Mr. Ewing describes his determination to join the service which included multiple attempts at enlisting.
Voyage to Hong Kong and Lack of Weaponry
Mr. Ewing remembers when he found out he was being deployed overseas to active duty, not to Europe, but rather Hong Kong. He recalls the voyage and explains how the troops arrived in Hong Kong but a lot of their heavy weaponry did not.
Japanese Invade Hong Kong and Take POW’s
Mr. Ewing describes his situation in Hong Kong when the Japanese invaded the colony. He remembers his first contact with the enemy and shortly thereafter being taken as a prisoner of war.
Surrender to the Japanese
Mr. Ewing describes his experience immediately after his surrender to the Japanese in Hong Kong.
Life in a Prisoner of War Camp
Mr. Ewing offers a detailed account of life inside a prisoner of war camp as he describes the guards, rations, sanitation, beds and the bugs.
Effects of Poor Diet
Mr. Ewing describes some of the diseases that set in at the POW camps as a result of poor diet and living conditions.
Slave Labour in Japan
Mr. Ewing gives a vivid account of life as a slave labourer in Japan during the Second World War.
The Japanese Guards in Tokyo
Mr. Ewing describes the guards in the slave labour camps in Tokyo and tells a story about the only time he received extraordinary punishment.
Surviving Tuberculosis as a POW
Mr Ewing explains how he contracted tuberculosis while being held in a Japanese prisoner of war camp and survived thanks to a comrade’s homemade contraption.
The Shinegawa POW Hospital
As Mr. Ewing recounts the conditions he and the other sick men lived in, we understand more about Japanese war prisons.
Trying to Keep Up with the War while in POW Camp
News about the progress of the war was hard to get by in POW camps but it still seeped in from time to time.
The War Ends in Japan
Even when the war ended, things were still somewhat dangerous in POW camps but some guards were good to the prisoners.