Words at War 43-08-07 (07) Prisoner of the Japs

Summary

Podcast Summary: Words at War – "Prisoner of the Japs"

Podcast: Harold's Old Time Radio
Episode Date: February 20, 2026
Original Air Date: August 7, 1943 (Radio Play)
Host: Harold's Old Time Radio
Episode: Words at War 43-08-07 (07) Prisoner of the Japs
Source Material: Based on Gwen Dhu's memoir, dramatized for radio

Overview

This episode from the classic "Words at War" radio series dramatizes Gwen Dhu's harrowing experiences as an American reporter trapped in Hong Kong during the Japanese invasion of December 1941. As someone present during the city's siege and eventual surrender, Dhu witnessed firsthand the fall of this British colony to Japanese forces, the brutal conditions of internment, and, ultimately, her journey to freedom through a prisoner exchange. The episode captures the resilience, trauma, and fleeting moments of hope among Allied internees while revealing the psychological tactics and propaganda of the Japanese occupiers.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Backdrop: The Fall of Hong Kong

• [00:47] The program opens with Gwen Dhu pondering, “Hong Kong. What is Hong Kong anyway?” — setting the scene for the coming invasion.
• The Narrator answers with geographic and political context: "One of the most powerful outposts of the [British] empire.” ([00:56])
• Colonel Tada, a Japanese officer, interrupts to assert Japan’s dominance: "Perhaps you have not heard of Japan's Greater East Asia Co Prosperity Sphere." ([01:03])
• The Japanese aerial and artillery assault begins, marking Hong Kong as the newest theater of World War II. ([01:20])

2. Personal Account of Siege and Surrender

• Gwen Dhu recounts December 8, 1941, as her “last day in Hong Kong”—until the Japanese attack halts all departures. ([02:40])
• She describes daily life under siege: endless gunfire, civilians and soldiers crammed together, and the gradual depletion of supplies. "[The city] was squeezed like a nut in the jaws of a nutcracker..." ([02:40])
• Moments of humanity break through, as in her exchange with Arden, a weary young volunteer:
  • Arden admits: “I used to wonder how I'd feel if I killed a man. ... Now, if I could personally kill every Japanese on this island, I'd be happy.” ([04:20])
• The turning point comes with the white flag of surrender: “[We] must bow to the blood stained banner of the rising sun.” ([09:16])

3. Captivity and Psychological Warfare

• After surrender, Dhu and fellow internees are processed by Japanese guards, enduring both humiliation and psychological tactics:
  • Dhu remembers: "Whenever I see teeth too big for a face or a bayonet too long for a gun, I'll think of those Japanese guards." ([09:50])
• Suffering is punctuated by grim humor, as a prisoner notes the Japanese leave their enemies’ bodies unburied:
  • "They consider it a particularly delicate form of insult to let them lie there day after day in the sun under the flies." ([10:53])
• Prisoners are herded into windowless, overcrowded spaces with minimal food or water, yet small acts of solidarity—singing carols on Christmas Eve ([12:36])—provide moments of relief.

4. Testimonies of Atrocities

• Dhu meets a Red Cross nurse from St. Stephen’s Hospital who tearfully recounts Japanese war crimes:
  • "[The Japanese] killed Dr. Whitney. Dr. Black, too. ... Tell them in America so they'll know what our enemies are like." ([13:22])

5. Encounters with Colonel Tada

• Colonel Tada emerges as both antagonist and complex character—bridging cruelty and a twisted sense of respect for Dhu’s courage.
• He invites Dhu to tea (“An invitation to tea with the jailer...I was hungry...I was a reporter.” [16:48])—she accepts, seeking both nourishment and a story.
• Their conversation becomes an ideological duel:
  • Tada boasts: "We would rather die for Japan than live for her. ... Soon the whole world will be speaking Japanese." ([18:30])
  • Dhu retorts about American anger over Pearl Harbor: "I'm afraid Americans will never forgive you for striking while your ambassadors were still in the White House talking peace." ([19:37])
• The scene ends with a symbolic act: Tada gifts her a jar of jam, underscoring the strangeness of their relationship. ([20:21])

6. Endurance and Resistance in Internment

• Life in the internment camp is marked by starvation, disease, and a strict regime:
  • “Eight or ten to a room, men and women together...” recounts Dhu, including her encounter with a guard’s mock-execution with a bayonet. ([14:47], [15:00])
• Jokes and celebrations—like a birthday toast or unveiling the precious jar of blackberry jam—lift spirits fleetingly:
  • “That’s right, General...We’re going to open it now. See, didn’t I tell you it was a real party? Blackberry jam.” ([24:46])
• Hopes rise as rumors of a prisoner exchange (“So many Americans for so many Japs.” [22:00]) circulate, culminating in final liberation.

7. Perspective on the Cost of War

• The episode ends with a sobering postscript from Gwen Dhu:
  • “Some of us came home. But 150,000 Allied soldiers and civilians are still prisoners of the Japs. Tonight we have tried to tell you what that means. ... Perhaps if you can remember what we have said tonight, it will help us to crush Japan's new empire before the friends we had to leave have died.” ([28:29])
• A final reminder of the enduring trauma for those not as fortunate: “Prisoners of the Japs.”

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

| Timestamp | Speaker | Quote | |---------------|---------------------------|-----------| | 02:40 | Gwen Dhu | "The city was squeezed like a nut in the jaws of a nutcracker until the shell of it and the meat of it were mash." | | 04:21 | Arden (Volunteer) | "I used to wonder how I'd feel if I killed a man... Now, if I could personally kill every Japanese on this island, I'd be happy." | | 09:50 | Gwen Dhu | "Whenever I see teeth too big for a face or a bayonet too long for a gun, I'll think of those Japanese guards." | | 10:53 | Prisoner/Internee | "They consider it a particularly delicate form of insult to let them lie there day after day in the sun under the flies." | | 13:22 | Red Cross Nurse | "Tell them in America so they'll know what our enemies are like." | | 17:37 | Colonel Tada | "I admire courage. I was very much impressed... you did not show fear. So I thought, sometime I will see this American newspaper woman. We will talk together." | | 18:30 | Colonel Tada | "We would rather die for Japan than live for her... Soon the whole world will be speaking Japanese." | | 19:37 | Gwen Dhu | "I'm afraid Americans will never forgive you for striking while your ambassadors were still in the White House talking peace." | | 24:46 | Gwen Dhu & Prisoners | "[Celebrating with Blackberry jam] See, didn't I tell you it was a real party?" | | 28:29 | Gwen Dhu | "Some of us came home. But 150,000 Allied soldiers and civilians are still prisoners of the Japs..." |

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [00:47–02:40] — Opening, Gwen Dhu’s arrival and background in Hong Kong
• [02:40–07:01] — The siege, key characters introduced, peace offer and rejection
• [09:16–12:34] — Surrender, internment, and Christmas Eve among prisoners
• [13:22] — Nurse’s testimony to war crimes
• [14:47–16:48] — Psychological torment in the prison, bayonet incident, invitation to tea
• [17:14–20:21] — Tea and ideological exchange between Dhu and Colonel Tada
• [22:00–25:22] — Life in the internment camp, humor, and the jam celebration
• [27:04–28:29] — Prisoner exchange and liberation
• [28:29–29:30] — Gwen Dhu’s closing appeal to the audience

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Tone and Style

The episode employs a tense, immersive tone—part direct reportage, part dramatic interpretation—mirroring both Gwen Dhu's journalistic detachment and the trauma of those interned. Interactions with Colonel Tada blend dark humor, tension, and displays of mutual psychological warfare. Monologues and conversations unfold with a sense of urgency, intended to inform, warn, and evoke empathy from the wartime listener.

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In Summary

"Prisoner of the Japs" remains a sobering, firsthand account of the fall of Hong Kong and life under Japanese internment, dramatized for a wartime radio audience. Through Gwen Dhu's eyes, listeners witness the resilience, camaraderie, and suffering of civilians under siege and captivity—including moments of humor and hope. The episode closes with an urgent reminder of the ongoing plight of prisoners still in Japanese hands, calling for continued resolve on the home front.

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Further Listening

Next Episode Preview: "Love at First Flight" by Charles Spalding and Otis Carney (scheduled in the original 1943 broadcast series).

Transcript

[Commercial Announcer]

Record sales have not exactly been stellar. Look, I need this tour. It's the only place I feel like I can breathe again. Based on the Incredible True Story I'm Tim. I'm Mark's walnut. It's my first tour. Now I just want to write something that helps people. You will never understand what I'm going through. Imagine what God can do again. Whatever you're going through, you're never alone. God is in fire and it is beautiful. I can only imagine. 2 now playing only in theaters. Rated PG.

[Narrator]

Words at War Presenting Gwen Diu's Prisoner of the Japs.

[Gwen Dhu (Reporter)]

Hong Kong. What is Hong Kong anyway?

[Narrator]

Hong Kong? Why, it's a tiny island off the coast of China.

[Gwen Dhu (Reporter)]

Oh, Chinese?

[Narrator]

Well, no. It's a British colony. One of the most powerful outposts of the empire.

[Colonel Tada (Japanese Officer)]

Sorry to interrupt. Perhaps you have not heard of Japan's Greater East Asia Co Prosperity Sphere.

[Narrator]

We don't need to worry about that. Hong Kong's an impenetrable fortress, has been for a hundred years.

[Colonel Tada (Japanese Officer)]

But this is 1941. Hong Kong Airport has been destroyed, all planes smashed. All naval inspirations are under artillery bombardment. Japan is at war with the Hong Kong.

[Narrator]

Words at war. Tonight, the National Broadcasting Company, in cooperation with the Council on Books in Wartime, brings you another in its series of radio adaptations of important books of this war. Each week, selected episodes are dramatized from some of the most stirring of our war inspired literature. Tonight we hear the story of an American newspaper woman who happened to be in Hong Kong on the day the Japanese attacked. The book is Prisoner of the Japs. The author is Gwen Dhu.

[Gwen Dhu (Reporter)]

Monday, December 8, 1941 was to have been my last day in Hong Kong. I'd planned to take a plane that evening from the airport. The Japanese smashed. I didn't want to leave Hong Kong. Something was going to happen there. And that's why I'd come in the first place as correspondent for the Detroit News and Newsweek magazine. But that Monday I was going to leave. No one left, only those who died. The defenders of Hong Kong were pushed steadily back. The city was squeezed like a nut in the jaws of a nutcracker until the shell of it and the meat of it were mash. It took the Japs 17 days to capture the Gibraltar of the East. I lived in a hotel, the Repulse Bay Hotel. I was there along with 200 other British and Americans and a small garrison of soldiers. Take time for a cup of tea, soldier. I can't see you, so I don't know who you are.

[Narrator]

Just a second Miss. After I get this one. Maybe I got that one. Name's Arden, miss. I know you. I recognize your voice.

[Gwen Dhu (Reporter)]

I hope you got him.

[Narrator]

What difference would one more make? I ask you. What difference? You kill them and kill them and they keep on coming.

[Gwen Dhu (Reporter)]

Please have some tea, Arden. Just a sip. Give me your hand. So dark in here, you might spill it. Careful. You got the cup?

[Narrator]

Got it. Thanks, miss. That tastes good. You women have been swelled. Cleaning and scrubbing up the messes, feeding us.

[Gwen Dhu (Reporter)]

You sound so tired.

[Narrator]

I feel as if I was 90 years old.

[Gwen Dhu (Reporter)]

How old are you?

[Narrator]

23. I used to wonder how I'd feel if I killed a man. I've been in the Volunteer Corps here a couple of years. But I've always been frightened that. Well, that I'd be scared to kill someone. Now, now, if I could personally kill every Japanese on this island, I'd be happy.

[Gwen Dhu (Reporter)]

Day after day, night after night. At night you couldn't sleep. There was only gunfire and terror. I used to almost pray for the light to come, even though it meant more horrible things would happen. In the morning, at least you could lift the blackout curtains and look across the bay to the mainland now held by the Japanese. On the fifth morning of the siege, in the early morning light, I saw. I could hardly believe it. A boat detach itself from the others and start for our side of the shore toward Hong Kong. Machine guns began to bark. I thought some crazy fool was trying to escape from the Japs. I looked through the telephoto lens on my camera. In the bow of the boat, I could see a sign on a large white bell. It said, peace Mission. But this is incredible, Major.

[Narrator]

Like everything else today. Ms. Jew.

[Gwen Dhu (Reporter)]

Three Japanese officers coming into the heart of Hong Kong.

[Narrator]

Look at them strutting up the steps.

[Gwen Dhu (Reporter)]

If I could get a picture.

[Colonel Tada (Japanese Officer)]

I am Colonel Tada of Military Information.

[Narrator]

I am Major Boxer of His Majesty's.

[Colonel Tada (Japanese Officer)]

Young lady.

[Gwen Dhu (Reporter)]

Yes?

[Colonel Tada (Japanese Officer)]

That camera. You are a photographer?

[Gwen Dhu (Reporter)]

I'm a reporter for an American newspaper.

[Colonel Tada (Japanese Officer)]

You want to take photographs?

[Gwen Dhu (Reporter)]

I'd like to.

[Colonel Tada (Japanese Officer)]

Oh, certainly. Come over here, please. I will stand here, Captain. Oslo on my right, arsenal on my left. Shall we all switch? Young lady, take your photograph there. Remember, please. I am Colonel Isumo Tada of Japanese Military Intelligence. Someday you will write about me when the war is over.

[Gwen Dhu (Reporter)]

Yes, Colonel Tada, also.

[Colonel Tada (Japanese Officer)]

Now, Major Boxer, we have come with an offer of peace from the Japanese government.

[Narrator]

I shall send word at once to the Governor General.

[Colonel Tada (Japanese Officer)]

Perhaps you should add that not only is Hong Kong doomed, but also that Pearl harbor has Been destroyed. The American navy has been sunk. Yes.

[Narrator]

I shall send word to the Governor General immediately. The answer, Colonel Tata, is no surrender.

[Colonel Tada (Japanese Officer)]

No surrender? Indeed.

[Narrator]

No surrender.

[Colonel Tada (Japanese Officer)]

You shall have until 4 o'clock this afternoon to change your minds. The war shall be resumed if we do not hear from your government. This is all. Then I think, Major Buck, Sir. You will order your men to withhold fire till 4 o'. Clock. Then, if we have heard no more from you, the war will go on. Good afternoon.

[Narrator]

I say, Major Stewart, if there was got to go on, those chaps are in our hands. You could, you know, you could fire on them. Not until 4 o', clock, Mr. Holmes.

[Gwen Dhu (Reporter)]

That afternoon war began again and continued through the fifth night, through the sixth day, the seventh, the eighth, the ninth, And after each of those days another night of terror, weariness, despair, the ammunition getting low, water going. Food.

[Prisoner/Internee]

Ms. Jew?

[Gwen Dhu (Reporter)]

Yes, here I am.

[Narrator]

Pardon, Miss. Will you do me a favor?

[Gwen Dhu (Reporter)]

Of course.

[Colonel Tada (Japanese Officer)]

It's Sir. Dark.

[Narrator]

Give me a hand. There. Got it. The piece of paper? Yes, my mother's address is on it. Will you try to get a message to her sometime?

[Colonel Tada (Japanese Officer)]

Sure.

[Gwen Dhu (Reporter)]

Arden. It looks bad, but you mustn't be here.

[Narrator]

Listen, Ms. Du. We're getting out the soldiers, I mean. Tonight we're going to try to crawl to Fort Stanley. There'll only be civilians in the hotel in the morning.

[Gwen Dhu (Reporter)]

Only civilians?

[Narrator]

Yes. Then maybe the Japs won't kill everyone.

[Gwen Dhu (Reporter)]

That meant we were surrendering. The British flag was coming down. The white flag of surrender was going up. We must bow to the blood stained banner of the rising sun. The corners of the hotel were filled with people trying to sleep. I didn't think I could, but I went to the crowded room I shared with a number of other people. Somehow I must have dozed off.

[Prisoner/Internee]

Get down in the lobby at once. The Japs are here.

[Gwen Dhu (Reporter)]

The Japs are here. It was morning again and the unbelievable thing was true. The Japs were in possession of the hotel. I'll never forget those guards for the rest of my life. Whenever I see teeth too big for a face or a bayonet too long for a gun, I'll think of those Japanese guards. One of our Jap guards had discovered the piano in the dining room and was banging away at us while we men, women and children were marched off to captivity. Prisoners of the Japs. Overhead as we walked, Japanese planes were playfully dropping bombs and underfoot.

[Prisoner/Internee]

Doubtless do careful where you're walking.

[Gwen Dhu (Reporter)]

Oh. Oh, it's one of our men.

[Prisoner/Internee]

Yes, Miss

[Gwen Dhu (Reporter)]

Arden.

[Prisoner/Internee]

Can't be sure, Miss Duke?

[Gwen Dhu (Reporter)]

He didn't get through to Fort Stanley. Why don't they bury these men?

[Prisoner/Internee]

Japs don't bury their enemies, miss. Didn't you know? They consider it a particularly delicate form of insult to let them lie there day after day in the sun under the flies.

[Gwen Dhu (Reporter)]

When we reached the city, the guards finally let us sit down in the gutter and rest. After carrying 45 pounds of camera equipment all day, I was pretty glad of a rest. Towards evening, we ended up in a deserted paint factory. No furniture, no plumbing. Just three empty floors and one candle to each floor. We were packed in like pigs in a stockyard so close we could hardly sit down. 200 frightened homeless people. And like people everywhere, we took out our feelings in different ways. Some in weeping.

[Colonel Tada (Japanese Officer)]

I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills from whence my help comes from the Lord which made heaven and

[Gwen Dhu (Reporter)]

earth take your elbow. And a few took it out inquiring

[Prisoner/Internee]

we shall not put it.

[Colonel Tada (Japanese Officer)]

Your arms.

[Gwen Dhu (Reporter)]

You have to hold that box in your arms. If you put it down in this crowd.

[Prisoner/Internee]

Everything I got is in this box.

[Gwen Dhu (Reporter)]

And who's going to steal your trash? We've got trash.

[Narrator]

Oh, fired me and three.

[Prisoner/Internee]

I'll show you.

[Narrator]

Two have to call.

[Gwen Dhu (Reporter)]

Something's bad enough already.

[Prisoner/Internee]

For goodness sakes. You shut up. Think of the children. After all, this is Christmas Eve. Now, look here, people. I know we all feel awful, but we've got to keep our chins up. Let's try to think about something else. It's Christmas. Can somebody sing a carol, perhaps?

[Gwen Dhu (Reporter)]

Oh, Christmas carol.

[Prisoner/Internee]

Oh, I mean it now. Let's try. Come along. Somebody who knows. The old little town of Bethlehem.

[Gwen Dhu (Reporter)]

They were trying hard. As for me, well, I'm a newspaper woman, and I was busy keeping my eyes open. That was my job. Most of the people in the room I knew. But the Japs had thrown in a few strangers with us. One of these was a nurse sitting right beside me. You're a Red Cross nurse, aren't you? Yes. See much of the fighting? Yes. Where were you? At St. Stephen's Hospital. It was the day before yesterday. Early in the morning. Hundreds of wounded British and Canadian soldiers, some of them even lying on the floor. And then the Japs came. They killed Dr. Whitney. Dr. Black, too. We were there all day, all night. You are a reporter, aren't you? Yes, I am. Then tell them what happened to me, to the rest of the nurses. Tell them in America so they'll know what our enemies are like. Nothing to say. Sleep on nothing but rice and water to eat Life goes on. Then at last, the entire Foreign Colony, 3500 British, Dutch and Americans were all herded together and moved to an old, dirty hotel, the Kowloon and other Chinese brothels.

[Colonel Tada (Japanese Officer)]

You are now prisoners of Japan. Any infringement of orders will be punished by death according to military war.

[Gwen Dhu (Reporter)]

We were locked up, eight or ten to a room, men and women together. One day I was alone, trying to sleep. Suddenly I became conscious that someone was standing beside me. People who knew the Japanese had warned me never to show any fear, no matter what happened. So I just lay there on the floor and pretended to be asleep. And then I felt something cold, smooth and sharp on my throat. I knew it was a bayonet moving slowly across my throat, under my chin, from one ear to the other. I could feel a point resting for a moment under my left ear, under the jugular vein. Then it slid back again across my throat, cold, smooth, sharp. I didn't breathe. It was a long, long time. Finally, I heard a sigh and the toe of a boot gave me a kick. I opened my eyes and one of the guards was standing over me, grinning at his little joke.

[Colonel Tada (Japanese Officer)]

Missy afraid?

[Gwen Dhu (Reporter)]

No. No, I wasn't afraid.

[Colonel Tada (Japanese Officer)]

Missy, arrive.

[Prisoner/Internee]

Missy, get up.

[Colonel Tada (Japanese Officer)]

Have note for Missy. From Colonel Tada to the American young lady Cameraman, I would like you to come to tea. I am very busy. Barb will arrange in a few days for you to come to the Peninsula Hotel. Colonel Tada.

[Gwen Dhu (Reporter)]

An invitation to tea with the jailer. Well, why shouldn't I go? I was hungry. Besides, I was a reporter. The day came I was so weak I could hardly walk to the Colonel's hotel. But finally I made it and I was taken to his suite. A room with chairs to sit in and food.

[Colonel Tada (Japanese Officer)]

Will you have another sandwich, Ms. Dew?

[Gwen Dhu (Reporter)]

I've had 11 already.

[Colonel Tada (Japanese Officer)]

Then have a piece of pastry.

[Gwen Dhu (Reporter)]

I'll have another sandwich first, and then I'll have a piece of pastry.

[Colonel Tada (Japanese Officer)]

Certainly.

[Gwen Dhu (Reporter)]

Thank you.

[Colonel Tada (Japanese Officer)]

Now, tell me, miss, do you are probably wondering why I invited you here today, are you not?

[Gwen Dhu (Reporter)]

Well, yes, I was, Colonel Tara.

[Colonel Tada (Japanese Officer)]

It is very simple. I admire courage. I was very much impressed that day when you took our photographs. You did not show fear. So I thought, sometime I will see this American newspaper woman. We will talk together.

[Gwen Dhu (Reporter)]

So you are giving me an interview,

[Colonel Tada (Japanese Officer)]

Colonel Tara, I can afford to. You are my prisoner.

[Gwen Dhu (Reporter)]

All right then, if this is an interview, here's a question. What does Japan hope to gain by this war? Even if she won, most of her navy would be gone, her buildings destroyed.

[Colonel Tada (Japanese Officer)]

In the meantime, Japan will have taken all the resources of a million miles of land. Malaya and its rubber, which your country needs so badly. Its chrome, the oil from East India, and so on. And so.

[Gwen Dhu (Reporter)]

What about your men? A million of your men will be dead.

[Colonel Tada (Japanese Officer)]

You. You Americans lose sight of our physiology and psychology. We would rather die for Japan than live for her. From the battlefield, white boxes of ashes are sent home for the family shines. Don't forget, Ms. Du, we Japanese do not think of this war in the terms of this year or next. We think of the future history of Japan. You know how one white race after another, the Greeks, the Romans, the French have risen and then declined. The past belong to these white races, but the future belongs to us. Soon the whole world will be speaking Japanese.

[Gwen Dhu (Reporter)]

You talk as if the war were already won, Colonel Tara.

[Colonel Tada (Japanese Officer)]

Japan is already the second largest empire in the world. And the American fleet was practically destroyed at Pearl Harbor.

[Gwen Dhu (Reporter)]

Pearl Harbor, Colonel Tata. I'm afraid Americans will never forgive you for striking while your ambassadors were still in the White House talking peace.

[Colonel Tada (Japanese Officer)]

Yes, I know, I know. But that is the way it had to be done. You can win a war in only one way. Destroy the enemy before he destroys you. Ms. Du, we leave Europe to Germany. For the rest of the world, we are the new masters. And now, Miss Du, you must leave me. Oh. As a token of my kindness, I ask you to accept this jar of jam.

[Gwen Dhu (Reporter)]

P.S. i took the jam.

[Colonel Tada (Japanese Officer)]

I told you, miss, you. You ought to leave. I told you. And you just kept saying there's going to be a wall and you wanted to see the balloon go up.

[Gwen Dhu (Reporter)]

And it did, didn't it, Sergeant? The balloon went up all right. I just didn't think the blooming thing had come down.

[Colonel Tada (Japanese Officer)]

Now, now, miss Doe. Tears from such as you, I am surprised. Miss Do. Now, now we'll be all right.

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[Gwen Dhu (Reporter)]

From the hotel, we were taken to a large internment camp. It was crowded and filthy, and we still had the same starvation diet. We set up a sort of primitive housekeeping. Everyone had duties. Cooking, washing, sanitation. By now, we'd been prisoners six months. There was one thing that kept us from despair. We'd heard rumors that there was to be an exchange of prisoners. So many Americans for so many Japs. No one knew who the lucky ones were to be. But we all made plans. And in the meeting hall, someone had drawn a map of the Pacific on the wall with our probable route home. We were weak. We were ill and homesick, but we tried to keep up our spirits. In the British group, there was an amusing character. Brigadier General Maurice Abraham Cohen, bodyguard to Dr. Sun Yat Sen. General Cohen was a blockade runner, guerrilla fighter, and now a prisoner. It was the general's birthday, so I suggested a.

[Colonel Tada (Japanese Officer)]

Speech.

[Prisoner/Internee]

Yeah, yeah, speech. Ladies and gentlemen, I accept this party as a tribute to my charm and good looks. And I must admit, it's only my due. What with this rice and water diet, my figure now has the graceful curve

[Gwen Dhu (Reporter)]

as a picket fence.

[Prisoner/Internee]

But as we're paying tribute, there's the Reverend Dill Orman, for instance. Him and his sanitation squad have kept this filthy hole something like human. And of all the nasty jobs, I guess theirs takes the cake.

[Colonel Tada (Japanese Officer)]

Cake, did you say? What's that?

[Prisoner/Internee]

Cake?

[Gwen Dhu (Reporter)]

That's right, General.

[Narrator]

Keep food out of this. You don't want to start a riot.

[Prisoner/Internee]

My mistake. And then there's our dearest enemy, the Kitchen Squad, who, in spite of the hate we bear them, keep right on trying to find new ways to cook rice. Three cheers for the Kitchen Squad. Hip, hip.

[Gwen Dhu (Reporter)]

Thanks. Thanks.

[Prisoner/Internee]

And last but not least is our indispensable friend, Mr. Arlington. It's safe to say that if Mr. Arlington didn't spend his days picking the livestock out of the rice, we'd all be dead of starvation by this time. So, ladies and gentlemen, I give you Mr. Arlington.

[Gwen Dhu (Reporter)]

Wait a minute. Wait a minute. I've been waiting to bring out my surprise. I've had it hidden away for some special occasion. Look.

[Colonel Tada (Japanese Officer)]

Hot jar of something.

[Gwen Dhu (Reporter)]

A jar of jam.

[Colonel Tada (Japanese Officer)]

BlackBerry jam.

[Gwen Dhu (Reporter)]

You mean it's a whole new jar of jam, unopened. Unopened? We're going to open it now. See, didn't I tell you it was a real party? BlackBerry jam. Oh, Gwen, I know it's silly of me, but I think I'm gonna cry.

[Colonel Tada (Japanese Officer)]

Good evening. I say good evening. Oh, a party. A jam. BlackBerry jam. Very nice, but not good for weak stomach.

[Gwen Dhu (Reporter)]

So don't touch that jam.

[Colonel Tada (Japanese Officer)]

You are my prisoners. I take care of you. Damn bad for you. So excuse please. I take to window. I throw out windows. Now you not be sick. Now, I have news. Our government make exchange prisoners. American and Japanese. Who? Diplomats and writers. Waiter. You hear more. That is all. Now I go. What is drawing on wall that?

[Gwen Dhu (Reporter)]

That's just a map of the Pacific.

[Narrator]

We heard there was a chance of our going home. We were just figuring on the route.

[Colonel Tada (Japanese Officer)]

Where is Japan on your map?

[Narrator]

Well, you see, we didn't think we'd stop at Japan. So we didn't bother putting it on.

[Colonel Tada (Japanese Officer)]

Did not bother. Give me pencil here. I show you Japan, China, India, Australia, Hawaii, West Coast, America, Alaska, eastern Russia. All that is Japan. Remember that when you go home. Mark it on your maps. And if you are asked if you were ever slap on face, then say yes and yes and yes.

[Gwen Dhu (Reporter)]

Well, we could bear anything now. We were going home. And at last the exchange was made. And the rescue ship set out. The Osamu Maru from Yokohama to meet the grips home from New York after seven months of starvation and torture. We were actually sailing. The route we had traveled traced so often on our map. Hong Kong, Saigon, past Singapore, through the Indian Ocean, down the East African coast and into Lorenzo Marquez. And as we drew into the harbor, we saw the grips home waiting for us. The brave white crosses of protection standing out proudly on her decks. And coming out to make to meet us was a convoy of 12 boats. Battered old hulks of tankers, freighters, tugs. A rusty, bedraggled crew. But flying from their masts, the most beautiful sight on earth. The Union Jack and the Stars and Stripes. And as they drew nearer, they joined in a chorus of welcome. A sound that lifted our hearts. The promise of victory and peace and freedom.

[Narrator]

We present in person the author of Prisoner of the Japs, Gwen Dhu.

[Gwen Dhu (Reporter)]

Some of us came home. But 150,000 Allied soldiers and civilians are still prisoners of the Japs. Tonight we have tried to tell you what that means. We have forced ourselves to speak of those days so that you may understand. Japan. She has taken a million square miles of territory and we have won back 200 square miles. Perhaps if you can remember what we have said tonight, it will help us to crush Japan's new empire before the friends we had to leave have died. Prisoners of the Japs.

[Narrator]

You have heard the seventh program of Words at War, a series based on the leading war books. This evening we presented Prisoners of the Japs by Gwen Dhu. The adaptation was by Nora Sterling of the NBC script staff. Next week you'll hear a dramatization of Love at First Flight, the hilarious book by Charles Spalding and Otis Carney. The part of Gwen do was played by Joan Alexander. Colonel Tada was played by Ted Osborne. Other members of the cast were Leslie Woods, Maurice Tarplin, Flora Campbell, John o', Connor, Milton Herman, Guy Repp and Sidney Castles. The original music was written by Morris Momorski and conducted by Joseph Stopak. The production was under the direction of Joseph Losey. This program has been presented in cooperation with the Council on Books in Wartime by the National Broadcasting Company and the independent radio stations associated with the NBC Network. This program came to you from New York

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