Slave Labour in Japan

Heroes Remember

Slave Labour in Japan

Transcript

Well I think that, that they, they chose those who were the healthiest but even so they had a quota to meet and some of the, some of the prisoners that were selected were anything but healthy. The prisoners were split up in Nagasaki on the dock. Some, some went to one location, some to another and so on. I, and I was, was with the biggest route that went to Tokyo and ended up in 3-D. We were there to work in the shipyard,

Description

Mr. Ewing gives a vivid account of life as a slave labourer in Japan during the Second World War.

Kenneth Alexander Ewing

Kenneth Ewing was born in 1925, the 4th oldest of 12 children. His father was a civil engineer for the province of New Brunswick which enabled them to manage fairly well during the Depression. His father was a Lieutenant in the First World War and signed up as an engineer in the Second World War from 1942 to 1945. Mr. Ewing quit school in Grade 10 at the age of 15 to join the army. He was unsuccessful in his attempt to join the Merchant Navy and joined the militia in the spring of 1940. He then joined the N.B. Rangers (militia). In November 1940, he went active with the Royal Rifles. He did his basic training in Botwood, Newfoundland, guarding the port. He did further guard duty in Botwood, Gander, and St. John's, Newfoundland, Valcartier, Quebec, and Saint John, New Brunswick. He was posted to Hong Kong as a rifleman in "A" Company. He was taken POW and sent to a slave labour camp in Japan where he endured beatings, disease, and very poor living conditions but considered himself lucky since other Canadians had been executed.

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