a dreadful experience
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in that some men were
crying, some praying,
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some singing, some completely silent,
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and everybody terrified.
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00:08:33,812 --> 00:08:37,458
(terrifying music)
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(military music)
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00:09:03,310 --> 00:09:04,143
It was very difficult, you see,
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because there's a very shallow beach.
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You had to wade out, really
up to your chest very often.
155
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And you were pulled onto this boat
156
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and then brought out to the bigger boat.
157
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(sorrowful music)
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And quite a number of chaps wounded.
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Some of them with bullet
wounds and not shell wounds.
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We opened up, what I'd be the
dining room of the ferry thing
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and we started operating and removing.
162
00:09:44,350 --> 00:09:46,900
And the first thing removed
were two or three bullets.
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They were British bullets.
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So we can only assume
that they were fired at
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by some of our own chaps on our own chaps.
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(waves gently crashing)
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- This was a photo album,
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which I came across after
many months of searching.
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Not that I knew what I was searching for.
170
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But my mother had always said
171
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that somewhere in her possession,
172
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there was actually a photograph of the man
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that had given my father the sword.
174
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Then I came across this album,
175
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which just contains so much amazing stuff.
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This was actually the moment
177
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when it all started to make sense.
178
00:10:55,300 --> 00:10:59,950
That I came across this
photograph of a Japanese Officer
179
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in his uniform with the sword,
180
00:11:03,300 --> 00:11:05,253
with some inscriptions on the back.
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We had it translated and it says,
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"To my friend, Dr. MacCarthy.
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00:11:10,847 --> 00:11:15,247
"I give you this as a
token of my friendship
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00:11:15,247 --> 00:11:19,880
"and at the outbreak of peace."
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So I thought that has to
it, that has to be the man.
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00:11:24,420 --> 00:11:25,670
I don't know if it's a long shot,
187
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but really just hoping that somebody,
188
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somewhere in Japan knows
something to do with that man
189
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or his family really.
190
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I mean it's 68 years later now
191
00:11:37,030 --> 00:11:41,750
so whether that's too long
for families to have moved,
192
00:11:41,750 --> 00:11:45,170
to have died out to
really not be interested,
193
00:11:45,170 --> 00:11:46,003
is the other point.
194
00:11:46,003 --> 00:11:47,690
So it's kind of a long shot,
195
00:11:47,690 --> 00:11:50,010
but we have by having the photograph,
196
00:11:50,010 --> 00:11:55,010
we have at least got a face
to sort of tell people about.
197
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(airplane engine roaring)
198
00:11:59,093 --> 00:12:01,676
(upbeat music)
199
00:12:09,640 --> 00:12:10,473
Tokyo.
200
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And if possible could I
get an aisle seats, please?
201
00:12:14,490 --> 00:12:15,540
Thank you, very much.
202
00:12:32,190 --> 00:12:33,920
I'm fascinated to find the Kusuno's
203
00:12:33,920 --> 00:12:37,660
to see what the relationship
between the two was
204
00:12:37,660 --> 00:12:39,970
and to find why he would have given my dad
205
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such a special gift.
206
00:12:45,070 --> 00:12:48,180
My dad never resented the
Japanese after the war
207
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so it would be fascinating to know
208
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what the bond was
between these two people.
209
00:12:56,710 --> 00:13:00,620
He tried to protect us from all
the horrors and the stories,
210
00:13:00,620 --> 00:13:02,770
but I think in the back
of every child's mind,
211
00:13:02,770 --> 00:13:04,620
they want to find out a bit more
212
00:13:04,620 --> 00:13:07,220
about what actually happened
in their parents lives.
213
00:13:23,950 --> 00:13:26,617
(bell jingling)
214
00:13:37,106 --> 00:13:41,023
(speaking in foreign language)
215
00:14:15,684 --> 00:14:20,684
(anxious music)
(plane engine roaring)
216
00:14:24,910 --> 00:14:27,830
- [Nicola] Dad had a very
kind of active time in France
217
00:14:27,830 --> 00:14:31,490
and then when he returned
from France in 1941,
218
00:14:31,490 --> 00:14:34,180
he was in RF Honington, which was a sort
219
00:14:34,180 --> 00:14:36,330
of bomber command station.
220
00:14:36,330 --> 00:14:38,830
And he was the senior
medical officer on the camp.
221
00:14:41,330 --> 00:14:46,220
- And one day a plane came
in returning from a mission
222
00:14:46,220 --> 00:14:49,433
but the undercarriage didn't come down.
223
00:14:52,190 --> 00:14:53,610
- [Aidan] The night Sergeant pilot
224
00:14:53,610 --> 00:14:56,000
was his first job as captain.
225
00:14:56,000 --> 00:14:58,550
He got back from raiding Germany
226
00:14:58,550 --> 00:15:02,080
and he had his red green
lights showing on his dashboard
227
00:15:02,080 --> 00:15:03,840
which meant that his
undercarriage was down
228
00:15:03,840 --> 00:15:06,090
but didn't know whether
it was locked or not.
229
00:15:07,010 --> 00:15:10,020
This chap was told to
will come in a bit faster
230
00:15:10,020 --> 00:15:11,943
in case his under carriage collapsed.
231
00:15:13,180 --> 00:15:15,427
He came in over the perimeter fence.
232
00:15:15,427 --> 00:15:17,890
(plane engine roaring)
233
00:15:17,890 --> 00:15:22,463
Touchdown and realized
that he was going too fast.
234
00:15:24,070 --> 00:15:28,510
And he was going for
takeoff again to keep going
235
00:15:28,510 --> 00:15:31,280
and his wingtips cut
the top of a bomb-dump,
236
00:15:31,280 --> 00:15:33,663
which was situated at
the end of this runway.
237
00:15:34,780 --> 00:15:36,609
And he crashed straight into it.
238
00:15:36,609 --> 00:15:39,442
(plane exploding)
239
00:15:40,460 --> 00:15:43,293
(worrisome music)
240
00:15:50,960 --> 00:15:54,180
So we got down the
runway with an ambulance
241
00:15:54,180 --> 00:15:55,670
and a fire tender.
242
00:15:55,670 --> 00:15:57,027
The others all pulled us out,
243
00:15:57,027 --> 00:15:59,273
the bomb scattered around, took off.
244
00:16:01,430 --> 00:16:03,990
I don't blame them because
we are really terrified
245
00:16:03,990 --> 00:16:06,550
I don't think you can really think.
246
00:16:06,550 --> 00:16:10,870
And the driver of the fire
tender, myself jumped in
247
00:16:10,870 --> 00:16:13,810
and we found the pilot there
and three of the others alive
248
00:16:13,810 --> 00:16:16,593
so we pulled those out and got them clear.
249
00:16:20,800 --> 00:16:22,740
- He won the George Medal
for pulling five men out
250
00:16:22,740 --> 00:16:23,963
of the burning plane.
251
00:16:25,290 --> 00:16:28,090
But he did say that, he
just act in the moment
252
00:16:28,090 --> 00:16:29,090
and you go and do it.
253
00:16:29,090 --> 00:16:30,090
And when it's life, you know,
254
00:16:30,090 --> 00:16:31,700
that's something that a doctor does,
255
00:16:31,700 --> 00:16:33,650
but maybe it's just a natural instinct.
256
00:16:34,618 --> 00:16:37,201
(heroic music)
257
00:17:07,600 --> 00:17:10,253
- There's two newspapers
helping us on our search.
258
00:17:11,980 --> 00:17:13,411
Oh, crumbs, there he is.
259
00:17:13,411 --> 00:17:15,911
(Nicola laughing)
260
00:17:15,911 --> 00:17:17,390
That's the one.
261
00:17:17,390 --> 00:17:21,727
So that's my father,
and that's Mr. Kusuno,
262
00:17:21,727 --> 00:17:23,677
that's the gentleman we're looking for.
263
00:17:25,247 --> 00:17:28,480
For 68 years these people heard nothing
264
00:17:28,480 --> 00:17:29,840
and then suddenly to get a picture
265
00:17:29,840 --> 00:17:33,240
of your grandfather in the paper, I mean,
266
00:17:33,240 --> 00:17:36,580
they're gonna get a
serious shock, I'd imagine.
267
00:17:36,580 --> 00:17:38,730
Hopefully a pleasant
shock and hopefully one
268
00:17:38,730 --> 00:17:40,950
that they'll respond to positively.
269
00:17:40,950 --> 00:17:44,440
But I mean, yeah, could you
imagine just opening the paper
270
00:17:44,440 --> 00:17:45,730
and seeing your grandfather there
271
00:17:45,730 --> 00:17:48,480
with somebody searching for
him, after all these years.
272
00:17:48,480 --> 00:17:51,560
I mean, I hope he doesn't
give them too much
273
00:17:51,560 --> 00:17:53,079
of a shock, really.
274
00:17:53,079 --> 00:17:55,746
(anxious music)
275
00:17:59,567 --> 00:18:02,710
- [Aidan] An urgent call
came from help Singapore.
276
00:18:02,710 --> 00:18:03,717
So we set off.
277
00:18:10,920 --> 00:18:13,840
We were carrying the best
part of a squadron and a half
278
00:18:13,840 --> 00:18:16,073
of Spitfires and Hurricanes in the hulls.
279
00:18:19,000 --> 00:18:21,439
Got to Singapore, but it was too late.
280
00:18:21,439 --> 00:18:23,939
(guns firing)
281
00:18:30,755 --> 00:18:34,033
(canon firing)
282
00:18:34,033 --> 00:18:36,616
(fire blazing)
283
00:19:06,977 --> 00:19:08,785
- [Nicola] And that's when the next part
284
00:19:08,785 --> 00:19:11,030
of his sort of adventure
if you like started.
285
00:19:11,030 --> 00:19:13,660
So he went to Java, then
they were sent to Sumatra
286
00:19:13,660 --> 00:19:15,270
and then back to Java again.
287
00:19:15,270 --> 00:19:18,337
Because the Japanese were kind
of closing in on everywhere.
288
00:19:18,337 --> 00:19:21,004
(anxious music)
289
00:19:24,293 --> 00:19:26,150
- [Aidan] When we got to Java,
it was a complete shambles
290
00:19:26,150 --> 00:19:27,430
because the Japs were beginning
291
00:19:27,430 --> 00:19:29,080
to do landings all right in Java.
292
00:19:30,159 --> 00:19:33,492
(soldiers feet bashing)
293
00:19:38,439 --> 00:19:41,380
(cannon booming)
294
00:19:41,380 --> 00:19:43,797
(gun firing)
295
00:19:44,983 --> 00:19:47,900
(soldiers yelling)
296
00:19:54,045 --> 00:19:56,878
(sorrowful music)
297
00:19:57,802 --> 00:20:00,469
(flies buzzing)
298
00:20:18,596 --> 00:20:21,200
- Then Java was captured by the Japanese
299
00:20:21,200 --> 00:20:25,560
and it's in the culture
that you lose face,
300
00:20:25,560 --> 00:20:28,740
if you are captured and
that you're just despicable
301
00:20:28,740 --> 00:20:30,913
and should be treated thus.
302
00:20:34,040 --> 00:20:36,810
He was in a camp in
Java for over two years.
303
00:20:36,810 --> 00:20:39,177
He was treated very badly.
304
00:20:39,177 --> 00:20:41,010
(troubled music)
305
00:20:41,010 --> 00:20:42,420
- [Aidan] They shouted at us,
306
00:20:42,420 --> 00:20:43,980
slapped you and they kicked you.
307
00:20:43,980 --> 00:20:46,600
And they shot and beheaded several people
308
00:20:46,600 --> 00:20:49,220
for not reacting quickly to the thing.
309
00:20:49,220 --> 00:20:53,412
And if you attain any thought
of making an escape or...
310
00:20:53,412 --> 00:20:55,615
(gun firing)
311
00:20:55,615 --> 00:20:58,263
It was terror, terror.
312
00:20:58,263 --> 00:21:00,930
(anxious music)
313
00:21:22,650 --> 00:21:24,090
- They were obsessed about food
314
00:21:24,090 --> 00:21:25,850
because their rations were just so meager,
315
00:21:25,850 --> 00:21:27,120
they had nothing.
316
00:21:27,120 --> 00:21:29,720
They used to just almost
hallucinate about food,
317
00:21:29,720 --> 00:21:32,470
but just try and think of meals
318
00:21:32,470 --> 00:21:35,390
and there's one, I think it
was a bit of trading done
319
00:21:35,390 --> 00:21:39,320
and they got a tin and he
thought it was hot dogs
320
00:21:39,320 --> 00:21:40,650
which he kept for Christmas Day
321
00:21:40,650 --> 00:21:43,130
and it was buried in the corner of a camp.
322
00:21:43,130 --> 00:21:45,080
So on Christmas Day,
when he opened the tin,
323
00:21:45,080 --> 00:21:46,530
it was asparagus.
324
00:21:46,530 --> 00:21:49,173
And actually he never
touched asparagus ever again.
325
00:21:50,970 --> 00:21:53,060
- [Aidan] We'd creamed off the dirty rice,
326
00:21:53,060 --> 00:21:57,790
we stained it and the
maggots, we then collected
327
00:21:57,790 --> 00:22:01,580
and we boiled those and turned
those into a maggot soup,
328
00:22:01,580 --> 00:22:03,603
which we give to the sick.
329
00:22:05,130 --> 00:22:09,270
And fortunately we got a hold
of some live yeast cultures
330
00:22:10,120 --> 00:22:13,130
and the chemists, especially
the Dutch chemist amongst us
331
00:22:13,130 --> 00:22:13,963
soon got to work.
332
00:22:13,963 --> 00:22:17,460
Well, we're adding that as a yeast product
333
00:22:17,460 --> 00:22:20,913
to our rice pap, especially to the sick.
334
00:22:23,100 --> 00:22:25,593
Most of them were living on reserves.
335
00:22:28,230 --> 00:22:31,810
- This was a water bottle
that was cut in half.
336
00:22:31,810 --> 00:22:34,543
That's what my dad would've got his rice
337
00:22:34,543 --> 00:22:37,573
with the maggot soup in.
338
00:22:39,030 --> 00:22:40,500
Amazing how he just thought
339
00:22:40,500 --> 00:22:42,851
to bring it back though, as well.
340
00:22:42,851 --> 00:22:44,780
You'd think you'd just
wanna throw it away.
341
00:22:49,794 --> 00:22:53,420
(concerning music)
342
00:22:53,420 --> 00:22:56,230
- [Aidan] We tried experiments
about different types
343
00:22:56,230 --> 00:22:59,100
of diets to see if we could cure beriberi
344
00:22:59,100 --> 00:23:03,133
and various deficiency diseases
that were springing up.
345
00:23:04,190 --> 00:23:05,180
- [Adrienne] Of course
there was no penicillin
346
00:23:05,180 --> 00:23:06,380
or anything in those days,
347
00:23:06,380 --> 00:23:09,190
but when they got shaving foam
he looked at the ingredients
348
00:23:09,190 --> 00:23:11,100
and he realized that this could be used
349
00:23:11,100 --> 00:23:13,300
to treat certain infections.
350
00:23:13,300 --> 00:23:14,133
And he did.
351
00:23:17,530 --> 00:23:20,380
- [Aidan] My first bad date
was when I was going to,
352
00:23:20,380 --> 00:23:23,020
well we were isolating the dysentery cases
353
00:23:23,020 --> 00:23:26,310
and normally I had to pass the guards,
354
00:23:26,310 --> 00:23:29,110
guards were sitting inside of
what would be the front porch.
355
00:23:29,110 --> 00:23:30,650
And when I got there, there was no guards,
356
00:23:30,650 --> 00:23:33,110
but there was a monkey on a stand
357
00:23:33,110 --> 00:23:36,520
beside where the guards had
been, so I saluted the monkey
358
00:23:36,520 --> 00:23:39,080
but unfortunately one of
the guards had come back
359
00:23:39,080 --> 00:23:41,200
and he saw me and he told the others.
360
00:23:44,069 --> 00:23:45,700
- I think my dad, probably did regret it
361
00:23:45,700 --> 00:23:48,120
because he was dragged and kicked
362
00:23:48,120 --> 00:23:51,053
and punched and beaten
half to death really.
363
00:23:54,060 --> 00:23:56,500
And that's why he had a very bad elbow
364
00:23:56,500 --> 00:23:59,610
and tram-line of operations.
365
00:23:59,610 --> 00:24:02,750
And actually his arm was so
bad even after the beating
366
00:24:02,750 --> 00:24:04,570
that they had to remove a cartilage
367
00:24:04,570 --> 00:24:06,590
which was done with no anesthetic
368
00:24:06,590 --> 00:24:07,960
and he was almost telling them what to do
369
00:24:07,960 --> 00:24:10,500
until he actually passed
out from the pain.
370
00:24:10,500 --> 00:24:13,290
And then I mean, he was so lucky
not to have got it infected
371
00:24:13,290 --> 00:24:15,223
and to have survived it.
372
00:24:17,502 --> 00:24:21,440
- In 1944, around 1300
prisoners were transported
373
00:24:21,440 --> 00:24:23,683
to Japan in a cargo boat.
374
00:24:25,518 --> 00:24:26,923
It was infested with rats.
375
00:24:27,805 --> 00:24:30,472
(anxious music)
376
00:24:36,141 --> 00:24:37,620
(troublesome music)
377
00:24:37,620 --> 00:24:40,220
- [Aidan] Just about five to midnight,
378
00:24:40,220 --> 00:24:42,030
I was sitting up fighting with a rat,
379
00:24:42,030 --> 00:24:44,593
it had got caught in a
bit of mosquito netting.
380
00:24:45,440 --> 00:24:47,280
I was terrified and I
think the rat was too,
381
00:24:47,280 --> 00:24:48,853
but he saved my life.
382
00:24:52,227 --> 00:24:54,029
(boat siren blaring)
383
00:24:54,029 --> 00:24:56,946
(torpedo whizzing)
384
00:25:00,076 --> 00:25:03,076
(torpedo exploding)
385
00:25:04,500 --> 00:25:06,450
- The boat was struck by a torpedo
386
00:25:06,450 --> 00:25:08,470
from an American submarine.
387
00:25:08,470 --> 00:25:11,880
He looked around and nobody
else seemed to be getting up.
388
00:25:11,880 --> 00:25:14,810
And he realized then that
with the steel hold ship,
389
00:25:14,810 --> 00:25:17,660
the torpedo who'd actually reverberated
390
00:25:17,660 --> 00:25:20,170
and broken the necks, whiplash breaks
391
00:25:20,170 --> 00:25:21,870
to everybody that was laying down.
392
00:25:24,651 --> 00:25:26,259
(anxious music)
393
00:25:26,259 --> 00:25:29,466
- [Aidan] So I got up and
all the lights have gone out.
394
00:25:29,466 --> 00:25:31,364
The water was beginning to come in.
395
00:25:31,364 --> 00:25:34,031
(water rushing)
396
00:25:38,909 --> 00:25:42,660
I got out, maybe a minute
before the ship sank.
397
00:25:42,660 --> 00:25:44,983
I swim the best 50 yards of my life.
398
00:25:46,876 --> 00:25:49,459
(fire blazing)
399
00:25:58,170 --> 00:26:01,210
- [Adrienne] He was in the
water for over 12 hours
400
00:26:01,210 --> 00:26:02,890
and they were just hanging
on to bits of wreckage
401
00:26:02,890 --> 00:26:04,093
trying to survive.
402
00:26:07,530 --> 00:26:08,930
- [Aidan] So we were hanging onto wreckage
403
00:26:08,930 --> 00:26:11,450
and you're really discovering
people during the night
404
00:26:11,450 --> 00:26:13,270
and then they discovered me, the doctor
405
00:26:13,270 --> 00:26:14,780
and they were shouting for help
406
00:26:14,780 --> 00:26:17,170
and I was doing a surface surgery,
407
00:26:17,170 --> 00:26:19,800
I was swimming from one bit
of wreckage to the other,
408
00:26:19,800 --> 00:26:21,640
tying up broken collarbones
409
00:26:21,640 --> 00:26:24,263
and trying to splinter broken legs.
410
00:26:28,430 --> 00:26:30,500
- Eventually they were actually picked up
411
00:26:30,500 --> 00:26:32,650
by a Japanese destroyer.
412
00:26:32,650 --> 00:26:35,130
And I suppose, because
they were covered in oil
413
00:26:35,130 --> 00:26:37,720
and dirt and blood, and God knows what,
414
00:26:37,720 --> 00:26:39,670
the Japanese didn't know
who they were picking up.
415
00:26:39,670 --> 00:26:41,970
If it was POWs or if it
was actually the crew
416
00:26:41,970 --> 00:26:43,690
off the Japanese cargo boat.
417
00:26:46,840 --> 00:26:49,560
- [Aidan] They gave us
rice bowls to start with.
418
00:26:49,560 --> 00:26:51,029
We were naked, you see.
419
00:26:51,029 --> 00:26:52,700
And then I don't know, but suddenly going,
420
00:26:52,700 --> 00:26:54,163
what we were, or who we were.
421
00:26:55,120 --> 00:26:59,420
They started beating us up
and throwing us overboard.
422
00:26:59,420 --> 00:27:00,520
Some of the chaps were hitting,
423
00:27:00,520 --> 00:27:02,130
they were not fully conscious,
424
00:27:02,130 --> 00:27:04,830
they were been caught in the
screws of the propellers.
425
00:27:08,140 --> 00:27:11,623
There was an awful lot of red blood.
426
00:27:13,110 --> 00:27:15,980
But a bunch of us from the
top we saw was happening,
427
00:27:15,980 --> 00:27:17,263
we dived overboard.
428
00:27:20,570 --> 00:27:21,730
A destroyer going at speed
429
00:27:21,730 --> 00:27:23,970
is a very difficult thing to get off.
430
00:27:23,970 --> 00:27:26,603
But we swam back to our bits of wreckage.
431
00:27:28,075 --> 00:27:30,742
(anxious music)
432
00:27:37,120 --> 00:27:39,700
We'd been 22 hours in the water then
433
00:27:39,700 --> 00:27:42,080
and we were trying to make up our mind,
434
00:27:42,080 --> 00:27:44,350
whether we'd stay there
or try and get to one
435
00:27:44,350 --> 00:27:46,750
of the islands, which
were away in the distance.
436
00:27:47,669 --> 00:27:49,270
(waves gently splashing)
437
00:27:49,270 --> 00:27:54,270
And a bunch of about five
or six boats came into view
438
00:27:55,840 --> 00:27:58,220
and they were Japanese whaling boats.
439
00:27:58,220 --> 00:28:00,860
And they just start
picking everybody else up
440
00:28:00,860 --> 00:28:03,473
and took us into Nagasaki.
441
00:28:27,040 --> 00:28:30,790
- So this area in the docks
would've been approximately
442
00:28:30,790 --> 00:28:33,990
where my father would've
disembarked from the fishing
443
00:28:33,990 --> 00:28:35,393
or from the whaling boat.
444
00:28:36,440 --> 00:28:38,630
I'd say they were very glad
to get back onto dry land
445
00:28:38,630 --> 00:28:42,853
after so many traumatic days
that they'd experienced at sea.
446
00:28:43,770 --> 00:28:45,640
From been a prisoner of war for sort
447
00:28:45,640 --> 00:28:47,600
of three years before that,
448
00:28:47,600 --> 00:28:49,950
so they were very undernourished.
449
00:28:49,950 --> 00:28:52,633
They were mentally and physically damaged.
450
00:28:53,865 --> 00:28:55,410
Then plus the trauma
451
00:28:55,410 --> 00:28:58,120
of experiencing all the death and carnage.
452
00:28:58,120 --> 00:29:02,180
I mean, of the 780 that
were on the transport ship
453
00:29:02,180 --> 00:29:04,233
only 38 made it to Nagasaki.
454
00:29:10,950 --> 00:29:14,130
When the police saw them
arriving with a POWs,
455
00:29:14,130 --> 00:29:16,550
they didn't really want
them in that state.
456
00:29:16,550 --> 00:29:18,890
And they told the the whaling
boat to take them back out
457
00:29:18,890 --> 00:29:20,400
and dump them at sea.
458
00:29:20,400 --> 00:29:22,260
But the whaling boat was
so anxious to get home
459
00:29:22,260 --> 00:29:24,830
after their long trip that they refused
460
00:29:24,830 --> 00:29:26,490
and they left them here.
461
00:29:26,490 --> 00:29:29,270
So just up there was
actually where the camp was,
462
00:29:29,270 --> 00:29:31,300
where they were marched to.
463
00:29:31,300 --> 00:29:33,400
And that's where they spent the next year.
464
00:29:37,420 --> 00:29:41,030
They were initially put
to work in the shipyards
465
00:29:41,030 --> 00:29:44,500
where they were building some
sort of big Japanese boat.
466
00:29:44,500 --> 00:29:48,010
They then were transferred
to the Mitsubishi Factory,
467
00:29:48,010 --> 00:29:49,763
which was metal work.
468
00:29:55,460 --> 00:29:57,470
But after their time there,
then he was transferred
469
00:29:57,470 --> 00:30:01,860
to a coal mine where they
were actually working
470
00:30:01,860 --> 00:30:03,841
for 10 cigarettes a week.
471
00:30:03,841 --> 00:30:06,674
(sorrowful music)
472
00:30:08,010 --> 00:30:10,890
- [Aidan] The main beatings
I got were in Japan
473
00:30:10,890 --> 00:30:13,510
when I was in charge of the
camp and I was held responsible
474
00:30:13,510 --> 00:30:15,410
for any troop didn't work hard enough
475
00:30:15,410 --> 00:30:16,820
or was caught infringing.
476
00:30:16,820 --> 00:30:20,603
I also had to get it, 'cause
I was answerable for it.
477
00:30:29,404 --> 00:30:31,658
- There was a lot of brutality.
478
00:30:31,658 --> 00:30:33,380
And it was a ripple
effect with the beatings
479
00:30:33,380 --> 00:30:35,150
that if someone did something wrong,
480
00:30:35,150 --> 00:30:36,250
it went from the top down.
481
00:30:36,250 --> 00:30:38,133
So everybody got beaten anyway.
482
00:30:50,387 --> 00:30:53,054
(tram rattling)
483
00:31:17,670 --> 00:31:20,610
- I was just thinking that
the wire netting there
484
00:31:20,610 --> 00:31:24,110
at the top, actually still
makes it still look reminiscent
485
00:31:24,110 --> 00:31:27,460
of what you could imagine they
would have had in the camp.
486
00:31:27,460 --> 00:31:29,700
There's no way across that fence now.
487
00:31:29,700 --> 00:31:31,100
Just like there wasn't then.
488
00:31:32,318 --> 00:31:33,890
I wonder what the people
in the factory thought
489
00:31:33,890 --> 00:31:37,260
when they saw people in the camps outside.
490
00:31:37,260 --> 00:31:38,970
Did they really care
that they were suffering
491
00:31:38,970 --> 00:31:42,400
like they were, or just
got on and ignored it?
492
00:31:42,400 --> 00:31:44,963
I suppose, war times these things happen.
493
00:31:50,180 --> 00:31:53,580
There's no way that you
could ever understand
494
00:31:53,580 --> 00:31:55,580
or even feel how we would feel, I'd say.
495
00:31:56,892 --> 00:31:57,840
I mean, there's nothing
we would've experienced
496
00:31:57,840 --> 00:32:00,343
that have been any way like it.
497
00:32:02,562 --> 00:32:05,312
(train rumbling)
498
00:32:08,598 --> 00:32:09,910
Well, he never really said much to us.
499
00:32:09,910 --> 00:32:12,580
Really, it was something
that was too horrific.
500
00:32:12,580 --> 00:32:15,710
He thought as children we were too young
501
00:32:15,710 --> 00:32:17,560
and vulnerable to know about, really.
502
00:32:19,130 --> 00:32:20,620
Suppose it was only
when the book came out,
503
00:32:20,620 --> 00:32:24,383
that we just kind of read
of the horrors of it.
504
00:32:26,920 --> 00:32:28,143
Terrifying, isn't it?
505
00:32:29,890 --> 00:32:32,723
(sorrowful music)
506
00:32:42,290 --> 00:32:44,400
Actually been in that situation,
507
00:32:44,400 --> 00:32:46,560
you needed something to hang on to.
508
00:32:46,560 --> 00:32:50,790
You needed some belief,
you needed some hope.
509
00:32:50,790 --> 00:32:52,930
You know, it was always an escape
510
00:32:52,930 --> 00:32:55,943
that you could escape into
his faith inside himself.
511
00:32:57,444 --> 00:33:00,040
- And one day he tried
to imagine the shop,
512
00:33:00,040 --> 00:33:01,880
the shelves and what was on the shelves
513
00:33:01,880 --> 00:33:05,720
and even the people, he tried
to bring this back to him
514
00:33:05,720 --> 00:33:07,560
and he couldn't, and he went into a panic
515
00:33:07,560 --> 00:33:10,780
because he thought that
his mind was gone then.
516
00:33:10,780 --> 00:33:13,624
And he could imagine Japanese
people actually in the shop.
517
00:33:13,624 --> 00:33:16,541
(soldiers yelling)
518
00:33:22,435 --> 00:33:25,102
(anxious music)
519
00:33:34,700 --> 00:33:37,220
To think that they've
taken over your sanctuary
520
00:33:38,330 --> 00:33:39,480
would break your heart.
521
00:33:42,380 --> 00:33:44,240
That maybe you realize
522
00:33:44,240 --> 00:33:48,297
that you are actually
been broken in spirit.
523
00:33:52,321 --> 00:33:54,988
(birds singing)
524
00:34:16,825 --> 00:34:20,742
(speaking in foreign language)
525
00:35:05,033 --> 00:35:07,430
- Mrs. Sasamoto, do you have any records
526
00:35:07,430 --> 00:35:12,200
of how my father got
from Singapore to Japan?
527
00:35:12,200 --> 00:35:13,678
- Yes.
528
00:35:13,678 --> 00:35:17,595
(speaking in foreign language)
529
00:35:20,433 --> 00:35:21,728
- [Nikki] Oh, yeah.
530
00:35:21,728 --> 00:35:22,951
(speaking in foreign language)
531
00:35:22,951 --> 00:35:23,784
- MacCarthy.
- Yes.
532
00:35:23,784 --> 00:35:25,870
(speaking in foreign language)
533
00:35:25,870 --> 00:35:26,703
- [Taeko] British.
534
00:35:26,703 --> 00:35:30,620
(speaking in foreign language)
535
00:35:57,920 --> 00:36:02,253
- Also, we have, I found a
photograph of Mr. Kusuno.
536
00:36:05,610 --> 00:36:08,690
That was the photograph
that he gave to my father
537
00:36:09,530 --> 00:36:11,613
when he presented him with the sword.
538
00:36:13,300 --> 00:36:17,363
And that is also dated on September 45.
539
00:36:19,632 --> 00:36:22,330
So we know that they
obviously knew each other
540
00:36:22,330 --> 00:36:24,852
and that's where he received the sword.
541
00:36:24,852 --> 00:36:26,523
That's the sword we have.
542
00:36:26,523 --> 00:36:28,910
And then I also have this photograph,
543
00:36:28,910 --> 00:36:32,340
which was taken in camp 26.
544
00:36:32,340 --> 00:36:34,993
It actually says, camp 26.
545
00:36:36,120 --> 00:36:38,643
And again, in September, 1945.
546
00:36:39,900 --> 00:36:42,373
So I think that's my father there.
547
00:36:45,540 --> 00:36:49,457
(speaking in foreign language)
548
00:36:55,782 --> 00:36:59,349
- [Nicola] Yeah, same kind of roof.
549
00:36:59,349 --> 00:37:00,499
Yeah, that one as well.
550
00:37:04,388 --> 00:37:05,660
(speaking in foreign language)
551
00:37:05,660 --> 00:37:07,555
- Is that different, that's different.
552
00:37:07,555 --> 00:37:09,305
- British?
- British, yeah, maybe.
553
00:37:12,760 --> 00:37:15,280
But that one--
- Yes, yes.
554
00:37:15,280 --> 00:37:19,520
- It says on the back,
R.A.F. and Dutch doctor.
555
00:37:19,520 --> 00:37:21,370
Four Warrant Officers.
556
00:37:21,370 --> 00:37:23,170
Royal Navy, British Army.
557
00:37:23,170 --> 00:37:25,100
Royal Navy, Australian.
558
00:37:25,100 --> 00:37:28,663
Camp 26, Fukuoka, Kyushu Island, Japan.
559
00:37:30,625 --> 00:37:34,542
(speaking in foreign language)
560
00:38:00,660 --> 00:38:02,710
- [Adrienne] There was a bit
of trading done at the fences,
561
00:38:02,710 --> 00:38:06,463
so they were able to put these
crystal radio sets together.
562
00:38:07,500 --> 00:38:08,870
So they knew that things were coming
563
00:38:08,870 --> 00:38:11,650
and of course the air
raids and the bombings
564
00:38:11,650 --> 00:38:13,410
were getting worse and worse.
565
00:38:13,410 --> 00:38:14,690
So luckily they were allowed
566
00:38:14,690 --> 00:38:17,013
to build a shelter for themselves.
567
00:38:17,013 --> 00:38:19,147
(plane engine roaring)
568
00:38:19,147 --> 00:38:20,969
(machine gun blasting)
569
00:38:20,969 --> 00:38:24,273
(plane engine whining)
570
00:38:24,273 --> 00:38:27,167
(plane exploding)
571
00:38:27,167 --> 00:38:29,430
- [Nicola] As the Japanese
was starting to panic
572
00:38:29,430 --> 00:38:32,300
and knowing that the
inevitable was happening
573
00:38:32,300 --> 00:38:36,187
they got them to take
this big, deep trench.
574
00:38:36,187 --> 00:38:39,260
(anxious music)
575
00:38:39,260 --> 00:38:40,330
- So they were digging away
576
00:38:40,330 --> 00:38:43,240
and then they saw a wooden
platform thing been put up
577
00:38:43,240 --> 00:38:45,240
at the far end and they realized
578
00:38:45,240 --> 00:38:47,300
that they were digging their own grave,
579
00:38:47,300 --> 00:38:50,250
a mass grave and they would
just be machine gunned into it.
580
00:38:53,620 --> 00:38:55,160
And as he was digging,
581
00:38:55,160 --> 00:38:57,620
he said he could actually
imagine himself been shot
582
00:38:57,620 --> 00:38:59,033
and just laying there.
583
00:39:00,997 --> 00:39:02,933
Which was just so, so sad.
584
00:39:07,630 --> 00:39:11,090
- [Aidan] Around about midday,
lovely bright August morning,
585
00:39:11,090 --> 00:39:14,023
we saw the aid vapor
trails in two lots of four.
586
00:39:16,090 --> 00:39:18,610
So that immediately, the rest of us,
587
00:39:18,610 --> 00:39:22,159
we shut down for the air raid
shelter to get in quickly.
588
00:39:22,159 --> 00:39:25,659
(emergency siren blaring)
589
00:39:26,779 --> 00:39:28,100
(plane engine humming)
590
00:39:28,100 --> 00:39:31,283
Three parachutes came out and
there was this blinding flash.
591
00:39:33,149 --> 00:39:35,732
(bomb booming)
592
00:39:38,740 --> 00:39:42,520
And we were in the shelter,
so we felt the warm air,
593
00:39:42,520 --> 00:39:43,523
but nothing more.
594
00:39:46,962 --> 00:39:49,712
(flames blazing)
595
00:39:52,550 --> 00:39:55,237
And then one of the
Australians stuck his head out
596
00:39:55,237 --> 00:39:57,890
and it was his blasphemous remarks
597
00:39:57,890 --> 00:40:01,243
that made us all shoot for
the opening and look out.
598
00:40:01,243 --> 00:40:04,570
(anxious music)
599
00:40:04,570 --> 00:40:05,610
And there was no camp.
600
00:40:05,610 --> 00:40:06,443
Gone.
601
00:40:07,440 --> 00:40:09,967
And the day turned to darkness.
602
00:40:09,967 --> 00:40:12,800
(sorrowful music)
603
00:40:18,900 --> 00:40:21,350
I couldn't see any Nagasaki,
604
00:40:21,350 --> 00:40:24,303
just things sticking up here and there.
605
00:40:25,159 --> 00:40:28,660
And then fires everywhere
and smoke and screaming.
606
00:40:31,600 --> 00:40:34,663
Then a horrible thing started, black rain.
607
00:40:35,520 --> 00:40:36,573
This was terrifying.
608
00:40:39,271 --> 00:40:42,824
I personally thought it
was the end of the word.
609
00:40:42,824 --> 00:40:45,491
(anxious music)
610
00:40:56,504 --> 00:40:59,004
(eerie music)
611
00:41:31,847 --> 00:41:34,764
(terrifying music)
612
00:42:24,383 --> 00:42:26,610
- [Nicola] I mean, it's hard to imagine
613
00:42:26,610 --> 00:42:29,270
that within one second the whole factory,
614
00:42:29,270 --> 00:42:31,470
the whole camp, the whole city
615
00:42:31,470 --> 00:42:34,563
that's been your prison camp
is just raised to the ground.
616
00:42:48,001 --> 00:42:50,856
(terrifying music)
617
00:42:50,856 --> 00:42:52,910
- [Aidan] And we all veered
then for the mountain
618
00:42:52,910 --> 00:42:54,040
to get out.
619
00:42:54,040 --> 00:42:57,580
'Cause we were in a
valley and down the middle
620
00:42:57,580 --> 00:42:59,600
of this valley there was a river
621
00:42:59,600 --> 00:43:01,930
and some of the chaps got stuck in that,
622
00:43:01,930 --> 00:43:03,510
you see, with the mud.
623
00:43:03,510 --> 00:43:05,360
We had an awful job pulling them out.
624
00:43:06,683 --> 00:43:08,350
And we were stopping now
and again, to help people
625
00:43:08,350 --> 00:43:09,890
we suddenly realized that it was useless
626
00:43:09,890 --> 00:43:12,700
because one of the chaps pulled some woman
627
00:43:12,700 --> 00:43:15,233
and her complete skin came off her face.
628
00:43:17,640 --> 00:43:20,310
And another chap was
trying to help a child
629
00:43:20,310 --> 00:43:22,310
and the child's arm came away, complete.
630
00:43:25,340 --> 00:43:27,600
The thing was obviously that, you know
631
00:43:27,600 --> 00:43:32,093
something beyond our and
we kept, we kept running.
632
00:43:33,220 --> 00:43:36,180
- [Nicola] People had been
very much injured in the blast
633
00:43:36,180 --> 00:43:39,170
and the aftermath, they
had caves in the hills
634
00:43:39,170 --> 00:43:42,273
which were actually made
into small little surgeries.
635
00:43:43,730 --> 00:43:45,510
- [Adrienne] The makeshift
hospital in the caves
636
00:43:45,510 --> 00:43:47,340
and he went up and just did what he could
637
00:43:47,340 --> 00:43:49,483
for prisoners and Japanese.
638
00:43:51,180 --> 00:43:54,610
Those sort of radiation
burns and blindness,
639
00:43:54,610 --> 00:43:57,120
so not knowing really what had happened,
640
00:43:57,120 --> 00:44:00,193
he just used whatever he
could to help these people.
641
00:44:02,240 --> 00:44:03,870
- [Aidan] But it was quite useless
642
00:44:03,870 --> 00:44:07,500
because most of the people they
were bringing in were dead.
643
00:44:07,500 --> 00:44:09,920
Most of the people treating
them were already dying.
644
00:44:09,920 --> 00:44:12,410
And we, we stayed there then
645
00:44:12,410 --> 00:44:15,090
and helped the Japs best
we could with the things.
646
00:44:15,090 --> 00:44:18,345
And they were very frightened as we were.
647
00:44:18,345 --> 00:44:21,178
(sorrowful music)
648
00:44:27,150 --> 00:44:31,230
We were eventually rounded
up by the Japanese Police,
649
00:44:31,230 --> 00:44:32,240
the camp type.
650
00:44:32,240 --> 00:44:34,300
And they took us outside like a second,
651
00:44:34,300 --> 00:44:38,330
stuck us in, what I imagined
was been a small schoolhouse
652
00:44:38,330 --> 00:44:41,193
and then we had to help cremate bodies.
653
00:44:42,920 --> 00:44:43,950
- After what he'd been through,
654
00:44:43,950 --> 00:44:47,010
he'd been in Java for nearly
three years as a prisoner,
655
00:44:47,010 --> 00:44:49,440
then transported up to
the Japanese mainland,
656
00:44:49,440 --> 00:44:50,877
torpedoed on the way up
657
00:44:50,877 --> 00:44:54,380
and then to be in Nagasaki
and the atomic bomb dropped
658
00:44:54,380 --> 00:44:55,960
to be recaptured after all that
659
00:44:55,960 --> 00:44:58,410
when you think you've got
freedom, it's terrible.
660
00:45:02,358 --> 00:45:05,025
(birds singing)
661
00:45:14,558 --> 00:45:18,475
(speaking in foreign language)
662
00:45:21,120 --> 00:45:23,863
- Nice to meet you.
- Nice to meet you.
663
00:45:25,680 --> 00:45:29,597
(speaking in foreign language)
664
00:45:46,718 --> 00:45:50,480
- When they transferred the
prisoners from Nagasaki to here,
665
00:45:50,480 --> 00:45:51,995
did they come by train?
666
00:45:51,995 --> 00:45:53,661
(speaking in foreign language)
667
00:45:53,661 --> 00:45:57,006
- So it must've take quite
a long time from Nagasaki?
668
00:45:57,006 --> 00:45:59,169
(mumbling in foreign language)
669
00:45:59,169 --> 00:46:00,942
- 12 Hours.
- Yes?
670
00:46:00,942 --> 00:46:04,859
(speaking in foreign language)
671
00:46:06,353 --> 00:46:10,270
(speaking in foreign language)
672
00:46:40,649 --> 00:46:41,828
- [Nicola] Oh, right, yeah, yeah.
673
00:46:41,828 --> 00:46:45,745
(speaking in foreign language)
674
00:46:57,143 --> 00:46:58,174
- [Nicola] Yeah, you can see there.
675
00:46:58,174 --> 00:46:59,179
(speaking in foreign language)
676
00:46:59,179 --> 00:47:00,846
- Thin.
- Yeah, yeah.
677
00:47:02,973 --> 00:47:06,890
(speaking in foreign language)
678
00:47:11,096 --> 00:47:13,763
(anxious music)
679
00:47:16,470 --> 00:47:17,303
- [Aidan] We were in this camp
680
00:47:17,303 --> 00:47:18,960
and they stopped us working, they started
681
00:47:18,960 --> 00:47:20,740
to give us some extra food.
682
00:47:20,740 --> 00:47:23,240
And then they were very
nice to us, the Japs guards.
683
00:47:23,240 --> 00:47:25,630
And the next thing, all
the Japs disappeared
684
00:47:25,630 --> 00:47:28,240
and they came back in their best uniforms
685
00:47:28,240 --> 00:47:29,810
and they put a radio up in front
686
00:47:29,810 --> 00:47:32,880
of the Commandants office on a table
687
00:47:32,880 --> 00:47:34,160
and they all assembled.
688
00:47:34,160 --> 00:47:36,500
And then this voice came out of the radio
689
00:47:36,500 --> 00:47:37,533
and they all bowed.
690
00:47:38,471 --> 00:47:42,388
(speaking in foreign language)
691
00:47:51,554 --> 00:47:52,921
(crickets chirping)
692
00:47:52,921 --> 00:47:54,590
- [Aidan] The interpreter
was standing over and things
693
00:47:54,590 --> 00:47:56,353
so we asked him one thing.
694
00:47:56,353 --> 00:47:59,410
And he called me Major,
instead of a number.
695
00:47:59,410 --> 00:48:01,640
I was Ichiban number one,
696
00:48:01,640 --> 00:48:03,780
he was crawling, you see (chuckles).
697
00:48:03,780 --> 00:48:05,730
So I said, "It's all over, isn't it?"
698
00:48:05,730 --> 00:48:06,977
And he said, "Yes."
699
00:48:09,550 --> 00:48:10,760
And I turned around to the Japs,
700
00:48:10,760 --> 00:48:13,150
let's go and find the Commandant.
701
00:48:13,150 --> 00:48:15,960
- The rest of the prisoners
really wanted to tear him apart
702
00:48:15,960 --> 00:48:18,380
but my dad stepped in and
just said that they must wait
703
00:48:18,380 --> 00:48:20,920
because he realized that
help would be coming.
704
00:48:20,920 --> 00:48:23,060
So he made sure that the commander
705
00:48:23,060 --> 00:48:25,113
of the camp was kept separate.
706
00:48:26,080 --> 00:48:29,430
Later the camp commandant
gave the sword to my father.
707
00:48:29,430 --> 00:48:31,150
We don't if it was to saving his life
708
00:48:31,150 --> 00:48:33,433
or had they built up
some kind of friendship.
709
00:48:35,482 --> 00:48:38,149
(birds singing)
710
00:48:49,870 --> 00:48:50,740
- [Nicola] Very nice to meet you.
711
00:48:50,740 --> 00:48:52,824
- It's nice to meet you.
712
00:48:52,824 --> 00:48:56,741
(speaking in foreign language)
713
00:49:26,216 --> 00:49:27,192
- Right, that's interesting.
714
00:49:27,192 --> 00:49:31,109
(speaking in foreign language)
715
00:49:53,134 --> 00:49:57,051
(speaking in foreign language)
716
00:50:17,204 --> 00:50:18,170
- Well, that's interesting.
717
00:50:18,170 --> 00:50:19,645
Very interesting.
718
00:50:19,645 --> 00:50:23,562
(speaking in foreign language)
719
00:50:35,945 --> 00:50:37,850
- That's what both
countries wanted at the end.
720
00:50:37,850 --> 00:50:42,110
To just be able to live
normally again and have peace.
721
00:50:42,110 --> 00:50:44,200
So he was looking forward to it
722
00:50:44,200 --> 00:50:46,793
as much as my father was as well.
723
00:50:46,793 --> 00:50:49,626
(sorrowful music)
724
00:50:57,590 --> 00:50:59,600
- [Aidan] The Americans
flew over the following day
725
00:50:59,600 --> 00:51:03,710
and dropped an awful lot of
food and clothing and medicines.
726
00:51:03,710 --> 00:51:06,630
And then they dropped pamphlets
all over the countryside
727
00:51:06,630 --> 00:51:08,840
to the Japanese won and
that they'd be shot,
728
00:51:08,840 --> 00:51:10,730
if they were caught with even an empty tin
729
00:51:10,730 --> 00:51:12,660
of rations or anything.
730
00:51:12,660 --> 00:51:14,940
And if they found any of the parachutes,
731
00:51:14,940 --> 00:51:17,140
they were to bring them
to the nearest camp.
732
00:51:18,010 --> 00:51:18,843
And they did.
733
00:51:27,920 --> 00:51:28,810
- He realized then
734
00:51:28,810 --> 00:51:31,800
that he was the senior officer in the camp
735
00:51:31,800 --> 00:51:33,270
and someone had to take charge.
736
00:51:33,270 --> 00:51:34,103
So he did.
737
00:51:34,103 --> 00:51:37,540
And he just kind of tried
to keep things in control
738
00:51:37,540 --> 00:51:40,003
and he issued this order.
739
00:51:41,480 --> 00:51:45,750
At 09;15 hours yesterday,
the 2nd of September,
740
00:51:45,750 --> 00:51:48,550
you ceased to be prisoners of war.
741
00:51:48,550 --> 00:51:51,780
This camp is now a British
Military establishment
742
00:51:51,780 --> 00:51:53,810
under my command.
743
00:51:53,810 --> 00:51:56,480
From the very beginning I
want it to be understood
744
00:51:56,480 --> 00:52:00,330
that the rules and regulations
as laid down by me,
745
00:52:00,330 --> 00:52:03,293
together with military
discipline will be maintained.
746
00:52:04,470 --> 00:52:09,130
I am now responsible to our
government for each one of you
747
00:52:09,130 --> 00:52:11,760
I intend to see to it that you return home
748
00:52:11,760 --> 00:52:14,680
safe and sound and without a cloud
749
00:52:14,680 --> 00:52:17,243
of any sort on your military records.
750
00:52:18,108 --> 00:52:20,060
J.A. MacCarthy.
751
00:52:20,060 --> 00:52:21,060
Squadron-leader.
752
00:52:21,060 --> 00:52:22,550
Commanding.
753
00:52:22,550 --> 00:52:25,383
(heartfelt music)
754
00:52:31,430 --> 00:52:33,430
- [Nicola] My dad was very lucky.
755
00:52:33,430 --> 00:52:35,540
He survived been a prisoner.
756
00:52:35,540 --> 00:52:38,983
He survived the radiation, the brutality,
757
00:52:40,950 --> 00:52:42,973
and then he was free at last.
758
00:52:44,367 --> 00:52:47,940
(plane engines humming)
759
00:52:47,940 --> 00:52:51,210
- It was quite a journey
of started from Japan,
760
00:52:51,210 --> 00:52:55,453
they went by ship to San Francisco.
761
00:52:56,330 --> 00:52:59,733
Then they went by train across
to the east coast of America.
762
00:53:01,900 --> 00:53:05,143
By November, I think he
managed to get back to Dublin.
763
00:53:14,650 --> 00:53:16,830
He came up to the docks in Dun Laoghaire
764
00:53:16,830 --> 00:53:19,080
with plenty of kit bags on the sword.
765
00:53:19,080 --> 00:53:22,110
And he was 14 and a half stone leaving
766
00:53:22,110 --> 00:53:23,510
but seven stone coming home.
767
00:53:26,524 --> 00:53:27,870
But my aunt tells me how
they went to meet him
768
00:53:27,870 --> 00:53:30,820
and he still had that cheeky
smile coming up the gangplank.
769
00:53:31,660 --> 00:53:34,493
(uplifting music)
770
00:53:43,357 --> 00:53:46,680
The most emotional bit was the
telegram from my grandmother
771
00:53:46,680 --> 00:53:49,220
that she sent to my dad when
he arrived back into Dublin.
772
00:53:49,220 --> 00:53:52,113
And it just made it full circle as well.
773
00:53:53,300 --> 00:53:56,050
It said, "A thousand welcomes
from your loving mother."
774
00:53:57,004 --> 00:53:57,837
(gentle music)
775
00:53:57,837 --> 00:53:59,210
She'd had a stroke in the meantime,
776
00:53:59,210 --> 00:54:03,039
because she had also lost a
son, the priest in the last bomb
777
00:54:03,039 --> 00:54:05,013
that was dropped on London during the war.
778
00:54:06,591 --> 00:54:08,160
It was like she just hung on for him,
779
00:54:08,160 --> 00:54:09,960
she died on Christmas Eve that year.
780
00:54:10,946 --> 00:54:13,779
(sorrowful music)
781
00:54:16,610 --> 00:54:20,720
He got the OBE and the
Pacific Service Stars
782
00:54:20,720 --> 00:54:22,460
and then he got a Papal Award as well,
783
00:54:22,460 --> 00:54:24,433
he became a Knight of St. Sylvester.
784
00:54:26,460 --> 00:54:28,430
I think it's just for
goodness you have done
785
00:54:28,430 --> 00:54:31,870
and I think his bravery was realized
786
00:54:31,870 --> 00:54:33,410
even in the spiritual side.
787
00:54:46,419 --> 00:54:48,522
(speaking in foreign language)
788
00:54:48,522 --> 00:54:52,439
(speaking in foreign language)
789
00:55:07,469 --> 00:55:11,386
(speaking in foreign language)
790
00:55:22,713 --> 00:55:26,630
(speaking in foreign language)
791
00:55:37,303 --> 00:55:40,053
(exciting music)
792
00:55:59,440 --> 00:56:00,752
- [Nicola] I'm Nikki MacCarthy.
793
00:56:00,752 --> 00:56:02,692
- Ah, nice to meet you.
- Very nice to meet you.
794
00:56:02,692 --> 00:56:04,925
Very nice to meet you.
795
00:56:04,925 --> 00:56:08,060
- And he, Satpso Kusuno.
- Kusuno, yes.
796
00:56:08,060 --> 00:56:09,340
So you're grandson of.
797
00:56:09,340 --> 00:56:11,440
Very nice to meet you.
798
00:56:11,440 --> 00:56:12,800
Very nice to meet you.
799
00:56:12,800 --> 00:56:14,735
Very nice to meet you.
800
00:56:14,735 --> 00:56:17,953
- And his mother, Mitchko.
- Yes.
801
00:56:19,543 --> 00:56:22,080
(speaking in foreign language)
802
00:56:22,080 --> 00:56:24,890
Younger sister.
- Oh, lovely.
803
00:56:24,890 --> 00:56:26,793
- Cody.
- Glad that we found you.
804
00:56:28,535 --> 00:56:32,452
(speaking in foreign language)
805
00:56:36,285 --> 00:56:37,952
- Oh, this is, oh...
806
00:56:42,780 --> 00:56:46,390
I'd like to show you that I have found,
807
00:56:46,390 --> 00:56:50,320
about four weeks ago,
I found this photograph
808
00:56:50,320 --> 00:56:54,010
which your grandfather gave to my father.
809
00:56:54,010 --> 00:56:55,630
And you'll see there's
a lovely inscription
810
00:56:55,630 --> 00:56:56,853
on the back as well.
811
00:56:59,530 --> 00:57:00,870
Did you see, oh, excuse me.
812
00:57:00,870 --> 00:57:04,509
Did you see that was the
photograph with the inscription?
813
00:57:04,509 --> 00:57:08,426
(speaking in foreign language)
814
00:57:15,490 --> 00:57:17,640
- I was just gonna say, how did you feel
815
00:57:17,640 --> 00:57:20,520
when you saw the article in the paper
816
00:57:20,520 --> 00:57:25,290
asking for us, or looking for contact.
817
00:57:25,290 --> 00:57:29,207
(speaking in foreign language)
818
00:57:41,925 --> 00:57:44,504
- Oh, you didn't know, oh, right.
819
00:57:44,504 --> 00:57:48,421
(speaking in foreign language)
820
00:57:53,080 --> 00:57:54,970
- Yeah, my father was the same
821
00:57:54,970 --> 00:57:56,703
that he didn't talk about it.
822
00:57:57,620 --> 00:58:00,510
You know, that's why
it's taken us this long
823
00:58:00,510 --> 00:58:01,744
to meet you.
824
00:58:01,744 --> 00:58:05,661
(speaking in foreign language)
825
00:58:08,520 --> 00:58:10,130
- Oh, that's lovely.
826
00:58:10,130 --> 00:58:13,080
Oh, that's beautiful photograph, isn't it?
827
00:58:13,080 --> 00:58:15,483
So it must've been a very
sad occasion as well.
828
00:58:16,390 --> 00:58:20,700
And after the war, did your
grandfather stay in the military
829
00:58:20,700 --> 00:58:22,680
or did she leave the military?
830
00:58:22,680 --> 00:58:26,597
(speaking in foreign language)
831
00:58:31,646 --> 00:58:35,774
(speaking in foreign language)
832
00:58:35,774 --> 00:58:40,248
(speaking in foreign language)
833
00:58:40,248 --> 00:58:44,498
- We heard a possibility
that in the camp in Keisen
834
00:58:45,379 --> 00:58:48,150
there were, I think it was 197 Australians
835
00:58:48,150 --> 00:58:52,190
and just fewer of the allied forces
836
00:58:52,190 --> 00:58:54,780
and that after Japan surrendered
837
00:58:54,780 --> 00:58:57,980
that the Australians
were very keen to kill
838
00:58:57,980 --> 00:59:01,190
as many Japanese officers as they could.
839
00:59:01,190 --> 00:59:04,550
And that my father had
taken your grandfather
840
00:59:04,550 --> 00:59:07,940
and locked him in a shed or in an office
841
00:59:07,940 --> 00:59:11,920
and he wouldn't let the
Australians get to him to kill him.
842
00:59:11,920 --> 00:59:14,780
And then it was because of
that, he had given the sword.
843
00:59:14,780 --> 00:59:16,435
But you didn't have anything?
844
00:59:16,435 --> 00:59:20,352
(speaking in foreign language)
845
00:59:37,860 --> 00:59:39,310
- What we would like to do
846
00:59:39,310 --> 00:59:42,400
is to ask you if you would
like to see the sword again,
847
00:59:42,400 --> 00:59:45,030
you'd be very welcome to come to Ireland,
848
00:59:45,030 --> 00:59:48,056
anytime to come and
see any of your family.
849
00:59:48,056 --> 00:59:51,973
(speaking in foreign language)
850
00:59:56,460 --> 00:59:57,380
- Thank you very much.
851
00:59:57,380 --> 00:59:58,213
And thank you.
852
00:59:58,213 --> 01:00:00,350
And it's been an honor, an honor.
853
01:00:00,350 --> 01:00:03,490
And as I say, I must give you
the address now in Ireland
854
01:00:03,490 --> 01:00:06,991
and you can come over and
bring the family with you.
855
01:00:06,991 --> 01:00:08,741
It'll be an honor to see you there.
856
01:00:14,120 --> 01:00:16,040
(speaking in foreign language)
857
01:00:16,040 --> 01:00:21,040
(emergency siren blaring)
(bell ringing)
858
01:00:27,128 --> 01:00:29,961
(heartfelt music)
859
01:00:51,727 --> 01:00:54,894
(audience applauding)
860
01:00:57,279 --> 01:00:59,862
(bell ringing)
861
01:01:07,960 --> 01:01:11,600
- It's very hard to believe
that it actually happened.
862
01:01:11,600 --> 01:01:14,840
That any of that happened,
let alone to my father.
863
01:01:14,840 --> 01:01:17,470
You know, in relatively recent times,
864
01:01:17,470 --> 01:01:21,010
I mean, it's still in so
many people's memories
865
01:01:21,010 --> 01:01:23,020
and to think that such barbarism.
866
01:01:23,020 --> 01:01:24,780
And it probably still goes on today
867
01:01:24,780 --> 01:01:27,480
and people will be telling the
same story in years to come.
868
01:01:27,480 --> 01:01:30,200
But it was always very
difficult when he was alive
869
01:01:30,200 --> 01:01:34,870
to actually believe really
that he'd been through that
870
01:01:34,870 --> 01:01:37,997
and to come out relatively unscathed.
871
01:01:37,997 --> 01:01:40,220
- And I know it's a different generation
872
01:01:40,220 --> 01:01:42,350
and I know time moves on
873
01:01:42,350 --> 01:01:45,200
but it was still three and a
half years of my dad's life.
874
01:01:46,513 --> 01:01:47,843
And I think, suppose just that fact
875
01:01:47,843 --> 01:01:50,985
that really mankind
hasn't learned from that.
876
01:01:50,985 --> 01:01:52,130
You know, that's the sad thing as well.
877
01:01:52,130 --> 01:01:55,203
It's still going on in different
parts of the world now.
878
01:01:57,110 --> 01:01:58,930
- [Nicola] I think that's why the sword
879
01:01:58,930 --> 01:02:01,610
was something important to him.
880
01:02:01,610 --> 01:02:04,796
It was a sign of humanity.
881
01:02:04,796 --> 01:02:07,629
(heartfelt music)
882
01:02:21,667 --> 01:02:26,600
- One day he was sitting on
the lounge watching television
883
01:02:26,600 --> 01:02:29,353
and I was pottering
around and when I went in,
884
01:02:31,310 --> 01:02:33,740
I saw his hand hanging by the stairs
885
01:02:33,740 --> 01:02:36,493
out by the side of the chair,
886
01:02:37,450 --> 01:02:40,440
and to find he had a very bad stroke.
887
01:02:40,440 --> 01:02:42,340
Very bad stroke.
888
01:02:42,340 --> 01:02:44,540
- He had done an interview for RTE
889
01:02:45,410 --> 01:02:48,670
and they said, Oh, it'll
be on at some future date.
890
01:02:48,670 --> 01:02:50,150
And he said, Oh, they've
forgotten about me,
891
01:02:50,150 --> 01:02:51,720
that'll never be on.
892
01:02:51,720 --> 01:02:54,250
And then the day that he
actually got a stroke in England,
893
01:02:54,250 --> 01:02:56,787
and got sick, they rang to say,
894
01:02:56,787 --> 01:02:59,540
"Oh, that's going to be
on in a week's time."
895
01:02:59,540 --> 01:03:00,897
And my mom said, "Well, I can't talk now,
896
01:03:00,897 --> 01:03:03,170
"'cause he's just going
off in the ambulance."
897
01:03:03,170 --> 01:03:04,930
And they said, "Oh no, we'll cancel it."
898
01:03:04,930 --> 01:03:07,690
And we said, no, no, you
know, we'd love it to be on
899
01:03:07,690 --> 01:03:08,740
and it'll be great.
900
01:03:08,740 --> 01:03:11,373
- And I stayed with him all night long.
901
01:03:12,320 --> 01:03:14,447
And during the night the doctor called me
902
01:03:14,447 --> 01:03:17,607
and he said, "You know,
it's sad news for you.
903
01:03:17,607 --> 01:03:19,057
"There's very little hope."
904
01:03:21,180 --> 01:03:23,800
And I said, "Well, will I ring Ireland?"
905
01:03:23,800 --> 01:03:26,267
And he said, "Yes, ring them."
906
01:03:26,267 --> 01:03:29,773
And I rang home here and
he'll bring him home with me.
907
01:03:31,769 --> 01:03:34,763
And then next day, that was it.
908
01:03:36,236 --> 01:03:39,069
(sorrowful music)
909
01:03:42,991 --> 01:03:46,324
(waves softly crashing)
910
01:03:49,130 --> 01:03:52,050
- So he passed away within 24 hours.
911
01:03:52,050 --> 01:03:55,080
And then we brought his
body back to Castletownbere,
912
01:03:55,080 --> 01:03:56,820
his roots and his heart were here.
913
01:03:56,820 --> 01:03:59,830
And the day that he was buried,
914
01:03:59,830 --> 01:04:01,950
the program was on the radio.
915
01:04:01,950 --> 01:04:03,380
So people were down in the hotel
916
01:04:03,380 --> 01:04:05,240
and then it was like my
dad had the final word
917
01:04:05,240 --> 01:04:08,310
and people just stood up and
applauded at the end of it.
918
01:04:08,310 --> 01:04:09,893
And it was just amazing.
919
01:04:16,810 --> 01:04:18,100
- [Interviewer] What would you say
920
01:04:18,100 --> 01:04:21,030
was the single characteristic
that enabled you
921
01:04:21,030 --> 01:04:23,350
to survive all of that period?
922
01:04:23,350 --> 01:04:25,610
- [Aidan] Well, it's a combination really
923
01:04:25,610 --> 01:04:30,610
of my Irish Catholic heritage,
924
01:04:32,290 --> 01:04:33,810
my family background
925
01:04:35,700 --> 01:04:37,480
and lots and lots of luck.
926
01:04:41,346 --> 01:04:44,179
(uplifting music)
67128
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