AS PRISONERS OF JAPANESE

Chronicle (Levin), 9 August 1947, Page 4

AS PRISONERS OF JAPANESE

EXPERIENCES OF MISSIONARY | ' AND HIS WIFE I "Tq be kept a virtual prisqner ir\jCanton- while his wife^ al&o iptqrn;ed by the Japajnesq, was. ]qeld *in [H;ong Kqqg, \vas the experiepcq of1 |tne Right Rev. - Her-beft' Davies, M.A.. now Moderator of the Presbyterian ©ereral Assembly. The Rt. Rev. and Mrs. Dayies, whq have both had a long association with mission work in China, this week paid a visit to Levin,' where they spoke to the members and friends of the St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church. Relating their experiences during- the course of an interview, Mr. and . Mrs. Dayies said that though they were separated fortwq years, they were eventually transferred -to* the same intern.ment camp at Shanghai. There they were reasonably well treated, the shortage of food being the main worry. Black bread was the staple food. "It was supposed to have somethmg nourishing in it, but we neve-r found out just what it was," said Mrs. Davies, who added that it cert-ainly was not very palatable. | 'Sickness was rife throughout the camp, 70 per cent. of the 300 Jinternees being affected off and on. -Forty had died. The'internees were permitted considerable freedom of movement, inside the camp, and they were allowed to grow a certain amount of. food. Mr. Davies had been head gardener and | one year he produced 2000 toma[toes, which he distributed among 1 the internees. Most of the internees of this camp were high officials, bank managers and other important personages, from whom the Japan'ese thought they could, with the assistance of a little pressure, get information. Though they had not been ill treated, the general secretary of the British and Foreign Bible Society, the Rev. Hudsbeth, had been badly tortured. "He came back with his hair as white as snow," said Mrs. Davies. "We were the last to be interned there as there were so many Americans and British that the process of internment was very slow," said Mr. Davies. "The older people and invalids were not interfered with at first, and we were left out to look after them. The food situation was so: bad, however, that we were quite pleased when we were sent to the camp. All Americans and British not in ihe camps were made to 'Wear a red arm band with a large 'B' or •A,' dependmg on the nationality of the person." The Japanese specially requested that he wear his clerical habit when out, and act as a chaplain, said Mr. Davies. They were not hard on the internees as long as they were not engaged in politics. When they were eventually sent to the camp at Shanghai they were allowed to take their own beds and bedding, though Mrs. Davies said that ihis was not so at Hong Kong, where she had had to sleep on the floor. Every internment camp was surrounded by military establish-

ments. In fact in the camp at Shanghai the headquarters of a divisional commander was so close that the commander's door was only 18 feet away from the barbed wire. Mr. Davies said he had taken an English service for a year while out on parole, and also looked after burials. Two days after the war was over a plane arrived from Okinawa and dropped food by parachute. It was not thought safe to drop the heavy containers inside the camp, so they had been dropped some distance away. Unfortunately it was a little Eoo close to villages, and they had only recovered about 50 per cent. of them. Red Cross parcels were not often received. Mrs. Davies had received one when interned at Hong Kong and one at Shanghai. There was absolutely no news from New Zeaiand, and there was no way of getting news out of Shangnai. Tney had not heard from ,heir son in New Zeaiand in four years.

There was a newspaper printed in the camp by the Japanese, but chey soon learnt to regard the news in the opposite light. If the Japanese stated that they had secured a major victory and.sunk so many American ships, the internees knew 'that the opposite was really the case. As the end neared the Japanese told the internees that they were not losing the war, but merely "enticing" the Allies nearer to Japan . to deliver the final blow. From the time they were released till they arrived at their home in Dunedin they had received every consideration and help from the Red Cross and Army, said Mr. Davies. They had been flown from Hong Kong to Australia by the R.A.F. -and thence to Auckland.

Both were liberal in their praise of the Red Cross in Auckland and the Army authorities in New Zeaiand. "We could not have received better or kinder tr.eatment, and every thing was done for us that could be done. They didn't forget a thing." . Both during and after the war black marketing was- rife in Shanghai, and there was terrible inflation throughout the country. Both Mr. and Mrs. Davies have a high regard for the" Chinese, amo.ng whom they have worked for many years. Mrs. Davies specialised in adaptmg hymn musio to the Chinese language and style, and had produced the first Chinese book on world church music. She has been working among the Chinese even longer than her husband. At a special meeting in St. Andrew's Church on Thursday

night the visitors were introduced to the congregation by the Rev. A. Salmond and following an outline of their work in China by her husband, Mrs. Davies demonstrated her system of bringing the Bible to the notice of the Chinese- by song, •and sang a number of briejf choruses for the benefit " of her * listeners.