Worcester Democrat and the ledger-enterprise. (Pocomoke City, Md.) 1921-1953, 1942-10-09
WILLIAM S. COSTEN
WRITES OF The
HORRORS OF WAR
Continued from Page y


= few days after the surrender We
were allowed u circulate around
town, Sab5ect q frequent inspection
q CIT creSs2s5&,S Ay japanese offs
cSgS~
AS to my living quarters and those
Of all others Immediately needed for
housing of Japanese troops, they
were demanded by Japanese officers
on short notice, and not knowing
where to move we frequently moved
into houses that were in quick fash
ion similarly demanded, thus being
shifted from pillar to post, until we
were worn ragged and all of our pos
sessions left and lost in transit due
to our inability to remove heavy bag
gage and household equipment with
ont assistance, which assistance was
sadly lacking, extremely expensive
and eventually proved of no benefit
when accomplished, as a part was
lost or abandoned in each move until
in the end practically nothing was
left In my case NY personal posses
SSons were scattered IN seven houses
snS al OF thSSs were lCSs, with me
exception of s Jade ring and hlnSten
pipe (which I left with a Chinese
friend for safe keeping), and small
hand bag containing few toilet ar
ticles and scant clothing. l might
add that in addition to a good ward
robe | had curios selected with great
care that were extremely valuable.
On Christmas night, after my first
change of residence, a body of over
100 Japanese soldiers demanded lodg-
ing in the house was quartered IN.
The foreign residents of this house
were English was the only Amer
lean. Due to the late hour the Japa-
nese officer in charge permitted US
to remain over night, in two rooms
there were a dozen or more of us.
Such a miserable night / never be-
fore experienced, although many
more were to come. All during that
night the Japanese soldiers raped on
the locked doors of our rooms de-
manding brandy. We did not open,
but replied that we had none. Just
prior to their arrival 1 went to the
basement to obtain some of the bag
gage l had recently placed there, and
while returning for another lot, over
100 Japanese soldiers marched up the
walk with an officer in the lead. All
of the other occupants of the house
were in the two rooms allotted US,
On seeing them 1 didn't know just
what to do, but thought it would be
unwise to dash away for refuge.
Therefore I assumed my best state
of calmness, stood aside and faced
them. The officer walked about
dozen PAGES ahead, then the body of
men. The latter stopped before en-
tering the house for a moment that
seemed like forever to me,-then one
soldier asked me the time Tin Eng
lish). 1 looked at my 14-carat Ham
ilton wrist watch and replied 8 o'clock
He said "take it off"-not in Eng
lish. but in motions. l looked direct
" in his eyes and said "You don't
want my watch" and hesitated about
taking it off. He tried to remove
it without success, then took his bay
onet, pressed it against my stomach,
and his actions and expression spoke
louder than words that it would be
my watch or my life. l removed it
and he quickly grabbed it. l called
to his officer three times,-he was
only a dozen PAGES ahead,-but while
he could certainly hear me, he pre-
tended not to. We often heard that
the officers do not permit such acts,
but believe that while they do not
personally commit them, they do toll
crate such tactics by their men. l
was fortunate, however, that this sol
der was so intent on my watch that
he overlooked the jade ring l was
wearing on the same hand,-worth
many times the value of the watch.
After this episode L wore Cne ring
on my toe until could contact Chi
nese friend safely and turn it over
to him for safekeeping.
During the few days after surren
der, before imprisonment, I ate Chi
nese food with a Chinese friend, as
that obtainable in the restaurants
was exceptionally poor.
Shortly we were ordered to assem-
BILE one morning on vacant lot OPP
posite the Hong Kong Club, with
such baggage as we could carry, and
from there we were marched through
the streets to a filthy Chinese brothel
in terrible section of the city, where
we were locked up for a few weeks