pow 1944d

Alfred Kenneth was my father and Alexander Robert, my uncle.  No information about the Jacksons' and Ahmed.

A little more than a quarter of a century ago, the “paper crumble” file I sent was “restored and digitized” and kept in a CD.  The original was then passed to the Hong Kong Government Museum of History for (they said restoration) and permanent storage. 

There were two separate stories told by my father:

The Rifle

One day, a Japanese guard stripped down his rifle for cleaning under the watchful eyes of a few captives.  When he couldn't put it back together, panic set in, and he desperately turned to the prisoners for help.  The brothers and a few men stepped forward and effortlessly reassembled the weapon on their very first attempt.  Overjoyed and relieved, the guard later rewarded the prisoners with an abundance of food, drinks, and cigarettes.

The Escape

Once on the water, the brothers noticed that their three companions could barely swim, quickly lagging behind and failing to maintain "total silence."  They had reached the point of no return.  In an instinctive move, Alfred grabbed the two lighter men while Bob took hold of the older Jackson.  They dragged them through the water all the way to the shore. Though the men had lied about their swimming ability, all were profoundly grateful to reach safety after such a narrow escape.