celebrated to ourselves our first night away from Fukushima camp for over three years. Next morning at 5 am we were hurriedly awakened, given a good breakfast and by 6 am we were aboard the Australian destroyer HMAS Warrumunga heading for Yokohama. The destroyer sailed at full speed of about 30 knots, a spectacular sight with the whole vessel vibrating from stem to stern, with a colossal bow wave as she sliced through the deep blue ocean. The sea was calm with only the normal heavy Pacific swell, but the engine vibration and the deep swell made everyone intensely seasick, and one could do little except stay on deck in the warm breeze amid the vibration to try and alleviate the nausea. At about 4 o’clock in the afternoon we arrived at last and sailed into Tokyo bay having travelled the 300 miles from Shiogama in 10 hours. We slowed as we entered the outer harbour to see the most awe inspiring sight of the greatest concentration of naval shipping in history lying at anchor before our eyes. Here were the task forces that had crushed the pride of Japan’s great Navy from Midway to the Coral Sea; from the Solomons to the Phillipines, with the great Battle of Leyte Gulf, and from the Mariannas and Saipan, through to Iwo Jima and the Kamikaze battles off Okinawa, to the bombardment of the Coastal Cities of Japan. Here were the Battle ships and aircraft – carriers , and the men who had done it all, the Seabees, the sailors, the GI’s, and all the vast attendant train of Landing Craft, supply vessels and oil tankers of the US Navy. It was a spectacle never ever to be forgotten as we sailed past slowly through the anchored ranks of hundreds upon hundreds of ships, not forgetting also the large and substantial force of the Royal Navy Pacific Fleet, as well as a contingent from Australia and New Zealand. We lined up on deck of the destroyer as we cruised slowly through this vast armada, barely able to speak, filled with awe and pride when faced with the sheer magnitude, the scale and the power of the free world in winning this war. I have no idea how many ships were there riding at anchor but it must have been well over a thousand vessels possibly far more. Then as we approached the inner harbour I looked out to view the Port of Yokohama. Here was the greatest shock of all! From the bustling, busy port of three years previous, there was now only a total and utter ruin. The ship came slowly into the inner harbour and on the north side, I could see about 5 tall factory chimneys still standing. The land where the buildings of the port once stood was absolutely flat, with the roads all bulldozed clear, with the remains of the buildings and rubble barely three foot high above the ground. In the distance a few hundred yards away from the sea shore was one solitary gutted derelict building still standing. Otherwise all that one could see was the rubble covering the gentle slope of the hills around the port rolling away miles into the distance. The total and utter destruction of the great Port of Yokohama which with Tokyo is one great conurbation, had of course all been caused not by the Atom Bomb, but by plain conventional firebombing bombing as a devastating retribution for the infamy of Pearl Harbour. B29 Super Fortresses from Saipan, with incendiaries, and a gigantic firestorm had totally obliterated the city, and we were here to view the remaining ash and cinders, and contrast it in our memories with the humming metropolis we had seen just three years before! We arrived at the quay in the late afternoon and were transferred to a large LST (Landing Ship Tank) , its cavernous interior fitted out with rows of bunks and camp beds for us to spend the night. We were again given a large generous meal in the bountiful tradition of the US Navy and settled in for our second night away from our camp. The following morning after the usual American hearty breakfast , we boarded a small landing craft to meet the Royal Navy and our new home aboard HMS Ruler an assault carrier, which had been part of the British Pacific task force. Here there was a very different atmosphere on board in contrast to

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