I'm posting this on behalf of a friend, his request below.



Does anyone remember from the Spring of 1944 a group of repatriated POWs being welcomed home at a civic reception hosted by the Mayor at Bebington Town Hall? I believe these men were the first from that area to be brought home.

A boy and a girl from each of the schools in the area were chosen to attend. I was in my last year at Bromborough Pool Works School and was picked together with the late Cerries Mangan [nee Wilde as she was then].

I have been searching for several years, on and off, for reported news of this event without success.

Forgive my ignorance Bert but were prisoners of the Japanese repatriated in 1944? The war in Europe was still raging then and D day wasn't until June.

Not doubting you but didn't think the Japs did anything out of compassion unless they were from camps overrun by the allies?

Helles,
Had the same thoughts myself but then again it is possible we got some POW's back, the allies had made some advances by then in certain areas.
I checked the 1944/45 Bebington news which I thought it would have been reported in, nothing, search goes on.

Reminds me of when I was at Ceylon Radio in 1961. The CPO Paybob was an ex Japanese POW and he used to go down all the Maru boats when they were in Colombo harbour and drill the Japanese sailor in Japanese. They then used to get him bevvied on saki. You could tell that the poor bloke had lost the plot.
I met another one in Scarborough when I was on a course. I'd won a hamper in a raffle but wasn't going back home until the weekend so asked if there were any needy folk in the bar. A local pointed me in the direction of an old couple and I gave them the hamper, upon which the old bloke started crying. It was explained to me that he'd had such a hard time in the POW camps that any act of kindness from anyone caused him to well up. I hope they enjoyed the nosh anyway.

I well remember a smashing guy(RIP) that I worked with in early 60s who had been a Jap Pow.Every tea break he bought a bar of chocolate (KitKat, Mars,whatever).He never,ever ate the whole bar but his desk drawer was full of half eaten bars.He never knew if he would get anything tomorrow or next day. 20 years later the memories were still raw.