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MY LIFE MY WAR

By
Bernard Hallas

Chapter 14 - I ‘Find my Brother’

It was about this time in a conversation with a member of the Royal Artillery, that the capture of my Brother cropped up. I was asked where he was buried and I had to reply that I had no idea. Nothing further was said, until about three weeks later when a sergeant in the Royal Air Force who had been contacted on the Internet, rang me up and told me to beg, borrow or steal a copy of a book by Alfred Baker with the title of “What Price Bushido?”. After a short search I eventually obtained a copy from the York branch of ‘The Far Eastern Prisoners of War Association’.

I started to read, all about 600 men of the Royal Artillery who had been taken from the Japanese prison at Changi, Singapore. With Colonel Bassett at their head, they had been forced on board a cargo ship and packed in the holds like sardines. Standing shoulder to shoulder, they were unable to move and had to answer the normal calls of nature where they stood. This unnatural state of events lasted for ten days until they reached the island of New Britain.

There, 100 men were forced ashore at bayonet point and marched through Rabaul, the main port to a camp at Ko Ko Po. The 500 men remaining on board were taken to the island of Balliol where it was intended to use them as slave labour, digging underground tunnels from one end of the island to the other. It was unfortunate for the prisoners that at the same time, the eastern end of the island was at that moment being attacked and taken over by Australian troops.

The Japanese had to retreat and true to their code, they could not leave live prisoners behind. Standing them by huge pits, they shot and bayoneted all 500. It was recorded as the Balliol Massacre. At a later date when the war was over, the bodies were recovered, transferred to Port Moresby in New Guinea and re-interred in a communal grave. A single plain plaque reads, “Here lie the bodies of 500 men of the Royal Artillery, their names known only to God”.

Returning back in time the story tells of the terrible treatment meted out to the 100 who had been taken off the ship at Rabaul. Over worked, digging tunnels, and fed only on scraps of food with no medical supplies, they succumbed one by one and were buried in a corner of the camp which had been given the name of “Death Valley”.

The author of the book had appointed himself with another gunner as “Camp Doctor” and they did their best as far as possible to alleviate some of the suffering.

He, ‘ Blackie Baker’, kept a history of the inmates and as they died, made a record of the day, the month and their name and regimental number and at the back of the book formulated a ‘Roll of Honour’. By this time I was now going down the list and towards the end I saw my brother’s name: Albert Edward Hallas. Gunner. R.A. 8515853. I contacted the author who by now had taken ‘The Cloth’ and was a practicing Minister of Religion in Plymouth’.

I applied for and received my brother’s medals and offered them with the story to the Royal Artillery at Woolwich. The Master Gunner, General Farndale invited me to Woolwich Barracks and asked me to bring the author of “What Price Bushido?” with me.

In conclusion, The Master Gunner promised to put the story of the “Balliol Massacre” in volume 2 of the history of the regiment, which he was at that time producing. Sad to say that the last few to be buried were not recovered and neither the War Graves Commission nor I have any idea where my brother’s grave is. The only record that he ever existed is his name on column 14 of the Singapore Memorial.

Again, in conclusion I have to say, as I come closer to the end of my story, that after the death of my lovely wife, it was only the love and attention of our daughter and a few selective friends, such as Ken and Margaret Coser, and my involvement in the affairs of the Royal Naval Association, that has enabled me to carry on with a life that at first seemed to be coming to an end. To them, I say, “Thank You, I am more than grateful”.

A quick resume of my (to me) interesting life would be as follows.
Aged 15/16, joined 8th Manchesters Territorials
17 transferred to Royal Marines.
18/20 served HMS Royal Sovereign.
HMS Resolution landed to protect British nationals in Spanish Civil War
HMS Warspite. Mediterranean Fleet
2nd battle of Narvik, (8 German Destroyers sunk)
Bombarded North Africa.Escorted HMS Illustrious to attack Taranto.
Battle of Matapan, damaged Italian Battleship and sank three Cruisers.
Battle of Crete. Fought off 400 bombers. Royal Marines battery hit by bomb and destroyed.
To America for repairs
Pacific Theatre. Bombarded Islands Landed on Arakan Peninsular, Ramiree
Bombarded North Africa, Sicily, Messina, Accepted surrender of Italian Fleet.
Bombarded Salerno. Hit by 1000 lb bomb, towed to Malta.
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Joined HMS Suffolk Indian Ocean appointed NCO in charge of Royal Naval Police unit in Ceylon and Southern India.
Travelled around Indian Royal Naval Units and leave camps

Returned home - My war was over…

Pr-BR

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