CPOW Reunion 2023 – Update!

Because of Covid, the CPOW (Civilian ex-Prisoners of War) (formerly BACEPOW) reunion was cancelled last year. So we are making up for it in 2023 with a meeting at our familiar hotel in Sacramento, California. The hotel is newly renovated for guest rooms and the atrium lobby, and features a managers cocktail social period in the late afternoon plus a cooked-­to-order breakfast.

CPOW 2023 Reunion Agenda


Thursday April 13 through Sunday April 16
Embassy Suites by Hilton Sacramento Riverfront Promenade

Thursday

    2:00 to 5:00 Registration, Cindie Leonard, Atrium

Friday

    Friday morning, Self-Registration, Atrium
    9:00 Opening & Welcome, Sally Meadows, Steamboat/Central Pacific Room
    9:10 Presentation of the Colors, California National Guard
    9:20 Los Baños Liberation, Sondra Shields
    10:05 Bilibid Liberation, Francine Bostrom
    10:50 Break
    11:05 Video of Internees, Melanie Chapman
    12:35 Lunch Break
    2:00 Twice a POW, Angus Lorenzen
    3:25 Break
    3:40 A Matter of Faith: Religion and Hope at Santo Tomas, Mary Beth Klee
    5:00 End of Session

Saturday
Steamboat/Central Pacific Room

Sunday
Various Rooms

    9:00 Book Discussions and Sales, Atrium
    9:00 CPOW Board of Directors, Sally Meadows, Tower Bridge B
    10:30 Authors Work in Progress, Mary Beth Klee, Tower Bridge B
    12:00 Banquet, Steamboat/Central Pacific
    1:00 Reunion Summation and Closing Remarks, Sally Meadows
    1:15 Keynote Speaker, Jim Zobel
    2:30 Adjourn, Sally Meadows

Hotel Reservations:
To reserve a room at Sacramento Embassy Suites using our discount code:

  • Visit www.sacramento.embassysuites.com and make a reservation using the group/convention code: POW
  • Call (916) 326-5000 and let the Front Desk Agent know you would like to make a reservation under the CPOW Civilian Prisoners of War discount rate.

Meeting Registration: CPOW 2023 Reunion Registration Form

Like to join CPOW? Link to the CPOW 2023 Membership Form

Checks should be made out to Civilian ex-POWs should be sent to CPOW Treasurer:

Cindie Leonard
1675 S. Lake Crest Way
Eagle, ID 83616

77th anniversary of Baguio/Old Bilibid Liberation

Old Bilibid Prison, Manila

On February 4, 1945, the day after the liberation of nearby Santo Tomás, the Japanese military abandoned Old Bilibid Prison. Later that day, men from the U.S. 37th Ohio Division accidentally discovered over 800 POWs and 500 civilian internees there. The civilians had formerly been held in Bagiuo Internment Camp, but were moved from to Old Bilibid, starting to arrive there at midnight, December 28, 1944.

Spirits Unbroken, 1946, by R. Renton HindAt six o’clock on the evening of the third of February … someone on the second floor saw a couple of “jeeps” arrive at the juncture of Quezon Boulevard and Calle Espana only a few hundred yards away. The boulevard was but a block from us, running north and south, while Espana was the avenue upon which the Sto. Tomas University faced, the buildings of which were plainly visible from Bilibid. Shortly afterwards they were joined by tanks and some army trucks representing a total force of 700 men comprising units of the First Cavalry (mechanized) and the 37th Ohio Division. It required a little time for us to realize that MacArthur’s men had arrived, so sudden and without warning was their advent… It was learned later, that our troops knew nothing of our presence at Bilibid, else we might have been relieved that night. At 8:45 [p.m] the tanks knocked at the Sto. Tomas gates and admission being refused they proceeded to level them and enter the grounds.  R. Renton Hind, Spirits Unbroken, 1946.

Civilian internees liberated at Old Bilibid Prison, 1945February 4, 1945: There had been some snipping on Rizal Avenue, and some soldiers of the 37th Ohio Division, who were preparing to bivouac, were ordered by one of their officers to rip away some boards that covered a large hole in the prison wall and find out what was beyond. When they tore the boards away, they were dumbfounded to find American POWs on the other side.  Donald E. Mansell, Under the Shadow of the Rising Sun, 2003.

On February 5th, the now former internees were move to the abandoned Ang Tibay shoe factory, which the Japanese had turned into an airplane repair show. On the 6th they were finally fed by the U.S. Army. That breakfast on the morning of the 6th will long live in our memories- cereal, milk, sugar, coffee, wheat bread and bacon and eggs. Lined up in four queues the 1300 of us including released prisoners of war were promptly served this wholesome “home-side” food. We wandered about the place all day, listened to the radio, through the kindness of the Signal Corps, talked with the prisoners of war and towards evening-the fire near Bilibid having burned itself out-we were loaded into trucks and taken back to town. Some of us were fired upon by Jap snipers but, fortunately, their marksmanship was poor.  R. Renton Hind, Spirits Unbroken, 1946.

Old Bilibid Prison graves

Old Bilibid Prison graves

February 7, 1945: About ten there were big cheers in the hall and someone said it was General MacArthur and his staff. I was too dull and weary to go to look and not much interested. I was standing in our space by the double bunk when MacArthur came through the door at the far end of the room… When the General passed the bunk he turned and looked into my face directly. He grabbed my hand and shook it, over and over, up and down. I was totally dumb. Natalie Crouter, Forbidden Diary, 1980.

Old Bilibid Prison hospital, 1945

Old Bilibid Prison hospital, 1945

The former internees stayed in the prison until February 22nd, when they began to be flown in groups to Leyte to be repatriated.

Passing of Betty Juhan Watt, former child internee

The Santa Barbara Independent recently announced the passing of Elizabeth “Betty” Watt.  Elizabeth “Betty” Juhan was born in Baguio in 1941, just before the War.  Betty and her family were interned in Baguio, and later at Old Bilibid Prison.  After liberation, Betty’s family, including her new brother, Herman, who was born on 29 March 1945, was repatriated on the S.S. Cape Mears, arriving in San Francisco, California, on 12 May 1945.  The Juhan family is mentioned in Rob Colquhoun’s account of the voyage.

After graduating from Venice High School, in California, Betty married her high school sweetheart, Conrad C. Watt Jr., in 1962.

Betty died in Santa Barbara, California, on 20 June 2021.

Link to the full article

Online Videos page updated

I have recently updated the Online Videos page to include more items by, and about, ex-internees. These videos come from a variety of sources, including YouTube, Vimeo, the Library of Congress, and the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), among others. The page also includes a video of an ex-STIC internee interviewing other ex-internees. If anyone knows the name of the interviewer, please send a message to me via the Comments page. [See below for update!]

Unknown STIC interviewer, 1945

Unnamed STIC interviewer, 1945

The list of individuals include:

  • Frank Woodruff Buckles
  • Ed Cadwallader
  • Lillian Rose Goynes
  • Samuel Weir Hamilton
  • Eleanor Herold Heimke
  • Lotte Cassel Hershfield
  • Louise Howard Hill
  • Catherine Cotterman Hoskins
  • Mary Jane Bellis Laznibat
  • Angus Lorenzen
  • Prof. Martin Meadows
  • Patricia Chittick Remley
  • James Stewart & Judy Stewart Harding
  • Prof. Rupert Wilkinson

Other contributions are always welcome. Link to the Online Videos page.

Update: Martin Meadows has identified the unnamed interviewer as Clarence Alton Beliel, aka “Don Bell.” Thanks, Martin! George Baker and Angus Lorenzen also recognized Don Bell correctly.

Bamboo Bracelet now available!

Merilyn Brason’s new book, The Bamboo Bracelet, is now available for purchase.

The Bamboo BraceletPublisher’s description: It is 8th December 1941. Fresh from England and six months pregnant, Ronny Rynd has left her husband in the suffocating heat of Manila to holiday in the mountain setting of Baguio. Following the surprise bombing of Pearl Harbor, she finds herself caught up in the Japanese attack on the Philippine Islands. Alone and vulnerable, this ordinary woman caught in the wrong place at the wrong time must learn how to survive.

Years of incarceration in prisoner of war camps loom as Ronny struggles to bring up her baby, living in constant fear in hostile and primitive conditions. Against this background unlikely friendships blossom to sustain her. Desperate to be a family, the ever-feisty Ronny must confront the dangerous Japanese authorities for permission to be united with her husband, imprisoned in the overcrowded city camp in Manila. But conditions there present different horrors and further heartbreak.

A tribute to the remarkable men and women who created their own functioning society within their camps, this book displays their inventiveness, determination and unexpected humour. It is a story of family life lived in spite of the brutal regime of years in prisoner of war camps.

You can order the book online through the publisher’s website.

Kickstarter campaign for The Bamboo Bracelet

From Merilyn Brason: I am very excited to tell you that, after many years of work, I am publishing my book, The Bamboo Bracelet. This book is based on my mother’s notes of her experience of years of captivity in Japanese prisoner of war camps in the Philippines during World War II.

You may know that my sister was born and raised in these camps. The launch of this campaign coincides with the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Japanese POW camps in the Philippines by the U.S. 37th Infantry Division. In order to raise the cost of publishing this extraordinary story, complete with unique photographs, I have launched an online Kickstarter campaign.

If you are interested in getting a copy and seeing this book published please support me on The Bamboo Bracelet Kickstarter Campaign.

My mother was Charis Veronica Rynd, known as Ronny and she was pregnant when the invasion of the Philippines took place and was on holiday in the hills so was incarcerated in Baguio. My father Patrick Gerald Rynd who worked for the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank in Manila was incarcerated in Santo Tomas. My sister, Catherine Rynd was born in the camp on March 17th 1942. On April 1st 1943, my mother escorted children from Baguio to Santa Tomas to rejoin their families there, and she was reunited with my father. This is verified in The Santo Tomas Story, page 144, by A V H Hartendorp (except that he said that my sister was a boy!). My parents and sister are also listed in Going Home by Robert Colquhoun as being in the same ship to San Francisco that he was in after liberation.

My mother was always going to write her story and made many notes, but sadly never did. Now that I have retired I have taken up the baton and am starting to write about her experience, to pass the story down to my sons if nothing else!

For more information see my Facebook page, my Kickstarter page, or the video below.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/thebamboobracelet/the-bamboo-bracelet?ref=8qy6uo&utm_source=private&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=email

British Commonwealth Civilian Deaths in the Philippines

During World War II, there were approximately 93 civilian deaths in the Philippines from British Commonwealth countries. They are broken down as follows: 67 British, 13 Canadians, 11 Australians and 2 New Zealanders.

The following table details the date and cause of death for each person, if known. After 8 December 1941, a small number joined either the guerrillas or the U.S. Army. Subsequently, a number of them were killed by the Japanese or died on “Hell Ships” while being transported to work camps outside of the Philippines.

All of these names will be incorporated into the next revision of the “In Memoriam” page.

NAMENATIONALITYINTERNMENTDATE OF DEATHCAUSE OF DEATH
Aaron, Margaret Elizabeth BritishSanto Tomás Internment Camp1944-06-11Carcinoma of uterus
Andrews, ElviraBritishSanto Tomás Internment Camp1944-01-24Died of coronary thrombosis
Aplin, Ada AloysiaBritishSanto Tomás Internment Camp1945-02-03Missing, believed killed by the Japanese
Baker, Mary KleinBritishSanto Tomás Internment Camp1945-10-10Died of Tuberculosis
Boniface, Mark BritishSanto Tomás Internment Camp1945-01-15Died of carcinoma of tuberculosis
Bridle, Arthur AustralianSanto Tomás Internment Camp1945-02-03Died of heart disease
Burwell, Walter SimondCanadianSanto Tomás Internment Camp1944-12-30Died of tuberculosis
Carpenter, William GeorgeAustralianSanto Tomás Internment Camp1942-08-08Died of paralysis
Carter, Bessie EnaAustralianSanto Tomás Internment Camp1942-12-16Died of pneumonia
Clear, Charles Arnold BritishSanto Tomás Internment Camp1945-02-05Died of coronary occlusion
Cooke, Doris AnneBritishSanto Tomás Internment Camp1942-10-17Died of septicemia
Cooper, Arthur Joseph BritishSanto Tomás Internment Camp1945-01-04Died of beri-beri
Crichton, Alexander MartinBritishDavao POW Camp1944-09-07Died in the sinking of the Shinyo Maru
Crook, Thomas H.BritishPOW Camp 7 Corregidor1944-10-24Died in the sinking of the Arisan Maru
Cruz, Emmie Davis BritishSanto Tomás Internment Camp1945-02-09Died of malnutrition
Deuchars, William McGregorBritishNot interned1942-04-16Died as a result of the sinking of the Yu Sang in Mariveles Harbour
Douglas, Francis (Father)New ZealanderNot interned1943-08-27Executed by the Japanese
Farnes, Walter StanleyBritishSanto Tomás Internment Camp1942-06-07Died of pneumonia
Fletcher, Thomas Henry BritishSanto Tomás Internment Camp1942-02-15Executed by the Japanese for trying to escape
Fong, Olive AustralianSanto Tomás Internment Camp1943-05-09Died of tuberculosis
Fox, Hubert ThorntonBritishNot Interned as of July 1, 19441945-02-12Killed by the Japanese
Fox, Nattie Perez RubioBritishNot interned1945-02-12Killed by the Japanese
Gamble, Cecil Reginald "Rex"AustralianNot interned -- Guerrilla1943-09-30Killed in enemy action
Garrett, Guy WatkinsBritishNot interned1942-03-01Killed by the Japanese
Gillies, John BritishSanto Tomás Internment Camp1942-08-07Died of heart failure
Gomm, Albert B.CanadianCabanatuan POW Camp1944-10-24Died in the sinking of the Arisan Maru
Grant, WilliamBritishCabanatuan POW Camp1944-10-11Died in the sinking of the Arisan Maru
Hair, HelenBritishNot Interned as of July 1, 19441945-02-12Killed by the Japanese
Hair, John McGavinBritishCabanatuan POW Camp1945-01-25Died in the sinking of the Enoura Maru
Hall, Consuelo McMickingBritishNot interned1945-01-31Executed by the Japanese
Harris, Winifred Jean BritishSanto Tomás Internment Camp1943-03-26Died of tuberculosis
Harvey, Charles StevensonBritishSanto Tomás Internment Camp1944-07-24Died of heart failure, anemia
Herridge, James Russell BritishSanto Tomás Internment Camp1945-03-11Unknown
Higham, Frederick James BritishSanto Tomás Internment Camp1945-01-25Died of beri-beri
Hill, Enoch BritishSanto Tomás Internment Camp1942-01-30Died of anemia
Hocking, Leonard WilliamBritishDavao POW Camp1944-09-07Died in the sinking of the Shinyo Maru
Hoey, Thomas BritishSanto Tomás Internment Camp1942-08-29Died of heart failure
Hollyer, William George BritishLos Banos Internment Camp1944-12-09Died of hernia
Johnston, AbagailBritishNot interned1942-04-16Died of Tuberculosis and malnutrition
Johnston, JeanBritishNot interned1942-02-05Died of heart disease
Kingcome, Ernest AstellBritishBaguio Internment Camp1943-06-14Died of malnutrition
LaFerriere, Lucien (Rev.)CanadianNational Psychopathic Hospital1945-02-09Executed by the Japanese
Lamy, Leo (Rev.)CanadianNot interned1942-12-19Died of Malaria
Laycock, Blakey BorthwickAustralianSanto Tomás Internment Camp1942-02-15Executed by the Japanese for trying to escape
Lea, Edward BritishSanto Tomás Internment Camp1945-02-24Died of malnutrition
Leblanc, Omer (Rev.)CanadianNot interned1942-08-15Executed by the Japanese
Lees, James AndrewBritishNot interned1942-04-16Killed by the Japanese
Luyendyk, Mary WilhelminaCanadianSanto Tomás Internment Camp1945-03-26Unknown
Lynch, Thomas T.AustralianCabanatuan POW Camp1944-12-15Died in sinking of the Oryoku Maru
MacGavin, William BritishSanto Tomás Internment Camp1943-11-29Died of high blood pressure
Mahoney, James CyrilBritishSanto Tomás Internment Camp1945-02-09Died of malnutrition
Marcuson, PaulBritishSanto Tomás Internment Camp1944-08-04Died of duodenal ulcer
Mason, John RobertBritishSanto Tomás Internment Camp1945-04-02Unknown
Maxwell, Stanley EdwardBritishDavao POW Camp1944-09-07Died in the sinking of the Shinyo Maru
McAvoy, Dora Blanche AustralianSanto Tomás Internment Camp1943-11-01Died of cancer
McCann, Henry EdwardBritishNot interned1942-05-03Died of tumors
McCannus, William BritishSanto Tomás Internment Camp1944-09-04Died of unrecorded
Miller, Robert MacVinnieBritishSanto Tomás Internment Camp1944-05-07Died of cardiac arrest
Morris, Garnet Green IICanadianBaguio Internment Camp1945-01-09Died in the sinking of the Enoura Maru
Morris, Margaret Helen "Dolly"CanadianBaguio Internment Camp1944-01-27Heart attack
Murray, William R.CanadianSanto Tomás Internment Camp1944-04-26Died of unrecorded
Newson, Clement Charles BritishSanto Tomás Internment Camp1942-07-14Died of cancer
Newton, Alexander Cochrane BritishSanto Tomás Internment Camp1942-04-28Died of coronary thrombosis
O'Kelly, Philomene Ursula (Sister)BritishNot interned1945-02-10Unknown
Palmentar, StanleyBritishSanto Tomás Internment Camp1945-02-10Died of malnutrition
Peacock, Charles SamuelBritishSanto Tomás Internment Camp1945-01-30Died of beri-beri
Poirier, Leo (Rev.)CanadianNot interned1942-08-15Executed by the Japanese
Ralston, Robert Sr.BritishSanto Tomas Internment Camp1945-02-10Died of malnutrition
Redfern, VictoriaBritishNot interned1945-02-14Killed in action
Robyns-Owen, OwenBritishSanto Tomás Internment Camp1945-01-09Accidental death
Salwood, HerbertBritishSanto Tomás Internment Camp1945-02-10Died of malnutrition
Shaw, John RoyCanadianSanto Tomas Internment Camp1945-01-21Died of old age, starvation
Shrubsole, Cyril Arthur JohnBritishNot interned1944-01-05Presumed killed by the Japanese
Struth, James BarkerBritishSanto Tomás Internment Camp1944-06-26Unknown
Telford, William AustralianBaguio Internment Camp1943-05-03Chronic prostatic hypertropy cardia vascular renal disease
Tomkins, John FrederickBritishSanto Tomás Internment Camp1945-02-09Malnutrition; Cancer of intestines
Trimble, Paul HenryAustralianBaguio Internment Camp1942-08-11Ciliana of brain
Walford, Guy BritishSanto Tomas Internment Camp1945-01-14Died of coronary occlusion
Walford, Harold "Laddie"BritishNot Interned as of July 1, 19441945-02-09Missing -- presumed killed by the Japanese
Walford, Nancy Page "Dyney"BritishSanto Tomás Internment Camp1945-02-09Missing -- presumed killed by the Japanese.
Walker, Herbert Bateman BritishSanto Tomás Internment Camp1942-11-16Old age
Wallace, WilfredBritishSanto Tomás Internment Camp1942-08-01Died of pneumonia
Webb, Mary LumleyBritishNot Interned as of July 1, 19441945-06-23Unknown
Weeks, Henry Edward BritishSanto Tomás Internment Camp1942-02-15Executed by the Japanese for trying to escape
Weichel, RichardBritishSanto Tomás Internment Camp1945-02-10Died of malnutrition
Weir, John N.CanadianSanto Tomás Internment Camp1942-09-14Died of pneumonia
Whittle, Harold AllanBritishNot interned1942-04-09Died in the sinking of the Yu Sang in Mariveles Harbour.
Wightman, George M.BritishDavao POW Camp1944-09-07Died in the sinking of the Shinyo Maru
Williams, Caroline Ada "Carrie"AustralianSanto Tomás Internment Camp1944-12-07Died of unrecorded
Williams, Hugh HoskingNew ZealanderLos Baños Internment Camp1945-01-01Acute colitis
Williams, Thomas EllisBritishSanto Tomás Internment Camp1942-09-12Died of pulmonary oedema
Woodfine, RobertBritishSanto Tomás Internment Camp1945-03-31Unknown
Yearsley, Robin W.CanadianTokyo POW Camp (Shinjuku)1945-01-26Unknown

More articles involving former internees

Following are some 2015-2016 articles involving former internees of the civilian Philippine camps: