No justice for dad treated like a slave

Jul 1 2009 by Graham Miller, Wishaw Press

A WISHAW man has made an emotional journey to Japan in a further attempt to get official recognition of the appalling treatment his father received while a Prisoner of War.

Last month the Wishaw Press told of James McAnulty’s quest to receive an apology and symbolic compensation from incumbent Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso, whose family owned the coalmines where James’ father Patrick was forced to work during his captivity.

Netherton man James was invited over to Japan by Yukio Hatoyama, the leader of Japan’s Democratic Party, who is predicted to become the nation’s new Prime Minister after the forthcoming election.

Initially James had been told that he would be able to meet Mr Aso face-to-face during a visit to the Japanese parliament and make his request for reparation. But after travelling to Japan the Prime Minister’s office cancelled the meeting.

“I’m extremely disappointed, although his refusal to meet with me was perhaps not surprising,” said Mr McAnulty, whose father never fully recovered from more than three years of imprisonment in Japan and died in 1971.

But James added: “I’ve not come home downhearted as there have been many positives from the trip, including a meeting with the head of the opposition party and a promise from the Prime Minister’s family company that we can continue our dialogue.

“I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Japan and was amazed by how similar the scenery is to Scotland. It’s a beautiful country and the people were very welcoming.”

Mr McAnulty visited Japan with Joe Coombs, 88, who lives in Sydney and was captured at the fall of Singapore in 1942 and used as a forced labourer. During the trip they paid an emotional visit to the mine, on the southern island of Kyushu, but were unable to meet the company president Yutaka Aso, the Prime Minister’s brother.

“I believe Mr Aso should apologise to all the POWs, but we were snubbed by the Aso officials and I don’t think we’ll ever get any compensation,” said Mr Coombs.

Mr McAnulty held talks with Yukio Hatoyama and the opposition leader indicated that he would be “sympathetic” to demands for recognition and compensation for former prisoners of war if he wins the General Election that must be called in the next four months.

James would also like to see a memorial built on the site of the mine where his father was forced to work, as well as a local education programme.

Patrick McAnulty was a stoker aboard the cruiser HMS Exeter when it was sunk in the Java Sea on March 1, 1942.

After being picked up by a Japanese warship, he spent time in a camp on the island of Celebes before being shipped to Japan. After a spell in a shipyard in Nagasaki, he was transferred to Fukuoka Camp 26 in June 1945 and worked at the Yoshikuma Coal Mine.

Until January of this year, Mr Aso had steadfastly refused to confirm that his company had employed slave labourers during the war. New evidence unearthed by opposition politicians in the archives of the Health and Welfare Ministry proved that 101 British, 197 Australian and two Dutch prisoners were held at the coal mine, along with several thousand Korean forced labourers.

Historians say the mines were notorious for their brutal treatment of prisoners.

A company spokesman, Yasuyuki Moriyama, told the two men that no records exist of POWs being used as forced labourers, a contradiction of the Prime Minister’s statement earlier in the year.