Behind the Fence: Life as a POW in Japan, 1942-1945

J.L. Granatstein, Distinguished Research Professor of History Emeritus,
York University, served as Director of the Canadian War Museum from 1998
to 2000. He is the author of Who Killed Canadian History? and co-author
of The Canadian 100: The 100 Most Infl

A Canadian, Les Chater traveled to Britain to work in engineering in
1935. Four years later, he won a job with the Air Ministry, supervising
construction and maintenance of Royal Air Force airfields in the Far
East. He was in Singapore when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and British
outposts, he put on an RAF uniform, and he was ordered out of Singapore
when its fall seemed imminent. But he became a prisoner of the Japanese
in Java. This is where his story begins.

Chater determined to keep a secret diary of his experiences, a record
of what happened to him and those imprisoned with him in brutal
captivity. He wrote in a tiny script—almost unreadable, his editor
says, without a magnifying glass—and his entries reflected the
prejudices of the day. Some of the diary consisted of lists of names and
lists of deaths, and of moves from camp to camp. Much related to the
struggle to survive and, understandably, to food or, more frequently,
the lack of it. The POWs were kept near starvation most of the time.
“Second Xmas as a POW,” he wrote on December 25, 1943. “Every man
got big red bean patty and small pumpkin patty. Two fried fish in batter
at noon with mix. ... Nips left us alone. Let’s hope next Xmas at
home.”

It was almost two years before the atom bombs forced Japan’s
surrender and led to Chater’s liberation. This is a harrowing record,
a story of survival, and Chater’s diary became an exhibit in war
crimes trials. It deserves a wide readership.