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CHRISTMAS DAY IN TAIWAN
Christmas comes but once a year
As a prisoner of war it was not of good cheer
When you read these few lines you'll no doubt understand
How Christmas was spent in this far distant land;
Reveille was sounded an hour before dawn
And roll call was taken, t´was a bitter cold morn
Number! (or Bango!) in Japanese
We did as were bid, and not as we please
We returned to our huts when dismissed from parade
To find on the tables our breakfast was laid
One bowl of rice, one bowl of stew
That's all we got, but what could one do
The meal completed we could only patiently wait
For dinner in a bowl instead of a plate;
'Twas not Christmas for the Nips, but it so happened the date
Was a day in the year which they celebrate
So out on the parade ground we stood in the cold
Bowing our heads and hearing strange stories told
This over, a service for us we requested
And for once in our lives we were left unmolested
And dressed in our clothes of no great apparel
We sang 'Oh Come All Ye Faithful' and two other carols;
Mid-morning the 'hut leaders' by the bugle were called
And five fags per man in their hands were installed;
Then dinner-time came, a delightful surprise
"There's meat in the stew”, from the cookhouse came cries
It was the first we had seen for over six weeks
And greatly preferred to 'potato tops' and leeks
Never before had we been given a sweet
But today we had bananas, it was such a lovely treat.
The afternoon was quiet, with so little to be said
And with nothing better to do, we lay on bed
Sleep I am sure only came to a few
As in our minds were our loved ones, and also we knew
That back in dear `Blighty´, our country, our home,
They were thinking of us, as we were of them;
Six o´clock came, we thought our meals to complete
And with chopsticks not spoons our tea we did eat
Instead of rice and veg: stew it was rice and fish sauce
With a rabbit stew at seven as an extra course;
With eating completed we all started singing
Hark! what is that sound, is it not church bells a-ringing
Alas no!, 'twas the bugle being blown, for roll call is at eight
Then an order was shouted "It will be an hour late"
So we kept on with our singing as if we didn't care
For all that was missing, yes even the beer
We sang 'Auld Langs Syne' a few minutes before nine
And as the bugle call sounded we fell into line
The Jap officer came round and to end our delight
Came "roll call is over, put out the light";
So that's how we spent Christmas, you'll no doubt say a hard case
But we're not too down-hearted we know a change must take place
And when that time comes, how happy we'll be
To return to our homes contented and free.
M.A Rooney (No 766) `Kinkaseki´ POW Camp Taiwan 1943
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