John Joseph Patrick Maher

2nd and last page
This record, continuation was written by J P Maher Gunner 850146 R.A.

In the morning (after a horrifying night) we heard shots & shouts a few of us went to the next hold, (which we were using as a hospital) and looked out on the deck. The lads in the other holds had broken out, some had been killed in doing so but the remainder had wrecked vengence by clubing the remaining Jap to death. The ship was ready to plunge, we shouted to the boys but nobody heard us and they carried on jumping into the sea. When we thought all was lost and R.E. Officer spied us and got a razor from somewhere and cut our door open, but before this happened the remaining 300 men down the hold started to come up but the wooden stairs broke and they were doomed. We all rushed out and I lost no time in jumping in. The water was beautiful, I swam fast as I could to get away from the suction ping. The dirty swine were firing on us from patrol boats which were hovering about. I swam for about 10 hrs until I reached a small island on reaching the shore I was just in time to see Major Officer of the R.A.M.C. getting battered to death on the rocks. I stopped there for 2 days and the Jap Marines came took us off to Patrol Boats then on to Shanghai where we stood naked in the bitter cold for 20 hrs some of lads dying on the spot. The Japs stood by laughing at our pityfull condition.

One a Mr Namura our interpreter .

Troops at finish 947.

Gunner J P Maher 850146. R.A.

P.S. On reaching Kobe the Jap med, people killed tro medicine our O.C. Leut Colonel Stewart.

(Lieutenant Colonel Henry William Moncrieff Stewart)