We Knew That Something Drastic had Happened

Heroes Remember

We Knew That Something Drastic had Happened

Transcript

All we saw is the Americans coming over going someplace, and we could see them. And oh boy the Japs got so excited about that. They even blackened the windows so we couldn’t look out at this. They didn’t make any attempt of fighter planes up there trying to do anything about this. You just seen all this vapour trail way high up and boy oh boy. And they got meaner and meaner until the last bomb was dropped at Hiroshima. Of course, we didn’t know what happened. But we were at work and we went home in the middle of the day. We knew that something drastic had happened, because they’d never take us home after half a day. So then the next day all the sentries disappeared. Well then we new that the war was over. We got official word for the Americans dropped a package. Oh that was about a month after. The Americans dropped a package of coffee on the parade ground with a little note and they said they would send food. Of course we had access to the storeroom and there was lots of rice there. It was still only rice. That’s all that was there. But at least we got good food whoever wanted it, each could have lots of rice. But at that time very few of us could eat that damn stuff. And there again, at that stage even the rice, your stomach wouldn’t even digest the rice. It would go right through you as quick as you eat it. We stayed there until we got notification from the Americans to get on a train and go to Yokohama, I think it was yeah.

Description

Mr. Peters describes events leading up to and indicating that the war was over.

Abraham Peters

Abe Peters, one of six children, was born in Lowe Farm, Manitoba, on November 12, 1919. His father was a farmer. Mr. Peters worked on the family farm, and was entrusted with the care of the horses. He left school after completing Grade eight to become a farm labourer. His parents were very upset to learn that he had enlisted in the Royal Winnipeg Rifles in June, 1940. Mr. Peters took basic training at Shiloh, Manitoba and Debert, Nova Scotia. He was ill in hospital when the Rifles shipped overseas to Europe, and once healthy, was sent to reinforce the Winnipeg Grenadiers, with whom he was sent to Hong Kong. As with other survivors of the Hong Kong theatre, Mr. Peters experienced poor training, inferior weaponry, capitulation and a life of misery in the Japanese POW and labour camps. He agrees with many of his comrades that it was a hopeless deployment.

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