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UK crewmen celebrate POW rescue

Former members of the British Royal Navy attend a commemoration ceremony yesterday to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the evacuation of prisoners of war from Taiwan at Keelung's Wharf No.2. PHOTO: SOONG CHIH-HSIUNG, TAIPEI TIMES

Five former sailors of the British Royal Navy attended a commemoration ceremony yesterday to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the evacuation of prisoners of war (POWs) from Taiwan.

The ceremony took place on the No. 2 West Wharf at Keelung Harbor, the exact spot where Taiwanese POWs were rescued 60 years ago by Allied sailors two weeks after the surrender of the Japanese forces.

From August 1942 until September 1945 the Japanese held more than 4,300 Allied prisoners of war in 15 POW camps around Taiwan. Many suffered mistreatment and malnutrition at the hands of their Japanese captors, or died from abuse and starvation.

For the POWs that lived, the crew members present at the commemoration service yesterday -- Ken Connolly, Peter Longhurst, Stan Morriss, Sam Pearsall and Denys Carden -- were a welcome site in early September of 1945.

Now in their 70s and 80s, the British sailors were just young men of around 17 and 18 years old when they arrived in 1945 in Keelung harbor on a rescue mission.

Denys Carden, left, a former member of the British navy, shows a bandanna given to him by a prisoner of war (POW) in 1945 during a commemoration ceremony yesterday to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the evacuation of Allied POWs from Taiwan at Keelung's Wharf No. 2. PHOTO: SOONG CHIH-HSIUNG, TAIPEI TIMES

The sky was overcast and rain started falling lightly as the former crew members of the British Royal Navy took their places yesterday next to a line of flags of the Allied nations that took part in the evacuation of the POW survivors -- the US, the UK, Australia and New Zealand.

Many POWs would have died if the rescue ships had come one or two weeks later, said Michael Hurst, the director of the Taiwan POW Camps Memorial Society, who organized the ceremony.

"The POWs called these rescuers the angels of mercy," Hurst said.

"And these navy crew members recall their greatest moment as the rescue of the POWs in Taiwan," he added.

World War II US navy veteran Art Scholl choked up as he tried to read the poem A Veteran Speaks.

"We serve to protect our countries, to regain freedom and to make sure our children have a better place to live," the poem read.

Representatives of the Allied nations, Laurence Mitchell, senior military advisor of the liaison affairs section at the American Institute in Taiwan, and Charles Garrett, deputy director-general of the British Trade and Cultural Office, both praised the veterans for their selflessness and sacrifice in coming to evacuate the POWs.

Denys Carden, who was on the British ship HMS Bermuda, talked about the first POW he saw at the harbor 60 years ago.

"The POW was so gratified, and he gave me this," Carden said, taking a red handkerchief out of his pocket.

"It has always been with me since then," Carden added.

Another former navy crew member Peter Longhurst, from the HMS Barle spoke of the rumors he had heard before his arrival of how badly the prisoners were treated in the Japanese camps in Taiwan.

"However, I was still very surprised when I saw the POWs. They were in even worse conditions than I had previously imagined," Longhurst said.

Retired Lieutenant General Abraham Lee (李惠鈞), who is deputy secretary-general of the Veterans Affairs Commission, said that "We should help the society remember the POWs. We must face the history, not hide it."

Hurst touched on the same theme.

"Many POWs went home and were discouraged from talking about their time in Taiwan," Hurst said. "Therefore, we must work harder to make sure these men are never forgotten."

Mark Wilkie, also from the society said: "We must thank these veterans. That's all they need. A simple thanks."

Wreaths were laid on the dock to honor the men of the Allied navies who evacuated the POWs.

A memorial service for POWs will be held in November in Chinkuashih (金瓜石) the site of the Kinkaseki POW camp, reportedly one of the most brutal of the Japanese camps.
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