Treatment of Medical Staff

Heroes Remember

Treatment of Medical Staff

Transcript

Interviewer: When the Japanese Army came to take you into custody, what do you remember about that? I remember that a Japanese officer came to the fort and made arrangements to have us moved to a camp. That I remember. And then we had to, the next day, we all left the port for North Point camp. Interviewer: How did the Japanese treat the wounded men? I am not in a position to say that I have witnessed anything but I have heard of so many. I know that, if I'm not mistaken, it's Bowen Road Hospital. They took the, some of the men, medical men out, at least fifteen of them. And some of my comrades told me that they saw that the next day they had their eyes pulled out, teeth broken, face all massacre and bayonet and all that. These people were medical men so the Japanese were really cruel and not civilized.

Description

Mr. Castonguay describes the cruel treatment that some of the medical staff received after their capture.

Bernard Castonguay

Bernard Castonguay was born in Montreal, Quebec on February 9, 1921. He was the fourth of eleven children. His father worked for CPR as a seam fitter. Mr. Castonguay left home at the age of sixteen to look for adventure. He worked as a lumberjack and on the railways. Unable to find work in 1940, Mr. Castonguay went to Quebec City and joined the Royal Rifles of Canada. He was then shipped to Gander, Newfoundland where he worked as a signalman and sentry. Afterwards, he went to St. John, NB. While in Hong Kong, Mr. Castonguay was captured by the Japanese and sent to a POW camp (Omeni) in Nagasaki, Japan to work in a coal mine. After his service, Mr. Castonguay worked with the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB) later becoming the Regional Director of CNIB. He also volunteered and worked with the Canadian Council for the Blind.

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