VJ service is fitting tribute to the ‘Forgotten Army’

The commemoration yesterday at St Michael at the North Gate Church in Oxford was attended by more than 30 people whose relatives fought in the Far East.

Many of those who were remembered had been brutalised at the hands of the Japanese in prisoner-of-war camps before being freed 70 years ago today.

The Very Rev Bob Wilkes led the service on the eve of the 70th anniversary of Victory over Japan Day.

The City Rector led a moment’s silence and read out a list of names of those who had been held captive, concluding with the famous epitaph found on veteran memorials around the world: “When You Go Home, Tell Them of Us And Say, “For Your Tomorrow, We gave Our Today.”

The list, though not definitive, was made up of those whose families were represented at the service, or were otherwise known to the COFEPOW (Children of Far East Prisoners of War) Oxfordshire branch.

Following the reading, Ken Young, from Rose Hill, whose father did not return from the Far East, laid a wreath below the Burma Star in the church.

Sgt Walter Young was part of the 35th Regiment of the Royal Artillery and was captured in Singapore by the Japanese in February, 1942.

The former builder spent 245 days in Chiangi prison camp before being selected as one of 600 men to board a Japanese ‘hell ship’.

His body was later found among 438 Allied troops in a pit on the Island of Ballalae, in the South Pacific.

As Mr Young laid the wreath he bowed his head in honour of the father he never knew.

The 79-year-old, who was two years old when his father went to war, said: “It was nice to have a moment to share with everyone else in remembering. We have all got our memories, some more than others, I don’t remember my father.

“He would have been absolutely thrilled to know that we were honouring his memory.”

The VJ Day wreath will remain in the church below the star, installed in 1988, and next to a Burma war memorial book.

Trish Fergusson, along with her husband Ian, played an important role in organising yesterday’s service.

Her father Les Long was held captive in Singapore, and then in Japan from February 1941 until he was liberated in September 1945, before returning to Oxford where he was worked as a pub landlord.

Mrs Fergusson was born three years after her father, a former city policeman, returned home but they never discussed his time in the Far East.

The 65-year-old from Marston said: “The service was very moving and it was done so nicely.

“It’s so important to remember those who did not come back – my father did fortunately – and we should reflect on what they went through.

“It is the first time we have had anything in Oxford over the years and we are all Oxford people, so it was lovely to share it together.”

70 years on and prisoners’ bravery is finally recognised

AFTER 70 years, Oxfordshire’s “forgotten” men of the Second World War have finally been remembered. 

The children of those who were captured or lost their lives in the Far East have seen their fight for recognition and remembrance come good. Many of their fathers were told not to talk about their treatment in brutal prisoner-of-war camps and received less than a hero’s welcome on their return. 

Linda Peach’s father Ivo Poulter went back to his job as a postman in Iffley and Rose Hill when he was freed in September 1945.

Mrs Peach said: “My dad was told not to talk about it at all. And he had to watch those who came back from fighting in Europe being paraded around with people waving.

“He did not get any of that.”

• Recognition: Linda Peach at the service at St Michael at the North Gate Church to mark the 70th anniversary of the liberation of POWs in the Far East. Her father Ivo Poulter was held captive in Indonesia  

In contrast, the Marston woman said her father received a warm welcome when he was repatriated to Australia before coming back to Oxford.

She added: “They have been forgotten since 1945 really.

“VE Day has always been celebrated and today it feels like our fathers are being remembered.”

Celebrations and commemorative events will take place across the county today to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of the Second World War and victory over Japan.

Yesterday a short service took place in Oxford organised by the county’s Children of the Far East POWs branch to honour their fathers, attended by Mrs Peach and more than 30 others. 

Brother and sister John and Patricia Bowen, both from Cowley, also went to honour their father Tommy Bowen.

He was held captive by the Japanese in Chiangi prison between 1942 and the end of the war in August 1945.

Mr Bowen served with the Royal Army Ordnance Corps and the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers before being captured in Singapore in February 1942.

His son John, 76, said: “It was not documented very well. They never got their due and it’s nice to finally get that recognition and coverage for what they did.”

Patricia Bowen, 81, said her father only received £60 compensation and had to get on with his life.
“Before he went off the war in 1939 he locked his work clothes in his cabinet at work at the Pressed Steel factory.

“When he came back and was ready to work he re-opened his locker, put his clothes back on and got on with it. The treatment when they came back was horrendous; they hardly got any compensation.”