The Effects of Disease were Cumulative.

Heroes Remember

The Effects of Disease were Cumulative.

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There was quite a bit of diphtheria and they put one of our buildings special for these diphtheria patients and it was next to where the one I was staying in. And I can remember I was in there and these fellas were just laying on a cement floor dying really and some of them even had to cut their throats so they could breath and I think there was the odd one that did survive it but the big thing was when you got something, you were so weak that you caught other things and they didn’t die of one thing, they died of several as a rule and it was pretty heartbreaking.

Mr. Gerrard describes suffering from diphtheria and witnessing several deaths on his ward as a result of it. He also attributes the death of many of the prisoners to the cumulative effect of several diseases.

Horace Gerrard

Although born in England on January 19, 1922, Mr. Gerrard's family emigrated to Red Deer, Alberta where his father died when he was six years old. Once he was old enough, he hunted game to help feed his family as well as cutting wood for heat. Mr. Gerrard left school after grade nine, working at odd jobs. He joined the 78th Field Battery as a reserve when he was sixteen. He later joined the permanent force in 1939 with the 5th Heavy Battery. Eventually Mr. Gerrard joined the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals, with whom he served in Hong Kong. He worked with both British and Canadian battalions during the Battle of Hong Kong, before being taken prisoner by the Japanese.