Writer and MP honour the ‘Forgotten Army’
DAMIEN MOORE MP will stand alongside a Southport writer and her family on Remembrance Day to lay a wreath in honour of the “Forgotten Army” of the Far East.
Jacquelyn Frith-Crofts was supported by Mr Moore in the campaign to establish a commemorative annual event for VJ (Victory over Japan) day for those who fought and suffered as PoWs in the Far East during WWII.
VE Day on May 8 is often mistaken for the anniversary of the end of the war, but it is actually VJ Day on August 15.
The mum-of-one said: “Mr Moore and Andrew Brown of the Southport Visiter have been great supporters of the campaign. My dad and I met with Mr Moore in July and there was a petition which raised 17,000-plus signatories.
“The Government misunderstood, thinking we were asking for a national bank holiday. In fact, we were questioning the fact that there’s a national pancake day and a national Nutella day, among other things, but no recognition of the end of WWII.
“I must make clear that I’m not suggesting it is recognised instead of VE day but alongside it. VE is a national day, not a bank holiday, and there is room to recognise both.”
Mr Moore said: “I am immensely proud to support the formal recognition of Victory in Japan Day, the fallen soldiers who were kept captive from 1941-1945 deserve formal recognition for the ultimate sacrifice they made for this country.”
“There now needs to be a concerted effort to establish an annual national day to recognise the significance of Victory over Japan day. On Remembrance Sunday this year I have organised for Jacquelyn Frith-Crofts to lay a wreath in remembrance of those fallen soldiers and I will be proud to be there at that moment.”
“The great work that Jacquelyn has put in to highlight this has been invaluable and I will be supporting her every step of the way for this day of formal recognition.”
Jacquelyn has written a historical novel, 10 years in the making, about the atrocities in the Far East.
The book,informed by the experience of her family members, is called Unwritten Letters To Spring Street and is due for publication in late January 2020.
It is told from the perspective of her great uncle, Jack Frith, who was a PoW of the Japanese and suffered terribly.
He was murdered in a war crime that was concealed by the Japanese government. It came to light in 1949 when it was investigated and adetailedcase was made.
Jack died when the ship he was being transported on was torpedoed by the American submarine USS Bonefish. The vessel had not been marked as a PoW ship by red crosses, as required under the Geneva Convention.
The Labour government at the time declined the request to extend the war crime trials to try those in custody for the murders. It was also concealed from the families of those killed.
There were 414 British men killed in a number of atrocities and the families were given no detail of the facts.
Jacquelyn’s grandfather, George Frith, fought in India and Burma and was never the same when he returned and died in his sixties in 1982.Jacquelyn said: “My grandmother told us he never spoke about his time there. Upon returning, all liberated British prisoners of war were instructed to never speak of what had happened to them for fear of upsetting their families.
“I don’t think a lot of family members know about what their loved ones might have lived through.
“I didn’t even know until I was on a visit with a friend in 2010 to the River Kwai museum in Thailand. I had a vague recollection of my family members’ histories in the Far East but I knew very little of what had gone on and it was a huge shock to discover the tragedy.
“I feel the lack of awareness may be down to Japan not facing its own history in the same way that the likes of Germany has.
“People know the names of German war criminals and a lot of them have been brought to justice. Whereas in Japan this part of history is not taught in its schools and British people don’t know the names of the Japanese people that committed such horrendous war crimes.
“If you look at pictures of liberated prisoners of war in the Far East, it’s reminiscent of victims of Belsen and Auschwitz.”
Last year, Jacquelyn laid a wreath on VJ Day at the Southport War Memorial in Lord Street and was alone.
Jacquelyn said: “I just want to raise awareness, I’m not interested in book sales but I am very interested in getting the facts out there and also getting VJ Day recognised as a national day for the many who have suffered.”
To find out more about Jacquelyn’s book, visit unwrittenletterstospringstreet.co.uk