The Universal Consequences of an Escape

Heroes Remember

The Universal Consequences of an Escape

North point, it was a cold miserable place, of course, this was now in the winter and they would get rains like the monsoons there and it was pretty cold and, of course, we didn’t have blankets and this sort of thing, the odd one had a blanket that he had with him when he was caught but it was just a miserable place. We weren’t working. The biggest thing that happened there was the night that four of the fellows escaped. I knew nothing about the plot or anything like that and I don’t imagine they told anybody anyway but we were all brought out in the middle of the night, out onto the parade square and it was raining that night and even the sick were brought out on stretchers and we were left standing there all night, the rest of the night, in the rain and we never knew what for until the next day we found out they told us that four fellows had escaped and, of course, when they brought us out they had already caught them, that’s how they knew they escaped but we never heard really what they did. We were told that they’d been shot but as far as I know, we didn’t know anything really.

Mr. Gerrard discusses the retribution faced by all the inmates, including those on stretchers, after an escape from North Point. The POWs are forced to endure a long night outdoors in a cold rain.

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.