CPOW Reunion 2023 – Update!

Posted on February 2, 2023 by Cliff Mills

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

Saturday
Steamboat/Central Pacific Room

Black Snow: Curtis LeMay, the Firebombing of Tokyo, and the Road to the Atomic Bomb

Sunday
Various Rooms

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

Posted on February 3, 2022 by Cliff Mills

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.

At 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.

February 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

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

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

Posted on June 30, 2021 by Cliff Mills

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

Posted on April 21, 2020 by Cliff Mills

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!]

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!

Posted on March 29, 2020 by Cliff Mills

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

Publisher’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

Posted on February 10, 2020 by Cliff Mills

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

Posted on May 9, 2018 by Cliff Mills

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.

NAME	NATIONALITY	INTERNMENT	DATE OF DEATH	CAUSE OF DEATH
Aaron, Margaret Elizabeth	British	Santo Tomás Internment Camp	1944-06-11	Carcinoma of uterus
Andrews, Elvira	British	Santo Tomás Internment Camp	1944-01-24	Died of coronary thrombosis
Aplin, Ada Aloysia	British	Santo Tomás Internment Camp	1945-02-03	Missing, believed killed by the Japanese
Baker, Mary Klein	British	Santo Tomás Internment Camp	1945-10-10	Died of Tuberculosis
Boniface, Mark	British	Santo Tomás Internment Camp	1945-01-15	Died of carcinoma of tuberculosis
Bridle, Arthur	Australian	Santo Tomás Internment Camp	1945-02-03	Died of heart disease
Burwell, Walter Simond	Canadian	Santo Tomás Internment Camp	1944-12-30	Died of tuberculosis
Carpenter, William George	Australian	Santo Tomás Internment Camp	1942-08-08	Died of paralysis
Carter, Bessie Ena	Australian	Santo Tomás Internment Camp	1942-12-16	Died of pneumonia
Clear, Charles Arnold	British	Santo Tomás Internment Camp	1945-02-05	Died of coronary occlusion
Cooke, Doris Anne	British	Santo Tomás Internment Camp	1942-10-17	Died of septicemia
Cooper, Arthur Joseph	British	Santo Tomás Internment Camp	1945-01-04	Died of beri-beri
Crichton, Alexander Martin	British	Davao POW Camp	1944-09-07	Died in the sinking of the Shinyo Maru
Crook, Thomas H.	British	POW Camp 7 Corregidor	1944-10-24	Died in the sinking of the Arisan Maru
Cruz, Emmie Davis	British	Santo Tomás Internment Camp	1945-02-09	Died of malnutrition
Deuchars, William McGregor	British	Not interned	1942-04-16	Died as a result of the sinking of the Yu Sang in Mariveles Harbour
Douglas, Francis (Father)	New Zealander	Not interned	1943-08-27	Executed by the Japanese
Farnes, Walter Stanley	British	Santo Tomás Internment Camp	1942-06-07	Died of pneumonia
Fletcher, Thomas Henry	British	Santo Tomás Internment Camp	1942-02-15	Executed by the Japanese for trying to escape
Fong, Olive	Australian	Santo Tomás Internment Camp	1943-05-09	Died of tuberculosis
Fox, Hubert Thornton	British	Not Interned as of July 1, 1944	1945-02-12	Killed by the Japanese
Fox, Nattie Perez Rubio	British	Not interned	1945-02-12	Killed by the Japanese
Gamble, Cecil Reginald "Rex"	Australian	Not interned -- Guerrilla	1943-09-30	Killed in enemy action
Garrett, Guy Watkins	British	Not interned	1942-03-01	Killed by the Japanese
Gillies, John	British	Santo Tomás Internment Camp	1942-08-07	Died of heart failure
Gomm, Albert B.	Canadian	Cabanatuan POW Camp	1944-10-24	Died in the sinking of the Arisan Maru
Grant, William	British	Cabanatuan POW Camp	1944-10-11	Died in the sinking of the Arisan Maru
Hair, Helen	British	Not Interned as of July 1, 1944	1945-02-12	Killed by the Japanese
Hair, John McGavin	British	Cabanatuan POW Camp	1945-01-25	Died in the sinking of the Enoura Maru
Hall, Consuelo McMicking	British	Not interned	1945-01-31	Executed by the Japanese
Harris, Winifred Jean	British	Santo Tomás Internment Camp	1943-03-26	Died of tuberculosis
Harvey, Charles Stevenson	British	Santo Tomás Internment Camp	1944-07-24	Died of heart failure, anemia
Herridge, James Russell	British	Santo Tomás Internment Camp	1945-03-11	Unknown
Higham, Frederick James	British	Santo Tomás Internment Camp	1945-01-25	Died of beri-beri
Hill, Enoch	British	Santo Tomás Internment Camp	1942-01-30	Died of anemia
Hocking, Leonard William	British	Davao POW Camp	1944-09-07	Died in the sinking of the Shinyo Maru
Hoey, Thomas	British	Santo Tomás Internment Camp	1942-08-29	Died of heart failure
Hollyer, William George	British	Los Banos Internment Camp	1944-12-09	Died of hernia
Johnston, Abagail	British	Not interned	1942-04-16	Died of Tuberculosis and malnutrition
Johnston, Jean	British	Not interned	1942-02-05	Died of heart disease
Kingcome, Ernest Astell	British	Baguio Internment Camp	1943-06-14	Died of malnutrition
LaFerriere, Lucien (Rev.)	Canadian	National Psychopathic Hospital	1945-02-09	Executed by the Japanese
Lamy, Leo (Rev.)	Canadian	Not interned	1942-12-19	Died of Malaria
Laycock, Blakey Borthwick	Australian	Santo Tomás Internment Camp	1942-02-15	Executed by the Japanese for trying to escape
Lea, Edward	British	Santo Tomás Internment Camp	1945-02-24	Died of malnutrition
Leblanc, Omer (Rev.)	Canadian	Not interned	1942-08-15	Executed by the Japanese
Lees, James Andrew	British	Not interned	1942-04-16	Killed by the Japanese
Luyendyk, Mary Wilhelmina	Canadian	Santo Tomás Internment Camp	1945-03-26	Unknown
Lynch, Thomas T.	Australian	Cabanatuan POW Camp	1944-12-15	Died in sinking of the Oryoku Maru
MacGavin, William	British	Santo Tomás Internment Camp	1943-11-29	Died of high blood pressure
Mahoney, James Cyril	British	Santo Tomás Internment Camp	1945-02-09	Died of malnutrition
Marcuson, Paul	British	Santo Tomás Internment Camp	1944-08-04	Died of duodenal ulcer
Mason, John Robert	British	Santo Tomás Internment Camp	1945-04-02	Unknown
Maxwell, Stanley Edward	British	Davao POW Camp	1944-09-07	Died in the sinking of the Shinyo Maru
McAvoy, Dora Blanche	Australian	Santo Tomás Internment Camp	1943-11-01	Died of cancer
McCann, Henry Edward	British	Not interned	1942-05-03	Died of tumors
McCannus, William	British	Santo Tomás Internment Camp	1944-09-04	Died of unrecorded
Miller, Robert MacVinnie	British	Santo Tomás Internment Camp	1944-05-07	Died of cardiac arrest
Morris, Garnet Green II	Canadian	Baguio Internment Camp	1945-01-09	Died in the sinking of the Enoura Maru
Morris, Margaret Helen "Dolly"	Canadian	Baguio Internment Camp	1944-01-27	Heart attack
Murray, William R.	Canadian	Santo Tomás Internment Camp	1944-04-26	Died of unrecorded
Newson, Clement Charles	British	Santo Tomás Internment Camp	1942-07-14	Died of cancer
Newton, Alexander Cochrane	British	Santo Tomás Internment Camp	1942-04-28	Died of coronary thrombosis
O'Kelly, Philomene Ursula (Sister)	British	Not interned	1945-02-10	Unknown
Palmentar, Stanley	British	Santo Tomás Internment Camp	1945-02-10	Died of malnutrition
Peacock, Charles Samuel	British	Santo Tomás Internment Camp	1945-01-30	Died of beri-beri
Poirier, Leo (Rev.)	Canadian	Not interned	1942-08-15	Executed by the Japanese
Ralston, Robert Sr.	British	Santo Tomas Internment Camp	1945-02-10	Died of malnutrition
Redfern, Victoria	British	Not interned	1945-02-14	Killed in action
Robyns-Owen, Owen	British	Santo Tomás Internment Camp	1945-01-09	Accidental death
Salwood, Herbert	British	Santo Tomás Internment Camp	1945-02-10	Died of malnutrition
Shaw, John Roy	Canadian	Santo Tomas Internment Camp	1945-01-21	Died of old age, starvation
Shrubsole, Cyril Arthur John	British	Not interned	1944-01-05	Presumed killed by the Japanese
Struth, James Barker	British	Santo Tomás Internment Camp	1944-06-26	Unknown
Telford, William	Australian	Baguio Internment Camp	1943-05-03	Chronic prostatic hypertropy cardia vascular renal disease
Tomkins, John Frederick	British	Santo Tomás Internment Camp	1945-02-09	Malnutrition; Cancer of intestines
Trimble, Paul Henry	Australian	Baguio Internment Camp	1942-08-11	Ciliana of brain
Walford, Guy	British	Santo Tomas Internment Camp	1945-01-14	Died of coronary occlusion
Walford, Harold "Laddie"	British	Not Interned as of July 1, 1944	1945-02-09	Missing -- presumed killed by the Japanese
Walford, Nancy Page "Dyney"	British	Santo Tomás Internment Camp	1945-02-09	Missing -- presumed killed by the Japanese.
Walker, Herbert Bateman	British	Santo Tomás Internment Camp	1942-11-16	Old age
Wallace, Wilfred	British	Santo Tomás Internment Camp	1942-08-01	Died of pneumonia
Webb, Mary Lumley	British	Not Interned as of July 1, 1944	1945-06-23	Unknown
Weeks, Henry Edward	British	Santo Tomás Internment Camp	1942-02-15	Executed by the Japanese for trying to escape
Weichel, Richard	British	Santo Tomás Internment Camp	1945-02-10	Died of malnutrition
Weir, John N.	Canadian	Santo Tomás Internment Camp	1942-09-14	Died of pneumonia
Whittle, Harold Allan	British	Not interned	1942-04-09	Died in the sinking of the Yu Sang in Mariveles Harbour.
Wightman, George M.	British	Davao POW Camp	1944-09-07	Died in the sinking of the Shinyo Maru
Williams, Caroline Ada "Carrie"	Australian	Santo Tomás Internment Camp	1944-12-07	Died of unrecorded
Williams, Hugh Hosking	New Zealander	Los Baños Internment Camp	1945-01-01	Acute colitis
Williams, Thomas Ellis	British	Santo Tomás Internment Camp	1942-09-12	Died of pulmonary oedema
Woodfine, Robert	British	Santo Tomás Internment Camp	1945-03-31	Unknown
Yearsley, Robin W.	Canadian	Tokyo POW Camp (Shinjuku)	1945-01-26	Unknown

Philippine Internment

World War II in the Philippine Islands

Baguio Internment Camp

CPOW Reunion 2023 – Update!

CPOW 2023 Reunion Agenda

77th anniversary of Baguio/Old Bilibid Liberation

Passing of Betty Juhan Watt, former child internee

Online Videos page updated

Bamboo Bracelet now available!

Kickstarter campaign for The Bamboo Bracelet

British Commonwealth Civilian Deaths in the Philippines

More articles involving former internees

CPOW 2023 Reunion Agenda

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: