Eaten by the Japanese: The Memoir of an Unknown Indian Prisoner of War

Eaten by the Japanese

The Memoir of an Unknown Indian Prisoner of War

––––––––

John Baptist Crasta

Edited with a biographical introduction and three essays by

Richard Crasta

Copyright Page

Copyright © 1998, 1999, 2015 Richard Crasta

Published by The Invisible Man Press, New York

All rights reserved. (Richard Crasta is the son of the late John Baptist Crasta; he edited and annotated the book, and added three essays of his own to this book.)

All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

Website: https://richardcrasta.com

Contents

Copyright Page

Brief Praise for Eaten by the Japanese

Disclaimer and Minor Co-author’s Request

Author’s Dedication

Comparative Table of Ranks

In Singapore, Life Was Gay

The Japanese Invasion Begins

The Quick March to Surrender

Surrender and Seduction

Shipped Out of Malaya

The Torture Ship

The Second Voyage of the Torture Ship

Torture Island

The Bombs of Santa Claus

Fish and Fowl

Koga the Devil

Peace, Rioting, and the Good Australians

War Crimes and the Return Home

Commentary

Essays and Biographical Notes by Richard Crasta

Invisible Beginnings: A Short Early History of John Baptist Crasta

Fathers and Sons: A Tale of Literature, Reinvention, and Redemption

Forgiveness

The Defence Minister and the India-Japan Connection

Footnotes

Notes

Key Dates in John Baptist Crasta’s Life

Acknowledgments (1998, 1999, and 2011 combined)

About the Author

Brief Praise for Eaten by the Japanese

A classic in military history, telling the story of men trapped in a world of torture, starvation, and death — Roger Mansell, War historian, in Tameme Magazine

A tale of unmitigated horror. A handsome tribute to a man of courage and rectitude. –Khushwant Singh, Author, Editor, and Columnist.

Striking and raw, an antidote to myth.  Something to be treasured. This is the kind of record that this generation is losing fast, and we need to hold on to this. It made me think of what had happened to my own father's memoirs, which were lost. — Barry Fruchter, Ph.D., Professor of Literature, New York.

"In Eaten as a memoir, you see the horror of war, without a trace of artifice, through the eyes of one who was there, the writing a simple act of catharsis with no reasonable expectation that anything would come of it. It deserves to be ranked with the best." — Mark Ledbetter, Professor of Linguistics, Amazon 5-star review

The theater of the absurd . . . war as seen from the smoking trenches. Written without rancour or hatred, of archival value to historians.  Crasta’s memoir should find a cherished place in all major libraries.  — Dr. Arunachalam Kumar, Author, in Morning News.

Publishing History

First published in India in 1998 in a limited edition by Invisible Man Books, this book was then published in a fully revised and annotated edition with new epilogues by Invisible Man Press, Inc, New York in 1999.

This 2015 e-book edition is published by The Invisible Man Press, New York, and includes a new essay by Richard Crasta in addition to the original three essays, and additional biographical material. Richard Crasta is also the son of the late John Baptist Crasta (who died in 1999), and an author of 12 other books, including books that touch upon the theme of fatherhood.

All Rights Reserved by the Invisible Man Press. This book may not be reproduced or duplicated (except for short quotes in literary reviews).

The co-author/publisher may be reached at Richard.crasta@gmail.com

For more information on this and forthcoming Invisible Man Press books, please visit https://richardcrasta.com

Disclaimer and Minor Co-author’s Request

This book was published by Richard Crasta (editor and minor co-author) on the basis of an untitled, handwritten, flowing manuscript of his father, John Baptist Crasta, who served in the British Indian Army (and later, in the Indian Army, from 1947 till his retirement in 1965). It was published by the main author’s son to make known his father’s untold story and his suffering, and also the sufferings of all prisoners of war, especially Indian, who were treated cruelly by their captors. Other than the main story, all other subjective interpretations, footnotes, and essays that follow the main memoir are those of the son, who requests that his father and this book be judged solely on the basis of the actual memoir, and not on account of the contributions of the son, whose opinions are his own.

Important: Please note that the Footnotes and the Notes (collected in two separate chapters) contain some very significant additional clarifying information that may help place a few of the events in context.

Author’s Dedication

For my mother, Nathalia

Comparative Table of Ranks

(British, Indian, and U.S. equivalents starting from the lowest rank upwards)

[*The Regimental Sergeant-Major is a warrant-officer, and a Non-Commissioned Officer, assisting the Adjutant of a Regiment or Battalion.]

Viceroy’s Commissioned Officers (VCOs) (World War II)

and Junior Commissioned Officers (JCOs) (post-Independence Indian Army)

.

Note:  VCOs/JCOs are also referred to as OR (Other Ranks) in the memoir that follows, the definition of Other Ranks being "soldiers other than commissioned officers.  Also, O.C. is short for Officer Commanding." ICOs are Indian Commissioned Officers (Indians who were commissioned as officers in the British Indian Army).

Eaten by the Japanese

The Memoir of an Unknown Indian Prisoner of War

by

John Baptist Crasta

In Singapore, Life Was Gay

[John Baptist Crasta was a serviceman in the British Indian Army. He wrote this account, which is reproduced below in his own words, except when clarity necessitated the expansion of an acronym, or an explanation of an unfamiliar word. Unfortunately, Page 1 of the manuscript is missing, and some page corners have been lost. What remains is the short paragraph below.—Editor]

(Author’s note: The incidents mentioned below are mostly personal knowledge and hearsay, nevertheless they are substantially true. For obvious reasons I could not keep a diary of events, and even if I had done so, it would have been destroyed in the fires mentioned in the course of this narrative.)

My unit, 12 FB, was mobilized at Ambala [Northern India] early in 1941. In early March 1941, orders were received to proceed overseas. Although the destination was a secret, on the day of the move, 13 March 1941, I came to know that it would be Singapore. At that time, any man who got a posting to Singapore was considered the luckiest; and naturally, I was overjoyed. We left by a special troop-carrying train and arrived in Bombay on 16 March 1941. On the same day, we embarked on the H.T. Neurihor — a fine trooper of maybe twelve to fourteen thousand tons. With us were several other units of draftees, making a total of roughly 15,000 men. In the same convoy was another transport carrying the 9th Indian Division.

I was allotted a second class cabin. The accommodation, food, and recreational arrangements were excellent. After a few hours of zigzag sailing, our convoy headed southwards, thus confirming my previous information regarding our destination. Along with me was a fellow-passenger who had lived in Singapore before. He started his cock and bull stories about the fascinations of Malaya and the amusements in store for us. As we sailed, we could see in the Indian Ocean huge fish — dolphins and other forms of sea life — cutting somersaults in the blue waters, diving and coming up again. Sometimes, one of these monsters would race over the surface of the water, and others would follow. We also saw huge whales, as big as mountains, moving easily. It was a grand sight.

We reached Singapore on 26 March 1941 and disembarked. We were taken to No.7, M.R.C., Bidadure, about 8 miles from the harbor.

Our first impression of Singapore was that of a dreamland — picturesque scenery, beautiful tiled buildings against a green background, wide cemented roads, trams, buses, and cars.... 

Arrangements in the M.R.C. were not satisfactory. We were provided with tents to be pitched on uneven ground covered with grass. We had to level the ground ourselves. Also, the full scale of rations was not issued. For instance meat, which is authorized for service personnel in the field, was not issued for several days until after our arrival. The reason was that the camp staff was quite irresponsible and was only trying to make a fortune. The camp Subedar Major, Head Clerk, Quarter Master Jemadar, and Jemadar Adjutant were all in cahoots.

A month passed and no orders of posting were received. On approaching our Administrative Headquarters (HQ 125PC), we were told to wait for a few days more. Orders were subsequently received for the despatch of a subsection (roughly 13 men) to Kuala Krai. The rest of 12 FB was moved to Buller Camp, a place seven to eight miles away.

Buller Camp was on the tip of a small hill — a quiet place amidst trees. We were attached to 35 LMC for discipline and were given rental accommodation near this unit. Our bakers were to work in the RASC (Royal Army Service Corps) Bakery at