Hellships Down: Allied POWs and the Sinking of the Rakuyo Maru and Kachidoki Maru
- ISBN-10
- 1476642192
- ISBN-13
- 9781476642192
- Category
- History
- Pages
- 240
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2021-03-18
- Publisher
- McFarland
- Author
- Michael Sturma
Description
On 12 September 1944, a wolfpack of U.S. submarines attacked the Japanese convoy HI-72 in the South China Sea. Among the ships sunk were two carrying Allied prisoners of war. Men who had already endured the trials of Japanese captivity faced a renewed struggle for survival at sea. This book tells the broader story of the HI-72 convoy through the stories of two survivors: Arthur Bancroft, who was rescued by an American submarine, and Charles "Rowley" Richards, who was rescued by the Japanese. The story of these men represents the thousands of Allied POWs who suffered not only the atrocious conditions of these Japanese hellships, but also the terror of friendly fire from their own side's submarines. For the first time, the personal, political and legal aftermath of these men's experiences is fully detailed. At its heart, this is a story of survival. Charting the survivors' fates from rescue to their attempts at retribution, this book reveals the trauma that continued long after the war was over.
Get the book
Other editions
-
- 2021-03-19
- 240 pages
- Paperback
- McFarland
Similar books
-
Death on the Hellships
By Gregory F MichnoGregory Michno draws on American, British, Australian, and Dutch POW accounts as well as Japanese convoy histories, recently declassified radio intelligence reports, and a wealth of archival sources to present a detailed picture of what ...
-
Nagasaki: The Forgotten Prisoners
By John WillisAlthough he was a lawyer from South Australia by profession, Arthur Blackburn VC was a tough and experienced soldier who had distinguished himself ... Arthur Blackburn's Black Force dug in and prepared for a last stand in the mountains.
-
Hellfire - Treachery
By Simon Goodsonslip to Drake what the mission was really about – he and the Phoenix Conglomerate he was part of believed the hellship they chased was creating new hellships! More than that, the Commander wasn't hunting down the hellship to destroy it, ...
-
Hellfire - Tyranny
By Simon Goodsonslip to Drake what the mission was really about – he and the Phoenix Conglomerate he was part of believed the hellship they chased was creating new hellships! More than that, the Commander wasn't hunting down the hellship to destroy it, ...
-
Hellfire - Autonomy
By Simon GoodsonMaybe, if they could track down the source of the crystals and destroy them they could slow the flow of new hellships. Even stop it completely. Maybe then taking down the hellships which did exist would start to reduce the overall ...
-
By Hellship to Hiroshima
By Terrence KellyThe floor was a consignment of wet iron ore which had been levelled immediately below the hatch opening and then sloped down at an angle of about thirty degrees in all directions until it met either the ribs of the ship sides or the ...
-
Shanghaiing Days: The Thrilling Account of 19th Century Hell-Ships, Bucko Mates and Masters, and Dangerous Ports-Of-Call from San Francisco to...
By Richard H. Dillon" In this book Richard Dillon brilliantly recreates the action-packed drama of the American seaman's escape from serfdom.
-
Ships from Hell: Japanese War Crimes on the High Seas
By Raymond Lamont-BrownThe fate of the 5,860ton Brazil Maru and the Enoura Maru are intertwined. Both vessels set off for Japan from the Philippines on 27 December 1944, the former from Lingayen Gulf and the latter from San Fernando.
-
Hell Ship
By Philip PalmerThe Hell Ship hurtles through space. Inside the ship are thousands of slaves, each the last of their race. The Hell Ship and its infernal crew destroyed their homes, slaughtered their families and imprisoned them forever.
-
The Forgotten Highlander: An Incredible WWII Story of Survival in the Pacific
By Alistair UrquhartThis is the extraordinary story of a young man, conscripted at nineteen, who survived not just one, but three encounters with death, any of which should have probably killed him.