A FORMER Royal Marine who was taken prisoner during the Second World War has been recounting his experiences to mark the 75th anniversary of Victory over Japan Day (VJ Day).
Jim Wren, who now lives in Salisbury, has been speaking to armed forces charity SSAFA about his experiences
He joined the Royal Marines in January 1940 and in the autumn of that year was posted to join the battlecruiser HMS Repulse. And for the next few months, he was part of the Arctic and Atlantic Convoys.
Repulse was later transferred to East Indies Command and set sail for Singapore. Repulse along with HMS Prince of Wales and escorting destroyers were now Force Z, a group tasked to deter expected Japanese aggression, arrived in Singapore on December 2, 1941.
On December 7, 1941, Japan declared war on the British Empire and United States.
The next day, Force Z departed on a mission to attack Japanese troop convoys but were spotted the following day. The operation was cancelled, and the ships altered course to provide support after word got through about Japanese landings in Kuantan, Malaya.
Just after 2am on December 10, a Japanese submarine spotted Force Z and fired five torpedoes at the lead ship, HMS Prince of Wales. All missed, but the submarine was able to report to their forces the ships’ position.
Several hours later, now based just off Kuantan, Force Z was spotted by a Japanese reconnaissance aircraft, and less than an hour later, at 11.13 a Japanese air force attacked. Two bombs missed Repulse, but a third struck, penetrating through the hangar.
“The first bomb that hit dropped right behind me," recalls Jim. "Fortunately, it went down two or three decks before it exploded. I didn’t have time to think about it at that point."
The battle continued for more than an hour. HMS Repulse sank at 12.33 on December 10. HMS Prince of Wales was also sunk
Jim said: “We had well over 1,000 men on board Repulse and lost about 500 when the ship went down. With the sinking of both ships 840 men and boys were lost that day.
“I lost many good friends. I can still see images of them today in the mess deck. I was with them every day. I can still see their faces and remember them.”
Jim and the remaining Royal Marines from Repulse and Prince of Wales were transferred to Tyersall Camp. They were amalgamated with the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Army regiment to become a new regiment - the Plymouth Argylls.
In February 1942, as the Japanese gained a foothold in Singapore, Jim and the Plymouth Argylls tried to defend the territory, but suffered heavy losses.
Plans were made to evacuate the area. Jim boarded HMS Mata Hari, which set sail for Batavia (now Jakarta, Indonesia) on February 12, 1942, along with three other ships.
On February 15, they received a message from Japanese troops saying they were being taken prisoner.
They were taken to Bangka Island, Indonesia. Once captured, the military personnel on board the ship were taken to a broken-down building without water or sanitation. Some of civilian personnel were placed in an empty school.
Jim and the other POWs were then taken to a disused school in Palembang, Sumatra. Jim was a Prisoner of War for three and a half years and spent time in four different camps. He was subjected to slave labour and brutality every day.
He said: “In the final camp I was in, there were about 1,300 men, though many died, especially when rations were cut back. We did have to put our lives on the line to get hold of food, anything we could get our hands on, for example while unloading shipping on the work parties."
"Everybody lost weight, I was only about six stone by the end, we got really skinny," continues Jim.
“Towards the end of the war, everyone was suffering from skin disease owing to poor hygiene. We had no toiletries or washing facilities and only boiled water for drinking."
Allied troops came to the aid of those in the camp, but it would still be some days before Jim and the rest of the men were able to leave the camp.
The war with Japan came to an end on August 15, 1945.
Jim arrived in Liverpool on October 27, 1945, and was put on a train to Plymouth. He was reunited with his loved ones in Sussex the next day.
By the time Jim had been home, and had leave, he had served just half of his 12-year contract with the Royal Marines. He served on HMS Vanguard as part of the home fleet for the rest of his service.
After 12 years in the service, Jim worked with the Parks Department in Salisbury, and then as a groundsman and gardener for a local school until he retired.
He is a member of COFEPOW - The Children (& Families) of the Far East Prisoners of War organisation and wants people to remember what happened in the Far East during the war.
“It’s had an effect on me mentally over the years. I find it rather difficult to communicate, or converse with people. That whole experience is in the back of my mind all the time, because some things never go away," said Jim, who celebrated his 100th birthday this year.
“I’m glad the war ended, but it’s important to remember the world has changed too. The Japanese today are different people to the way they were then. And what happened at the end of war shouldn’t be forgotten either. The atom bomb saved my life, and the lives of thousands of men, but it took lives as well. It's a thing I never want to see again. Never.”
To help SSAFA support the Forces community, go to SSAFA.org.uk/donate
Last Saturday, a small group of people gathered in the Guildhall Square to commemorate VJ Day 75.
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