Escape from Jinsen Chesan P.O.W. CAMP, KOREA and other memories - Part 2

Tension ran high in and out of the Camp for many weeks. Word got around that LT. MOORE had died, and his remains had been cremated. SGT. BOSWELL was supposed to have gone mad and was being held in a special cell. It became quite obvious that both men must have been given third degree treatment. Several of LT. MOORE'S fellow officers from his regiment who had helped behind the scenes by giving him bits and pieces, (one of whom was LT. MULLINS who had written down some useful information and had given it to LT. MOORE, along with others who had helped in some way) were arrested and court marshalled by the Japs.
Gunner GEORGE PETRIE (also of the 122 Army Field Regiment) and I expected to get the same fate. GEORGE had given his rubberised groundsheet, my contribution was a map, and as described previously, a prismatic compass and a 5" dagger in the form of a 7" brass rule. Fortunately for both of us, we had neither name or number on any of these articles.

I often wondered what went wrong that had led to LT. MOORE and SGT. BOSWELL being captured. It was with good fortune I met my friend, Gunner GEORGE PETRIE, at the F.E.P.O.W. Conference and Reunion at Bournemouth on the 22nd and 23rd April 1988. The last time we had seen each other was in Korea late 1945; needless to say, our conversation turned to the escape that went wrong.

GEORGE was able to enlighten me, that SGT. BOSWELL had made it back to England, gained some health back, got married and lived not far from GEORGE for a few years before he died. He had told GEORGE that they were well away from Camp when LT. MOORE had cracked his ankle bone and badly injured a leg, so they decided to return to Camp. Having found it so easy to get out, they thought they would manage back in at the same point, but because of LT. MOORE'S condition they were captured by a Jap patrol in doing so. I also learned from GEORGE that Private TICH MARTLAND, who stood in for LT. MOORE, had died five years after his return to England.

Security was very thoroughly tightened up in the Camp after LT. MOORE and SGT. BOSWELL'S recapture. One night several weeks later and after evening roll call, several armed Guards entered No. 2 Hut and commenced to shout out numbers to fall in outside the hut. My number 335 was the first to be called and it was followed by many others. We were ordered to collect our kit and fall into double file whereupon others from Huts 1, 3 and 4 joined us. Glancing at the faces around, I recognised several of the lads who were in the squad when we carried out the Sabotage on the war material in the store at 'TIWAN'. I wondered what the next move would be.

Under heavy armed Guard, we filed through the main gates and marched for what seemed to be miles. eventually reaching a Railway siding where we were ordered into closed waggons and securely locked up. We reached 'KONAN' Railway Station North Korea. We were marched from there over a causeway to a P.O.W. Camp that was built on a man made Island on a swamp. There were many P.O.W.'s already in this camp who had also been captured at the fall of Singapore. I was told they had been there for over a year, and many had died from various illnesses. Within days of arrival we were formed into squads of working parties, working 12 hour shifts, 12 hours on and 12 hours off, seven days per week. I was one of a squad of 12 men, whose work was to stoke furnaces with cooked limestone from the kilns and coalballs. The furnaces were large open objects which rose approximately 30 feet from ground level. Each furnace had three carbons which generated enough heat to melt the coal balls and limestone into liquid which when ready was tapped at the bottom of the furnace by Korean civilians. The liquid was poured into large moulds and when cool was taken to a crusher. The calcium carbite was put into sealed containers which would be sent to their war fronts at different places to run their vehicles.

The gangway around the furnaces was reached by a metal stairway. The heat in the vicinity of the furnaces was intense. So much so, that the Guards stayed at floor level, while we worked with just a loincloth on. We had an Australian soldier in our squad, whose name was REG HAYTER. He was a qualified engineer, and like myself held no respect for our captors. He told me that with a little bit of combined effort he could put the furnaces out of production for some time.

Apparantly the water cooling system which served the three furnaces, was on the one water pipeline with an inspection plate at a corner of our working platform. This plate was held in place by two or three butterfly nuts. Back in camp REG drew up a plan of action requiring each of us at a given signal to put bits of old waste material, which was readily available, into the waterpipe at the Inspection point. We were advised by REG that the material we put in would cause a complete blockage, which would result in a series of explosions. He warned us to get down the stairs as quickly as possible when this happened. Within one hour of the waterpipe being plugged, there was a big bang with sparks, and steam all around. We all went down the stairs like scalded cats. Our Guards looked very alarmed and marched us back to camp.

Back at Camp REG explained that it would be impossible to tap the furnaces as their contents would not be ready. They would have to be left for several days to allow the contents to cool down before it was safe to dig them out. He also told us that all evidence of the sabotage would be totally destroyed when the elbow joint fell into the white hot heart of the furnace. For the next seven or more days our squad was detailed for several different labouring jobs in the factory. We were then sent back to our furnace to dig out the content. I was delighted to note that there was no clear evidence of the material we had used to cause the blockage. It had all been burnt beyond recognition.
The work of cleaning out the furnaces was hard and lasted for over a week. Korean plumbers had renewed the destroyed cooling system, and after a few more days we were back stoking the furnaces. REG told me that there was another way of putting the furnaces out of action. He explained his plan in detail, which involved dropping fire bricks (which were in plentiful supply), around the working platform. His theory was that continually dropping the 2 feet by 2 feet bricks directly above the tapping points, approximately 30 feet below with the flat side against the inside wall of the furnace, would in due course cause a complete blockage at the three tapping points.

Apparently if the furnace could not be tapped within a certain time, it had to be shut down, and allowed to cool to prevent an explosion, after the furnace was shut off, and allowed to cool it would be impossible to start up again, or the whole lot would be blown to bits. It would have to be emptied before a new start. We all agreed that it would be best to wait a few months before we put our Big Plan into action.

Eventually we commenced with REG'S plan when the contents of the furnace was like molten metal. We kept slipping fire bricks in, and they more or less slipped out of sight immediately. I don't remember how many fire bricks were used; or how long afterwards before REG'S plan worked and the furnace was shut down, but I remember that we had just started our 12 hour night shift one night, when there was a lot of shouting around the tapping points.

We were ordered down from the furnace platform and the hum from the three furnaces stopped. Once more we were marched off to do labouring jobs within the factory area. Our worry now was that when it came time to dig out the cold furnace, the evidence would be found by the Japs as to what had caused the blockage. By the Grace of God, it was our two squads of stokers who were detailed to dig out the contents of the cold furnaces.

It was extremely hard work as the mixture in the furnace had set rock hard, and had to be picked out before shovelling it into round steel bogies or buckets which were lowered into the furnace. They were then lifted by crane onto a small rail track which led to a disused quarry, where other factory waste was dumped. Once again luck was on our side, as we were also responsible for emptying the buckets. None of our guards ever came into the cold furnace, and they stood well back at the dumping point.

Surprisingly most of the fire bricks that caused the trouble were intact. We smashed them up however, and made sure they were put down in the buckets. Therefore, when they were tipped out they would be well out of sight in the quarry by the time the furnace was cleared out. Our squad went back to our stoking jobs, and if our captors ever suspected anything they did not show it.

As time went on conditions in camp and at work got worse, and more of our comrades died, mainly due to overwork and malnutrition. Our captors showed no mercy, and we were constantly hungry. One night at work our meagre ration of boiled rice arrived. There was no meal break as such; each man simply got his paltry ration from our wooden bucket, which he swallowed in minutes then went back to the shovel.

There was no chance of shirking, the carbons had to be kept fed with the limestone and coal balls at all times. If not a white flame appeared and the heat generated was unbearable. At one point, for some reason unknown to us, all of our guards went into a small guardroom which was located approximately 10 yards from the iron staircase leading up to our working platform. They appeared to be celebrating something, as we could hear loud laughter. Their bucket of rations was standing outside the closed guardroom door. I felt very hungry, and on the spur of the moment I nipped down the stairway, grabbed their bucket of food, then like a hunted dog, raced back up to our platform.

That bucket of rice, which was laced with meat and vegetables was emptied in seconds by the lads and myself, and it tasted like nectar after the rubbish we got. The high spirits in the Jap guardroom continued. I asked for a volunteer to take down the empty bucket, no takers. Time was important, so I hared down the stairs, left their empty ration bucket, then hared back up to join my mates. It wasn't long afterwards that the guardroom door opened and a guard lifted the bucket. He lifted the lid, and shouted something to the others. They did not appear to suspect us but hounded up many of the Korean labourers who worked on the floor area of the factory.

We finished our shift, then went down into a large brick water reservoir, which was used for the cooling system for the furnace. The water in the reservoir was never hot, but it was good to wash the sweat and grime from our bodies. None of us had soap and most of us had bits of straw sacks to dry ourselves with. After ablutions we were marched back to our camp on the swamp, where we had a good laugh at having enjoyed the guards' supper.

Some weeks later my good friend friend REG HAYTOR fell ill. He was admitted into the Camp Sick Bay which was manned by Jap and P.O.W. Orderlies. Apparently the Jap orderlies told our orderlies to have the night off and they would do night duty in the Sick Bay. Next morning news got around that REG HAYTOR had died during the night. All of us were saddened by the news and very suspicious.

I was now more determined than ever to escape. Dr. MORRIS from Newfoundland, considered that under the conditions we were being subjected to, we would all be dead within a year. It occurred to me that my baby daughter would be five years of age on 30 August 1945. The last time I had seen her, in 1940, she had been 2 months old. After what Dr. MORRIS had told me, I was prepared to die like a soldier, rather than die like my trusty friend REG HAYTER.
When coming back to our camp after shifts there were usually only the Guards, so six of us were planning to rush our them, then every man for himself. Our plan was delayed because train loads of Jap troops and equipment were moving north daily, past the factory where we worked. A few weeks later things changed. It was the Russian troops heading south past our place of work. One morning all outside work was stopped. A Japanese officer, through his interpreter, told us that Japan and Britain were now friends and war was over.

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