 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Electric Feet |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
By the time six months had passed, the effects of existing on a sub-standard diet began to show on our bodies. We developed cankerous sores in the mouth, and skin irritations and discomforts of many kinds.The worst of these was what became known as "electric feet".
Apparently the extremities of the body are the first to feel the effects of malnutrition. Terrible pain , starting in the toes and working towards the heel led to depression, irritability, and lack of sleep. In later years I have suffered from gout, and the pains of this affliction do not come near the severity of those of electric feet. |
|
|
|
|
Page 25 |
|
|
|
|
|
Page 26 |
|
|
|
|
|
Page 27 |
|
|
|
|
|
Page 28 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Page 29 |
|
|
|
Cold seemed to provide most relief, and especially cold water. One of the horror pictures in my mind is that of a group of five or six blanket-enshrouded figures sitting around a tub of cold water all night long.Probably imagination had something to do with it, but the pain was more severe in the long, dark,nights. The doctors frowned on the practice of soaking the feet, because too much soaking produced another problem, that of ulcers forming on the feet and lower legs. I tried not to soak my feet, although the pain sometimes became unbearable. I found some relief by placing my bare feet on the cold concrete floor. |
|
|
|
|
Page 30 |
|
|
|
|
|
Page 31 |
|
|
|
|
|
Page 32 |
|
|
|
|
|
Page 33 |
|
|
|
|
|
Page 34 |
|
|
|
|
|
Page 35 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Page 36 |
|
|
|
In more severe cases of malnutrition the hands also suffered from the effects of deprivation, resulting in the same type of pain as that of the feet. In my case, the skin of my hands came off in large flakes, leaving the second layer red and tender. When we worked at Kai Tak Airport under the blazing sun my red-raw hands became very painful and it is a wonder that I did not suffer any lasting ill-effects. |
|
|
|
|
Page 37 |
|
|
|
|
|
Page 38 |
|
|
|
|
|
Page 39 |
|
|
|
|
|
Page 40 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Page 41 |
|
|
|
Another affliction that added to our misery was a cankerous condition of the mouth. The corners of the mouth would crack and and it would be very painful to open up more than a narrow slit. The tongue became raw and burning. At that time I smoked when I could find some tobacco, but drawing the hot smoke into the mouth only made the burning sensation worse. Addicted as I was, I found a way to relieve the burning by placing a piece of paper on my tongue when I inhaled the smoke. |
|
|
|
|
Page 42 |
|
|
|
|
|
Page 43 |
|
|
|
|
|
Page 44 |
|
|
|
|
|
Page 45 |
|
|
|
|
|
Page 46 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Page 47 |
|
|
|
Still another misery brought on by lack of proper nutrition, bedevilled us almost all the way through prison camp, a condition which soon earned the name of "strawberry balls" and "Hong Kong bag".The scrotum became inflamed and red and unbearably itchy. The natural reaction was to scratch, but, as in other similar cases, this only worsened the problem. The skin of the scrotum secreted a watery substance which dried, and if left for a short period, a flaky covering formed, and the cycle of itching, scratching, weeping, hardening, flaking off,began again.
A few years after I returned home I developed an infected ear, and was given a shot of penicillin, then a novel treatment for infection, and the result was the return of "strawberry balls". I paced the floor all night long and until the effects of the penicillin wore off. Since then I dare not take any medication that is related to penicillin. |
|
|
|
|
Page 48 |
|
|
|
|
|
Page 49 |
|
|
|
|
|
Page 50 |
|
|
|
|
|
Photo Gallery |
|
|
|
|
|
Click Here To Go To Part One
Home |
|
|
|
|
|
|
We Move to ShamShuiPo |
|
|
Click Here
To Go To
Part Two
Home |
|
|
|
|
|
|
We were kept in North Point for nine months. In October, 1942, we were moved to ShamShuiPo, the same camp we had occupied on our arrival in Hong Kong in November of the previous year. What a change! Where there had been neatly trimmed grass verges and the odd palm tree, there was filth and broken objects lying about. The huts were without glass in the windows. Most of the iron beds were gone from the huts, no doubt having been taken to Japan to be melted down for the war effort, and, in general, the barracks were in a sad state of disrepair. |
|
|
|
|
Links |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Work on the airport continued,but now we had to walk to work every day.My failing memory puts the distance at three miles. It was probably more. Along the way there was still evidence of the recent battle. There were sometimes corpses of dead Chinese lying in the gutter. The same ones that had been lying there in the morning when we went out, were still in the same place on our return to camp, but now completely naked, having been relieved of their meager clothing by scavengers who needed the rags more than the poor dead coolie in the gutter. |
|
|
|
Please mail me |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Please View My Guestbook |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
  |
|