“Send all Prisoners of war to the Beach”

Heroes Remember

“Send all Prisoners of war to the Beach”

General MacArthur said send all prisoners of war to the beach and they would pick us up which they did. And they sent out large landing barges and picked us up and took us out to a destroyer, an American destroyer, and we had our first good meal on there and then the destroyer took us to the Red Cross ship, the Benevolence. And we were on the Benevolence two or three days and that was the first time we seen a white woman and it wasn’t a sexually excited but it was really exciting to see somebody like that. And from the Red Cross ship, they took us to, they put us on a British aircraft carrier to Manila and that took about a week to get there. And we were in an American base there for about two weeks going through tests and things like that. Then we boarded a troop ship for San Francisco. I had my 21st birthday in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Interviewer: What do you remember about turning twenty one in the middle of the Pacific. I didn’t tell them that I was twenty one. Interviewer: Why not?

Mr. Yeadon describes being liberated from Japan by the American Navy, and shipping home.

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:: 2:19
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