interpreting to the commandant or a senior official, he would put our polite requests from our representatives like Capt. Stratford, and have them expressed through translation in the rudest and most vulgar manner. At the same time he would also twist things round, so that the Commandant would become apoplectic with rage, and thus tighten the screws still further each time making our lives just a bit more unpleasant and harsher than they already were, compounding our ordeal and misery.
Another problem which had a serious bearing on day to day life in the camp was the food. After our initial soup, the meals prepared by the Japanese cook Mr Takahashi became uneatable because they were hardly ever cooked. Beans, cabbage cucumber, and the large Japanese radish were all served completely raw and in spite of protests, would not be cooked at all, until a year later, when with a change of commandant it was agreed that some of the Greeks be allowed to prepare the food. This they did well, and our diet suddenly improved , but then coincidentally food was also becoming harder to obtain, a situation that was going to steadily worsen, until towards the end of the war, it became so desperate that we were forced to eat weeds, roots or anything vaguely edible just to survive.
So although food was plentiful during the first year, most prisoners lost about 20 lbs in weight because of the diet. Fruit too would arrive in cartons in large quantities, and not be distributed at all, would then rot and be thrown out on the rubbish pit never having been offered. Grovelling amongst the waste and rotting produce in the snow, I would then find a few tangerines or apples that were reasonably sound to eat. It was criminal, the waste that was allowed to develop that first year when produce was abundant, and being paid for by the Germans, all the more especially, as the camp was situated in the middle of a fruit growing and market gardening area. All protestations to the commandant through the Interpreter Midorikawa were disregarded with customary abuse.
In our room we all got on well together. Phyllis Hercombe who was very attractive in her mid thirties, told Mother that whilst on the Nankin she had a affair with an Army Major. In the intervening two months she had missed a couple of periods, and confided her problems in case she was pregnant. Although married for ten years, she had no children as her husband John was against them. She would spend hours looking at her tummy which had developed a bit of a tubby paunch, which Mother would explain was quite common with a lot of the other women from eating so much bread on the German boats. She was petrified of her husband’s likely reaction, and would spend hours discussing her worries. It was my first experience of “grown ups” sexual problems, and was naturally intrigued with all the discussions, and I would lie on my bed pretending to be fast asleep, but in reality looking through half open eyes to see what was going on as they talked.
“Is the boy asleep?” she would ask.
“Yes of course he is, and in any case he is far too young to understand what you are talking about” Mother would add.
Meanwhile my ears would flap and I would eagerly await the latest development the next evening. Needless to say she was not pregnant, and her tummy soon came down with the raw vegetable diet.