Escape to Pagan

by Brian Devereux

  Some British prisoners belonging to the Hong Kong Volunteer Force, who could speak the Shanghai dialect fluently, were blessed with favourable currents and managed to reach the adjacent Chusam Archipelago. They explained to the villagers that the men in the sea were in fact British prisoners. These brave Chinese fishermen immediately took to their boats and began to pull the exhausted prisoners from the sea, despite the fact that a Japanese warship was present. To make matters worse a storm was beginning to rise and the notorious currents of this estuary were pulling men past the islands and out to sea. Those who made it ashore were looked after by the fishermen’s families, feeding and clothing them as best they could.

  So great was the poor Chinese fishermen’s contribution to saving the lives of so many of the prisoners that after the war they were justly rewarded for the risks they had taken. The villagers were given a monetary reward and a large brand new motorised fishing boat donated by all the men who survived the rescue and imprisonment.

  “The Japanese, on seeing so many prisoners being saved by the Chinese decided to pick up the men in the sea instead of shooting them or waiting for them to drown.”

  The three older gentlemen, members of the Hong Kong Volunteer Force who first reached the islands, were Mr Evans, the manager of a British cigarette company in Hong Kong, a Mr Johnston (occupation unknown) and a Mr Wallace, editor of a Hong Kong newspaper. With the help of the fishermen, they escaped to the mainland and reached the Communist guerrillas. These three men were responsible for organizing the gift of the boat and money after the war.

  Finally the Lisbon Maru lurched again and the seamen still aboard knew the ship was beginning her noisy death throws. The sea rushed in forcing the air out from every opening and causing loud roars that ended in sinister hisses. The ship was going down stern first.

  “As the ship began to sink, Jack and his group planned to jump into the sea and board two rafts that had been roped together. Many of the Scots were poor swimmers or non-swimmers and had to be persuaded to leave the ship. In fact many soldiers were determined to stay on board for as long as possible. What the men did not know was that the ship’s bow was resting on a sand bank in only fifty foot of water but this would not last. When the ship finally settled the decks were deep under water. The non-swimmers clung to the high mast, the only part of the ship still visible.

  “Jack [a good diver and swimmer] ran towards the bow of the ship and jumped in after the two made-up rafts had been pushed overboard. But when he surfaced he could not locate the other men or the rafts.

  “Jack said he found the sea warm and wonderfully refreshing; it gave him new reserves of energy. Despite his happiness of being in the open air and the reviving sea, his head wound began to sting from the salt water. Unknown to him, the large and deep exit wound on the back of his neck had become infected again by maggots that were not visible to the naked eye.”

  Although the Sergeant did not like reliving being trapped in No 2 hold, he did not seem to mind recounting his experiences in the sea. I can’t remember Tam and Willie ever discussing their experience in No 2 hold either. What a wonderful, invigorating feeling the sea must have been for all the men after the humid, dirt-ridden, stinking holds in the bowels of the Lisbon Maru.

  “Jack was soon joined by a sailor he knew from Hong Kong who had lived near him in Nelson. This sailor was one of the prisoners who had deliberately changed from No 1 hold to No 2 hold. They both swam a safe distance from the ship believing it was going to sink at any moment. Jack began looking for his comrades and the rafts, he was too weak to attempt a swim to an island. He soon found a long piece of flat timber and clung to it with the sailor from Nelson. Jack said some men seemed to be swimming out to sea.”

  Perhaps these men were looking for the submarine that had sunk the Lisbon Maru. If successful, it would mean instant freedom; many prisoners on Japanese hell-ships had indeed been liberated this way.

  “Suddenly there was machine-gun fire. Jack could see the bullets hitting the water and coming his way. He dived under the sea as deep as he could manage and watched the bullets zigzag down as they lost power. When he came to the surface he was feeling faint; the sailor who was with him had disappeared.

  “It was while Jack was underwater that he saw the shadowy shapes of sharks below him; they looked so small and harmless, seemed afraid of him and darted into the depths. Jack started swimming away from the ship forgetting the sharks. He soon found another kind of raft with two men clinging to it kicking their legs trying to get to the islands. He held on to this raft and tried to help but the raft was too heavy and they made little headway before they were exhausted. The two men on the raft then saw a large plank of timber and swam towards it without speaking to Jack and began to head to the shore. Jack was now alone and decided to stay with the raft in the hope it would drift towards land of its own accord. He did not like being alone and hoped he would soon have company.

  “Jack just clung to the edge of the raft, he did not want to make himself a bigger target for the Japanese by being on top; he just rested his head and upper body on the planks while holding on to some ropes with his arms. Many men were swimming past him; the lucky ones had found life jackets or were using blocks of raw rubber [part of the cargo] for buoyancy.

  “Soon he was joined by an officer from the Middlesex Regiment, who had a deep cut on his head; this officer said he received the wound when he tried to climb aboard a Japanese boat. This man had a pair of nice black patent leather ballroom-dancing shoes hanging around his neck. They began trying to propel the raft towards the land. They made little progress, the strong current was against them; it just seemed to be taking them further out to sea despite their efforts. Jack was soon exhausted by all this exertion and felt faint. His head began to throb painfully; he rested it on the raft and fell asleep. When he awoke, he was shocked to see maggots crawling all over the planks, canvas and his arms. There was only one place they could have come from, his head. He was alone again. The young officer with black patent leather shoes draped around his neck had gone.

  “As the wind picked up the waves grew in height and hanging onto the ropes was increasingly difficult so Jack climbed up onto the raft. The salt water had parched his mouth and his thirst returned. In the fading light he caught sight of a man face down in the water. This body was being attacked by small sharks. Although shocked at what he witnessed, he was not afraid as he believed these predators only attacked the dead. Exposed on top of the raft Jack was now feeling very cold. Exhausted, deep sleep overcame him and momentarily released his mind and worn out body from his despair and desperate situation. As he slept it rained heavily and warmed him like a blanket. He drank rainwater trapped in the folds of canvas. When the rain stopped the cold and cutting wind struck him like whip strokes. Jack re-entered the warmer sea.

  “Shivering he looked around hoping for company; he was not alone. In the fading light he saw a solitary large high fin slicing through the dark oily surface of the sea near his raft. For the first time the presence of sharks troubled Jack. He looked out for the fin again as if for confirmation; it did not appear and was forgotten.”

  I find it amazing that initially all the prisoners who were in the sea did not instantly fear shark attack. Perhaps many did believe (like the Sergeant) that sharks only attacked the dead. All warm seas have the attending danger of shark attack for anyone on the surface of the water, especially water that contained blood. As far as the Sergeant was concerned, full fear of sharks would come slowly in stages later while he was still in the water.

  “As the day began to fade, he again drank from small pools of rain water caught in the canvas depressions of the raft within reach of his mouth. These few mouthfuls gave him some short-term relief from his thirst. As soon as one need was satisfied, another took its place; the turbulent sea was making it difficult to hold on to the rising and falling raft. His grip was weakening. All his efforts to get back onto the raft failed. He knew that soon he would succumb to the ine
vitable when he lost contact with the raft. He craved a last cigarette. Jack began to give up hope as the raft he was on was swept further out to sea. As the raft crested a wave he could see on the horizon an island with trees and hoped to reach land before nightfall. But the next time he saw the island it looked different; he then realized the island was a low lying cloud. Bitter disappointed engulfed him and he began to pray silently.

  “As the storm began to grow and the waves grew higher, the sea was now crashing over the wooden raft. Jack’s strength was failing and he would not be able to grip the raft much longer. By now he had been in the water for many hours. Then as if by a miracle he felt a powerful surge of warm water on his legs and the raft seemed to have moved into a calmer sea; even the rain and wind felt warmer. Darkness had fallen. Jack had another drink of rainwater. The water gave him strength and he thrashed his legs to propel himself onto the raft. It was while he was doing this that his legs came into contact with something big under the water.”

  Whether the unknown object under the water that his foot had struck was a dead submerged body of one of his comrades – or a shark – is difficult to say. From that moment on the fear of sharks took root in the Sergeant’s mind. He would soon see his demon.

  “At first he thought he could hear sea birds and hoped he was drifting towards land. It was not long after that he noticed a light nearby; the Chinese fishermen had found him. The birds he had heard earlier on turned out to be the sing-song musical voices of the keen-eyed fishermen. They knew the currents. The fishermen climbed onto the raft and helped Jack onto their junk. Out of the cold wind he was given warm water and a strong Chinese cigarette. He noticed other prisoners on the deck; some were dead, one of the dead had a leg missing. The fishermen were taking the raft in tow. You know, I used to pray every night that he was still alive; I used to pray for a miracle – my prayers were answered.

  “Jack had swallowed a lot of sea water and soon felt sick. It was while he was being sick over the side of the junk that he saw a large shark just below his head in the dim light of the lantern. He noticed it had a round, blunt-looking head and indistinct dark stripes over its body. After the war he came to the conclusion that his demon was an adult tiger shark, common in the waters of the orient.

  “Back on land Jack and others were carried off the fishing junk and given some clothes, more water and a small bowl of rice. They then slept in one of the huts out of the rain; Jack was too tired to think of escape.

  “Tam and Willie had been somehow separated from Jack but managed to reach an island where they joined up with other prisoners who were planning their escape to the mainland about a mile distance across an inlet. But first they needed something to eat, and so headed to the nearest village. The villagers gave them food and water. Sitting around a blazing fire warming themselves, they put off the escape till the following day.”

  The following morning this group wasted precious time discussing their escape, when boats containing Japanese marines arrived and recaptured them. To the prisoners’ great surprise they were treated well by the enemy. Japanese naval vessels took the prisoners to a wharf on the Whangpoo River in Shanghai. Around thirty-six seriously ill prisoners were taken to a hospital in Shanghai; Sergeant Devereux was among their number. After being pulled from the sea his deep neck wounds were open and raw but were free of infection and maggots. All the necessary drugs were available in Shanghai and the prisoners were given adequate treatment there. The food for the sick men also greatly improved due to unknown benefactors.

  The so-called “healthy” survivors at the docks were issued with a small amount of rice and given new thin corduroy clothing and put on the Shencei Maru bound for Japan. At the docks before boarding, the British Officers and the Japanese took a roll call. Out of the original 1,816 officers and men, 842 were drowned or killed during the sinking, five died on the Shencei Maru on their way to Japan and 244 died subsequently in Japan, making a total of 1,091 deaths in total. Just 725 survivors were left.

  By this time the sinking of the Lisbon Maru was world news, and the Japanese (not wishing the true facts to be known) had allowed representatives of the world’s press to be present on the survivors’ arrival in Japan. The prisoners had been warned that their answers had to favour the brave Japanese who had risked their lives to rescue them after the Americans had deliberately sunk a prisoner of war ship.

  CHAPTER 20

  Journey to Tada u

  BURMA

  “My mother found a bullock cart driver willing to take us to Tada u for two hundred Burmese rupees. On the morning of our departure, we noticed that Gunso Enoda and his soldiers had already left. We never saw him again. As we now had transport there was no need for the pram. It was so nice not having to carry or push our possession. There were three covered carts in total and their drivers; one with our possessions and the other two with supplies for villages along the way. At night we slept in the cart. Thank God we were no longer travelling on our own.

  “We knew that Tada u was a military transit camp for Japanese troops, but the thought of living in a solid house with a tiled roof seemed wonderful. Unfortunately, a nasty shock awaited us. It took us many days to get to Tada u by bullock cart; travelling at the speed of a slow walk and sometimes having to get out and push when the wheels got stuck. At times the bullocks just stopped. On other occasions, if a dead snake lay on the track, they refused to move forward.

  “During the journey we stopped at different villages. At night the drivers lit big fires, taking turns to guard their animals. Stopping at a village for water, we were told that a tiger had killed and carried away a man out collecting wild honey the day before. Prior to that, the headman informed us, a local teenage girl was taken by a tiger as she slept against the thatch wall of a hut. The tiger tore through the thin walls of the hut and dragged her away. Her body was never found. I began to worry but my mother said that by the time the tiger was hungry again we would be safe in Tada u. If a spare village hut was available we’d pay to stay in it. I was grateful we had the Japanese document, as some of the villagers looked very fierce and were armed. The Imperial Japanese Army stamp at the top of the document worked wonders as many Burmese could not read the kanji script.

  “Sometimes we walked close behind the bullock cart, placing you on the back where we both could keep an eye on you. If we let you walk on the track you always stuck your little hands in the cow dung and played with the wild elephant droppings, looking for big dung beetles. Wild elephants often used the bullock tracks at night and sometimes attacked bullock carts and their drivers who had stopped to rest. Passing some of these sites we could see elephant footprints among the ashes of the old fires. We heard the occasional elephant in the distance, but it was the tiger I could not stop worrying about.

  “Fortunately the rains were now just light, the sun grew warmer. Duck and chicken eggs were now more readily available to buy from the villagers. Rice on the other hand was hard to come by. We always ate hot omelettes containing onions, garlic and chillies for breakfast, and then had them cold for lunch with Burmese white bread called palmo. This was where you acquired a taste for stale bread.

  Some of the villages we passed had been burnt to the ground by Japanese patrols for being suspected of harbouring insurgents. The Japanese try as they might could not subdue the hill tribes.

  “Now we were in the jungle-covered hills the cart drivers became more afraid that their animals could be stolen by hill tribes or attacked by carnivores. We moved at a snail’s pace on the uphill climbs. By this time we had eaten all our rice taken from Yu but my mother still had a few small bags of sugar, tins of golden syrup and flour which were vital for making cakes.

  “Long before we reached Tada u we could see the pagoda. Before entering Tada u we were stopped at a Japanese check-point and produced our permission to travel document. Moving on, the track led past an overgrown dusty and dilapidated sad-looking cemetery, a large pagoda and a Burmese village, before reaching the brick and
wood accommodation built on thick square wooden stilts. We waited under the trees in the shade while my mother went to see the Japanese commander. She told him we came south to escape the Chinese soldiers and showed him our permit to travel given to us by Sergeant Enoda. Several people came out on their narrow balconies to look at us but they did not seem very friendly. At the back of these houses were several large barracks and next to these was the military jail. In the distance and to the left of the row of houses was a big white building which had large barn doors.

  “The terraced houses must have been built by the British for a cavalry regiment, as there was space under them for horses. Outside the terrace under a line of trees were many water troughs. On the other side of these barracks were the administration buildings where the Japanese officers lived. The second row of terraced houses were reserved for Indian soldiers and their families. These areas were out of bounds to us internees.

  “My mother got permission from the Japanese Commander Major Watanabe to move into an available room. The commander made it quite clear that we were internees, responsible for our own welfare and food and not allowed to go beyond the boundaries of Tada u as we would be shot. When we first got there, many of the small houses were empty; we picked the closest free accommodation by the stairs not far from the well. There were few Japanese soldiers on guard duties when we arrived; the rest had left to fight the Chinese.

  “Soon all the rooms on the terrace began to fill up with new arrivals and their children. None seemed to have their husbands with them and they were not Burmese speakers. There was only one man who lived in our terrace with his family who worked for the Japanese in the administration block, an Anglo-Indian called Clive Thomas. Another Anglo-Indian girl in her twenties called Maureen Johnson, who lived with her mother having lost her father during the fighting, also worked in the Japanese admin block; it was the only way she could survive.