First Taste of Freedom
Heroes Remember
First Taste of Freedom
Transcript
Description
Mr. Billson describes arriving in Manila, being immunized by Australian nurses at an American hospital, and being given two hundred dollars American.
Walter Billson
Walter Billson was born in Lennoxville, Quebec on October 2, 1914. After completing grade six, he went to work at a local garage. He also joined the Sherbrooke Regiment so he could take rifle practice. In 1940, he enlisted with the Royal Rifles of Canada and became a dispatch rider. After training stints at Valcartier, Sussex and Gander, he returned to Valcartier and was married. The next day, he was heading for Hong Kong. When the battle for Hong Kong begins, Mr. Billson, by then a Corporal, is put in charge of a Bren gun, guarding a pillbox at TaiTam gap. After being captured and imprisoned at North Point Camp, he is sent to a Japanese labor camp near the Omini coal mine. After being liberated, Mr. Billson sees the devastation of Nagasaki as a result of the atomic bomb.
Meta Data
- Medium:
- Video
- Owner:
- Veterans Affairs Canada
- Duration:
- 1:09
- Person Interviewed:
- Walter Billson
- War, Conflict or Mission:
- Second World War
- Battle/Campaign:
- Hong Kong
- Branch:
- Army
- Units/Ship:
- Royal Rifles of Canada
- Rank:
- Corporal
- Occupation:
- Dispatch Rider
Related Videos
I Had Never Handled A Bren Gun
Mr. Billson describes being placed in charge of a Bren gun, a weapon he had never handled. His unit is sent to protect a pillbox at Tai Tam Gap without being issued any ammunition. When the ammo arrives, it isn't Bren cartridges, it is hand grenades. Eventually a few cartridges arrive.
Taking A Life
Mr. Billson discusses the fact that despite overwhelming odds, he found that shooting a man for the first time was “hard to take”. After that, however, he didn't care.
No Place To Hide
Mr. Billson describes feeling threatened by the Japanese no matter where he was on the island. He recalls feeling particularly vulnerable at Stanley Fort.
Japanese Hierarchy Of Discipline
Mr. Billson describes the Japanese habit of slapping prisoners as a disciplinary measure, but explains that it is merely an extension of the Japanese military culture.
I was put on a drill.
Mr. Billson describes his duties in the coal mine as a drill operator, the extraction procedure, and the potential risks of working in the mine.
Measures of Japanese Successes
Mr. Billson describes how the POW’s treatment by the guards generally mirrored Japan's successes and setbacks in the war.
Crude Medicine
Mr. Billson describes two incidents where he received crude medical treatment. One was having a gash above his eye doused in alcohol and stitched without freezing, and the other was an aching tooth that was packed with cotton and soaked with carbolic acid.
The War Ends
Mr. Billson discusses how work in the mine suddenly ended, signaling Japanese capitulation, and how the guards were all gone the following day.
A Dangerous Food Drop
Mr. Billson describes a terrible irony of being liberated. Two POWs are killed when pallets parachuted in by the Americans strike them.
A-Bomb Aftermath
Mr. Billson describes viewing the devastation after the bombing of Nagasaki. The only intact things he sees are few porcelain toilets. He also describes how the blast had rolled all the sod up the surrounding hills.
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