all felt suddenly that it was quite the most extraordinary and strange feeling, not to be perpetually hungry, but to just feel satisfied, and have ample food available. It was such a real unimaginable bliss which people nowadays in the West just take for granted. Within a few days of the cessation of hostilities we were each given some cash to buy some basic necessities. I took a little money and would wander by myself into the hills walking all alone crossing mountain streams and climbing paths and tracks for miles and miles and for hours on end just relishing the freedom to roam, like a bird that has flown away and has been suddenly released from a cage. On my travels I would meet simple Japanese farmers and peasants and would buy garlic and fruit from them. They were all without exception very kind and polite, and extremely courteous and would welcome me all alone in their very simple homes where I would communicate with them in the few words of Japanese that I had learnt. I never ever felt any tinge of fear but instead marvelled at their quiet dignified politeness and courtesy. Yet it was their sons in the army that had been trained to fight so brutally and cruelly. It all seemed quite incongruous! The sheer joy of walking through those woods into small fields that huddled in hollows and crossing small bridges over rushing torrents and then up the steep hills that for so many years I had looked at, but never been allowed to venture over. These long treks of exploration gave me at last a real exhilarating sense of freedom the like of which it is impossible to fully describe. The garlic that I bought satisfied some deep seated craving, and I would consume vast quantities as I wandered through the maple woods chewing constantly away at the cloves, and when I returned, I would have some trite words from Mother who could not bear the smell. It must have been due to some inner metabolic need after the long years of deprivation, as never again in later life have I had such a strong desire to munch raw cloves of garlic, and nowadays at the most I enjoy only a hint of it in some dishes. Finally on the 11th September at about 11 am we received a telephone call giving us 1½ hours notice to be ready to leave for the railway station and the start of our long journey home. Some buses arrived at the gates and we clambered aboard giving a final last look at those high brick walls that had penned us in all those years At this point in my story I will quote once again directly from my Mother’s notes of her feelings at that time to give a flavour of our endurance on our release: “The story of my experiences is not exceptional. I suffered mental torment, bodily indignity, but not more than many others. They were hard years, and there is not much that is good to be said about them. I do not believe that they improved my character. I know that they did not improve my constitution, and the mirror assures me that they did not improve my face! But they have taught me how individuals react in time of misfortune. I learnt never to think of the future, and never dare anticipate tomorrow. I lived for the present, the future was dark, not only because there was no hint of approaching victory, but it was dark as a primitive chaos, due to the volcanically uncertain temper of our captors. Whilst I was still in captivity I believed that my character had changed, that I felt cold, unable to be hurt, unable to hurt myself, but now that I am back to normal again, I feel just as vulnerable. I hope that the hard manual tasks that we learned to perform under Jap surveillance from now on will have no place in my life. People say there is a great joy working with your hands which may be true, but a forced pointless labour on a starvation diet is very different. I also hope that there will be no occasion in my future life to steal or barter food. Those 38 months equipped me for just one thing “prison”. But before I go to prison again I will die, for captivity has taught me the value of freedom. In my life before, I had

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HMS Ruler, Mothers letter to Hugh from Manos, Admiralty Is.