Diphtheria

Heroes Remember

Diphtheria

Transcript

Well we were over at North Point Camp at the time. We had been taken over there and we were in North Point Camp at the time and we used to keep hearing Last Post an awful lot and from what I understand after we got back over to Sham Shui Po that six to eight people were being carried out a day. And when the doctor there, an Indian doctor asked if they would bring in a live horse, he’d make his own serum because the doctors kept asking for serum for this diphtheria and then he asked for a live horse and he’d make his own diphtheria but they wouldn’t do that either. And I guess after that, we were moved back to Sham Shui Po camp. There was one thing, I guess it was the time that we did move from North Point Camp to Sham Shui Po. This was when the diphtheria epidemic was on. We saw, oh I forget how many hundreds of Japanese, all carrying white boxes and we found out later that we had to stop while they went on the ferries and that, that all these white boxes were all the ashes of the Japanese that were killed. That’s what we found out later. So we got over to Sham Shui Po camp again and then some of our guys started to get diphtheria too and a few of them passed away. Then after a few more passed away, I guess the Japanese started figuring well maybe we’re going to catch this disease so they brought in some serum from what I understand and the diphtheria epidemic was more or less over. Interviewer: If the serum and medical supplies had have been given to you men earlier, would many of the men that died have survived? Oh I am sure they would have, I am sure they would have, you know. They may have died of other causes later on but they wouldn’t have died of diphtheria that’s for darn sure because as I say once the serum came in, the hospital was empty in a short time.

Description

Mr. Harrison describes an attempt by a captured Indian doctor to get a horse, which would enable him to make diphtheria serum; the request is denied. However, when the epidemic became a threat to the Japanese, serum was made available.

George Harrison

George Harrison was born on April 4, 1920 in Winnipeg, Manitoba and was youngest of three children. His father died shortly after his birth, forcing his mother to place him and his siblings in an orphanage, where he was at times badly beaten. Learning this, his mother took her children back home. After completing grade 9, Mr. Harrison went to work to help support his family. Eventually, he gained employment with CPR Telegraph. On September 13, 1939, Mr. Harrison enlisted with Winnipeg Grenadiers, becoming a specialist on the Vickers machine gun. During the battle of Hong Kong, Mr. Harrison was made a sergeant, and was involved in deadly fighting. Along with the general misery and persecution suffered by all of the POWs, Mr. Harrison faced down both blindness and potential amputation of his toes.

Meta Data