Laurel outlook., 1946-01-23
Of JAPANESE
PRISONS IS SPEAKER At
ROTARY CLUB MEETING

tiles imposed on American prison
ers by Japanese captors was told
Tuesday at the weekly luncheon of
the Laurel Rotary club by Maj.
Harold Dalness of Billings, who
with others of General Wainright's
command was captured on Corregi-
dor. He was n of the few who
survived, and as his story unfold
ed the Rotarians wondered how any
had survived.
The major went to the Islands
in November 1910 and surrendered
May 6, 1912.
The first two weeks after sur
render were spent On C%orregidor
where 5000 Americans and $4,000
Filipinos were compressed to oc-
cupy one acre of ground, with all
unsanitary conditions accompany
ing. They were then moved by
ship to Manila, dumped into the
water and expected to get ashore
as best they could. Those who
succeeded were mached though the
city to show the Filipino residents
that Americans were not supermen.
After three days in a Minila prison
the unfortunates were crammed 100
men per car into tiny railroad cars
and taken to a former Filipino
army camp to join other prisoners.
Of the 10000 men there, 5000 had
died since the fall of Batan.
There were two sets of sentries
or guards, those of the Japs and
those the Americans provided to
protect themselves against trouble
in their own ranks. Some prison
ers would become desperate and try
to escape. Those left in the
group would pay with their lives,
hence it was necessary for the
prisoners to have their own sem
tries.
Three officers planned to escape.
They were beaten by the Japs, mo-
Tested constantly for several days,
and then beheaded.
Dalness was there until Novem-
Der 1912 when he volunteered to
60 in a detail of 1900 to Japan.
His decision resulted from the pre-
vailing bad conditions and because
so many of the boys were dying.
The detail was % days in a con-
vow, and water for drinking was a
serious problem.
The camp to which the men went
was located just outside of Osaka,
and the first three months there
were very rugged" the food
wasn't" and the trickle of a diet
was rice. There were 81 deaths
in a very short time, resulting
from winter exposure and the
wrong conditions. Major Dalness
became paralyzed from his hips
down and lay in a barracK; in
three months &c of the 20 officers
died.
The Japs had a propaganda camp,
show place to be seen by the
Red Cross. The major was moved
there and life was a little more
Dearable in the ensuing two years.
However, as the war progressed
he conditions became worse, and
n June 1915 the camp was aban-
The prisoners were taken
the Japs' main island, where
conditions were worse than
anything before experienced.
Although they were prisoners
md cut off from the rest of the
world, the men had a "grape vine"
md knew something of the pro-
sress of the war. The informa- I
ion encouraged them to hold onto
ife.
Came last August. The prison {
rs commander was called in and !
old that the Americans were using l
new and inhuman bomb and that t
he prisoners would be punished. t
he punishment began. Then came q
"Cease work" order, and the boys l
new things were approaching a t
limax. On Aug. % the COM Z
was again called in, and 2
his time he was told the war was L
yer and that the japanese would e
DON be the prisoners of the Amer G
cans. z
American forces bad located the b
camps, and one day a fleet r
f planes came over at al eleva- a
ion of 500 feet and dropped food, h
ledicine and other supplies. Some a
f the boxes were too heavy for Z
1eir parachutes, and two crashed L
the roof of the majors {
and went on through the {
DOR. l.
The cases and boxes that broke II
pen were consumed on the spot;,
that landed safely were car L
ed into store rooms for equal Ii
istribution. One of the broken
ases contained Hershey bars, and L
Taior Dalness ate %. X
The prisoners were soon releas- v
/ and moved towards ports of X
nbarkation. Those able to travel )
ere flown and shipped home at N
ice while others were h~ospitalized