Memories of Malaya

I read Kavita Puri's article on the Second World War in Asia (Hidden Histories, December) with great interest.

- 

I have often heard my father, V Shankar Charry, talk about his wartime experiences as a small boy in Johor Bahru, Malaya [now Malaysia]. He remembers the Japanese occupation of 1942, after the defeat of Indian and Australian forces fighting for the British. His family home was taken over by the Japanese and, though my grandfather tried to maintain fairly cordial relations with their officers for the safety of his family, my father remembers some looting and a severe shortage of food.

A specific memory that endures is of one young Australian prisoner of war being ordered by a Japanese officer to climb a coconut tree - a feat that requires great expertise. A fall from that great height would result in death, or at least severe injury. My father remembers the young prisoner being overcome with fear - but he cannot say how the episode ended because at that point my grandfather, obviously sensing that this was not a sight for a child to witness, insisted that my father must go back into the house.

In 1945, after the Japanese withdrawal, the house was occupied by British forces. My father remembers the drinking and wild celebrations - sometimes so wild that they annoyed my grandfather - of these triumphant soldiers.

My father is almost 88 years old now, and living in India. He has never gone back to the home or country of his childhood, but the memories of that time and place remain vivid.

Brinda Charry, New Hampshire, USA

Accurate picture