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Ofuna Interrogation
Ofuna Interrogation Centre
On the plane from Singapore they realised the Japanese highly rated the three as the other occupants of the plane were Admirals and Generals. After landing at South Honshu they were taken to Ofuna which was situated 15 mile Southwest from the centre of Yokohama.
They soon learned it was certainly not a PoW Camp but an Interrogation Centre, named by the Japanese as ‘Navy Yokosuka Guard Unit Ueki Detachment’.
Japanese Index Card
The centre was run by Japanese Naval Headquarters from Yokosuka and housed British and American Aviators, mostly Naval aviators who had been shot down over Taiwan and Japan. The few British in the camp were all Navy men captured by the Japanese Navy after being shot down.
The centre was completely illegal under the Geneva Convention and not known to the Red Cross. The Allied PoW Camp Leader was Cmdr. Fitzgerald, U.S.N & Cmdr. O’Kane, U.S.N (United Staes Navy)
There were five buildings in the centre, one contained the main office, the galley and the bath house. Another consisted of the guards quarters and the interrogation rooms. The remaining three housed the prisoners. Each PoW building was divided into small cells each side of a entrance walk way. Each cell was roughly 2 meters wide by 2.5 meters deep with a small window. The height of each cell was 2.3 meters on the day time side and 1.5 meters over the sleeping side. A bamboo sleepings mat was supplied with five cotton blankets, some prisoners only had three. A very small wattage electric light bulb was supplied in each cell making it easy for the guards to view the prisoners through a small window near the cell door.
Twice a day a bowl of rice with watery soup was supplied, on rare occasions the soup was replaced with a herring. A cup of Japanese tea was given, but they never received water so had to use the toilet water flush to drink when they were allowed to use the toilet in the morning.
When the three HMS Illustrious air crew arrived there were between 30-50 PoWs in the PoW buildings, but it was hard to say exactly how many as they were kept in solitary confinement and not allowed to talk to those they did meet. The confinement lasted about three months, in this time they were allowed out into a quadrangle and placed at regular intervals around the circumference, talking was forbidden but knowing they were near others made their existence a lot easier. The sun was very hot and with no headgear several prisoners developed a large bulge on the forehead.
It was compulsory to go out in all weathers summer and winter. The winter temperature could be 20 degrees below freezing and they were not issued with any warm clothing, in fact in all their time at Ofuna they only had the cloths they were captured in and as as most were captured in the tropics gave very little protection against the cold. Frostbite was common amongst the PoWs which resulted in feet infections. The only way to get warm during the nights was to keep fully clothed as the cotton blankets which were supplied, did not hold in any heat.
They were now allowed to chat within the buildings but although there were books these were only available to read on a Sunday. To have a pencil was considered a crime and punished with a beating from the guards.
The PoWs now had one day to look forward to as it was their bath night. The bath house contained two tanks which were filled with hot water. Ten were allowed in at a time and would hurriedly strip off and leap into one of the tanks, this soon thawed them out in the winter. After about ten minutes in the tank they got out and washed themselves down using the half-bar of soap supplied by the Japanese which had to suffice for all fifty PoWs who bathed that night. Then after the wash they jumped into the second tank for a rinse down. The ten were then ushered out and the next ten waiting PoWs allowed in. After about 10 minutes after their bath the cold again got to them. On a normal day they all used one tap which froze in the winter so they missed having a wash. This was bad but to the thirty Americans who were kept in solitary confinement through the summer and winter, some as long as nine months, the cold and loneliness caused considerable damage to their physical and mental health.
Commander Yokura Sashizo was the Naval officer in charge of the Interrogation Center ruled the camp with a fist of iron. He was known to line up all the Japanese Guards and attack them with a club.
There were about ten Japanese guards and as there did not seem to be any rules, beatings were often taken from them for unknown reasons. Some guards just dished out their own savage treatment to PoWs they did not like. Even the more pleasant guards could quickly turn very aggressive, especially if the Japanese had suffered in the ongoing war, or even if they had suffered a beating by Commander Yokura Sashizo.
Excessive torture, of selected prisoners took place at the Interrogation Centre. These rooms had a very bright light of about 200 watts and the interrogation could last eight hours, at any time of day or night. The interrogation officers were mostly ex-embassy staff who knew the English language very well. Injuries obtained from the interrogations went unattended, although there was a Japanese medic at the camp, no medicines or assistance was given to the prisoners who suffered the torture and those who were brought into the camp suffering from burns or fractures did not receive any medical help. The average weight loss in the camp was 3 to 7 stone and the illnesses from malnutrition went unattended.
Early in April 1945 the Japanese established that Chief Petty Officer Clifford Charles Rogers, FX82905, was not an officer and he was moved to Omori Camp, Japan, where he was eventually liberated.
Basil was questioned with Robert Michael Gunther and punished for 10 months during which time they both lost 60lb in weight through lack of food. Daily for weeks they were pumped for information and, not talking, were beaten with baseball bats and their food stopped.
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Chief Petty Officer Harold Newman, HMS Exeter of Carshalton, Surrey, England, assumes the position known as the "Ofuna crouch". He is demonstrating to the Australian officers, the cruel methods used at Ofuna..
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Other tortures included standing on their tiptoes or on their hands and be subjected to battering or weakening. Another was nicknamed ‘The Ofuna Crouch’ this involved standing on the balls of their feet, knees half bent and arms extended over the head, the position had to be held from 30 minutes to several hours, if not a severe beating was given. Both naval officers, who were the only carrier crew men in the camp, were beaten unmercifully and although they eventually broke down and answered questions after 10 months of misery, they were still being questioned up to the time Japan capitulated.
Towards the end of their internment the food situation was getting worse and the PoWs realised that the war was not going well for the Japanese.
During his time at Ofuna, Basil undertook a religious reading at the burials of the PoWs who died in the interrogation centre, these were based on the religious upbringing of his youth, his father being Reverend F.B. Aldwell.
As the date of the Emperors speech marking the end of the war was reached, Basil’s parents at last received news of their missing son, he was a Japanese PoW - 15th August 1945.
Japanese Index card Marking Liberation
1945/09/01
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