Escape to Pagan (31 page)

“My mother thought the scruffy officer was Kempeitai despite the fact he was not wearing a white cotton strip of cloth around his right arm. She came to this conclusion because of the soldiers' terrified reaction to him and told me to be careful of him in the future. Later during that same week, this scruffy officer knocked at our door! My heart leapt when I saw him. My mother stayed calm and immediately thought he had come to check if she had permission to sell cakes to the Japanese
soldiers. Mother handed him the printed permission written in Japanese. He barely glanced at it then handed it back to her. He spoke in English, asking my mother how long had we been in Tada u, where had we come from originally and had we ever visited Europe. She told him exactly the same as she told the camp commander. No we had never been to Europe and had always lived in Burma as this was our country. The fact that this officer spoke reasonably good English worried us even more. We waited for him to ask our family history, but instead found he wanted to talk to my mother about Rangoon; was he testing us? My mother said she knew Rangoon. It seems he had just returned from Rangoon and thought it was a shame the Japanese Air force had bombed the city so thoroughly. He emphasized that the Japanese had taken great care not to damage the Shwedagon Pagoda as they were also Buddhists.

“While talking he smoked cigarettes from a nice silver case, which he seemed to be very proud of. He came on several other occasions and would stand on the doorstep talking to my mother, always in English. I stayed in our room looking after you. We began to dread his visits and felt he was about to arrest us every time he arrived. He must have known that my mother spoke Nippon Go from the camp commander. Suddenly on one occasion, out of the blue he asked her why she had troubled to learn the Nipponese language. My mother answered diplomatically, without hesitation: ‘Because Nippon Go is a beautiful language.' He seemed very pleased at her answer. Every time my mother answered a question he seemed to take a long time considering it. But thank God he suddenly disappeared from Tada u. What a relief it was, we never saw him again.

“We discovered that you were sneaking away with the young village children and playing near the Buddhist pagoda. We had heard stories from the villagers about a large sacred cobra that lived in a hole under the pagoda on the edge of a small path that led to the cemetery. This was certainly true as it was often seen crossing the path and entering the graveyard in the evenings and returning to the pagoda in the mornings. This venomous reptile was only sacred when it was within the boundaries of the pagoda; if it was met outside the boundaries the villagers would try to kill it with no qualms whatsoever. We never saw this snake but it would soon claim a victim. This graveyard was now being used by both
Buddhists and Christians to bury their dead as space for new graves was becoming hard to find.”

I remember this pagoda and going to the cemetery with the native children to pick the fallen ripe fruit of the sweet bay tree. This tree was untouched by the Burmese and the Japanese, as they believed the fruit belonged to the spirits of the dead.

“The Burmese loved raw eggs of any kind, including reptile eggs. Egg collecting and the shooting of birds was a favourite pastime for the older village boys who owned catapults and was a welcome addition to their meagre diets during the occupation. The birds would be barbecued and the eggs would be eaten with nutmeg, raw onions and salt. A teenage Burmese boy from the village noticed that several round white cobra eggs had rolled down and were visible at the entrance of the hole that bordered the path. He tried to collect them; he was bitten. He died late that night while unconscious ‘when his lungs collapsed,' according to my mother. She knew the boy's mother quite well, and was present at his death. We attended the funeral and joined in the procession with its banging of cymbals and drums; we went as a token of respect to the Burmese villagers. During her life my mother had seen several people die of snakebite including a servant of ours we had in Rangoon, before the war.”

Justice Nippon-style

“One day my mother and I were sitting outside when a tribeswoman suddenly appeared along the dirt road. Congealed blood covered her face, neck and her colourful tribal costume. She looked as if she had been
mauled by some wild animal (Mother said sloth bears often attack the face). This woman said she had been robbed of her dowry by a Japanese soldier. She asked some Burmese women where she could find the camp commander. They told her to speak to Mr Thomas who worked for the Japanese; he escorted her to Major Watanabe. The Major had lived in Shwebo before the war and spoke good Burmese. The tribeswoman told Watanabe that she was on her way to market when she was stopped by a patrol of soldiers and questioned. One of them demanded the thick gold rings through her nose, ears and around her neck. When she refused he physically pulled the jewellery off, causing her these terrible injuries. These items were her dowry, as was her face, which would now be scarred for life. Her chances of finding a husband were now greatly reduced. Every Japanese, whether he is an officer or a one-star private, inherits an inbuilt tradition of peasant values. This cultural rural logic would pluck at the strings of their code of honour.

“The commander asked the young woman if she could recognize the soldier responsible. She said she could. Waiting until all the patrols had returned, the camp commander mustered all the troops out on to the parade ground. The news had quickly spread and most of the people who lived in the terraced houses, along with the Burmese villagers went to see the outcome of Japanese justice. These curious watchers would soon be shocked. We did not go as it was not compulsory, but heard all about it after it was over.

“The tribeswoman along with the commander and several officers, all carrying their swords, walked along the line of soldiers. The tribeswoman recognized the soldier who had robbed her. He was quickly searched; nothing was found. NCOs rushed to the barracks to search his possessions and the gold was found. The soldier was then disarmed and his face slapped in public by Major Watanabe, who then drew his pistol and shot the Japanese soldier dead. That was the first time many of the onlookers had seen a man killed. The gold was returned to the tribeswoman.

“One day we heard wonderful whispers: the British were counter-attacking in the Arakan, and the Chinese Army together with the Americans were pushing down from the north. We were so excited at this news and watched the Japanese with interest. But they carried on as
normal and looked unconcerned. We heard that British soldiers who had been captured would soon be arriving at Tada u. We were all very curious to see them and waited in anticipation. A lorry arrived with the prisoners who looked very tired and thin in their tattered uniforms but did not seem to have been tortured. Their hands were tied at their sides with rope around their waists. They had to be helped off the trucks because when they fell over they could not get up again. They were lined up and several Japanese officers arrived with swords. Oh my God, I thought they were going to be beheaded in public and we would be forced to watch.

“These British prisoners looked apprehensive and blinked in the sunlight. They were all given water and then led away to the Kempeitai building. We all dreaded hearing their screams that night. The following afternoon Maureen, who worked for the Japs, said the prisoners were given food and were then taken to Rangoon. I prayed Jack was still alive and not being ill-treated wherever he was.

“The Allied ground attack never came but Allied planes began flying over Tada u. Then one day a pilot who had been shot down was brought in to camp. He was to be decapitated and everyone was ordered to attend. I did not want to go; my mother said that if we did not attend the Kempeitai would suspect us of having anti-Japanese feelings. I was determined to close my eyes when it happened.”

I remember this gathering as we young children wanted to see a man's head being cut off, or so we thought. We were fascinated by the Japanese swords and the reverence their owners afforded them. We were led to believe they were magical weapons and could cut through iron; these swords could win battles on their own when in the hands of the Japanese.

“A large crowd had gathered; army to one side, civilians to the other. Most of the people from Tada u and surrounding villages were present and seemed to be looking forward to the event, although they remained very silent. I believed they all changed their minds after. I was almost
in tears; my mother told me to pull myself together, she said the pilot would have been drugged with opium, he would not know what was going on. In fact, that afternoon there would be two beheadings. All the Japanese soldiers stood around smoking and chattering until two Jap officers appeared smartly dressed in white shirts and white gloves: both carried swords. Now the mood of the watching Japanese troops changed and everyone fell silent while they went about their rituals.”

Beheading was almost conducted with solemn reverence a mixture of Bushido and Shinto Buddhism. The more sensitive of the Japanese watchers may have felt a twinge of sympathy for the prisoner if he died bravely. I did not see this beheading; perhaps I just heard the faint sigh of expelled breath from the watchers after the blade flashed downwards.