We Didn’t Know What They Wanted.

Heroes Remember

We Didn’t Know What They Wanted.

Transcript

They seemed like they were happy when they were slapping somebody around. There was, you know, there was one there, we called him slap happy. He was always having to be slapping people around. Because we didn’t know what was going to happen to us, whether we were going to live, whether they were going to let us live or what. We had to be careful all the way through. And for three years and eight months, we had to be careful of what we were doing. Of course, the Japs were right there. They were, you know … had a very close watch on us. They talked Japanese and we talked English, so we didn't talk to each other. It was very hard on us ‘cause we couldn't understand what they were saying. When they wanted us to do something, we didn’t know what they wanted us to do. I remember one time I was, see, I was a batman in there for five officers. And I used to go down to the beach there and they had them patios and we used to put the clothes on top there and scrub them. I was a batman for Colonel (Kurst). He had his tools there. I remember one time I went down there to go and a Jap came around. He used to guard us right around. Came and he pointed down at... I didn’t know what he wanted and there was a long pole there so I pointed at it. And he done like this, so I picked it up and I handed it to him. He turned around and he hit me right across the back and knocked me down so I started crawling. I got up on my hands and then I walked right away from him. He was standing there with a rifle. I didn’t know whether he was going to shoot me or what he was going to do, but I was going to get out of the road anyway.

Description

Mr. Moar describes his inability to communicate with his Japanese guards, and being beaten by one of them.

James Moar

James Moar was born in Kenville, Manitoba in 1915. He was one of fifteen children. His father worked both as a fisherman and as a farm labourer. After completing grade five, Mr. Moar left school, moving to Swan River to work, and eventually enlisted there. He joined the Royal Rifles, and did his basic training at Portage La Prairie. Before leaving for Hong Kong, he joined the Winnipeg Grenadiers. Mr. Moar was wounded early in the Hong Kong campaign. His leg injury left him unable to join the labour gangs, and he became a batman for five of his officers in the POW camp at Sham Shui Po. He reports having been well treated by his officers, but being beaten by his Japanese guards. Mr. Moar became a fisherman after safely returning to Canada. He remains proud of his service to his country.

Meta Data

Medium:: Video
Owner:: Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:: 2:28
Person Interviewed:: James Moar
War, Conflict or Mission:: Second World War
Location/Theatre:: Hong Kong
Battle/Campaign:: Hong Kong
Branch:: Army
Units/Ship:: Royal Rifles, Winnipeg Grenadiers

Language selection

We Didn’t Know What They Wanted.

Heroes Remember