They Used our Fuel for the Japanese to Have a hot Bath

Heroes Remember

They Used our Fuel for the Japanese to Have a hot Bath

It was a watery soup and sometimes if you saw a little piece of pork, it looked liked a sugar cube, if you got that in your soup you were, you thought you had something. And a small cup of rice, that’s what we had. And sometimes when they ran out of rice, they’d give us, they’d mix it with beans that were soya beans that were half cooked, because they couldn’t afford the fuel. But talking about fuel in the camp they had stoves in the hallway for to heat the place. They soon took them out because they used the fuel for the Japanese to have a hot bath. They used our fuel (to heat the building) to heat the water for the Japanese to have a hot bath. We just covered up with blankets. They gave us about two or three blankets, we covered up with them. I still, at home, crawl under the blanket and cover my head so that the warm air will heat my body. I had a habit of getting under the blankets. There was hardly any change of clothes so we would just lay down in our wet clothes. It was miserable weather in the rainy season. They gave us rain coats made of straw. It looked like a bunch of monkeys with these straw capes on.

Mr. Yeadon discusses the inadequate food, heat and clothing in the camp.

Francis Edison Yeadon

Francis Edison Yeadon was born in Spryfield, Nova Scotia, on September 24, 1924. He was the youngest in a family of eight. After leaving school at the age of 16, he joined the Merchant Navy in Halifax. Mr. Yeadon completed one successful North Atlantic convoy, before being captured at sea while transporting a shipload of arms to India. He remained aboard the German “raider” for several months, finally being turned over to the Japanese at Yokohama. Included is a good account of the American bombing(s) which led to Japan’s capitulation. Mr. Yeadon remained in the merchant marine after the war, due, as he says, to the lack of educational opportunities offered to Veterans of the Armed Forces.

Medium:: Video
Owner:: Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:: 2:22
Person Interviewed:: Francis Edison Yeadon
War, Conflict or Mission:: Second World War
Location/Theatre:: Japan
Battle/Campaign:: North Atlantic
Branch:: Merchant Navy
Occupation:: Seaman

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Date modified:: 2024-12-30