Fear not dear mother – Blue Maiden
Eric brought us these stories over 3 years ago, but I never forgot them. While the events of the Pacific transpired, other parts of the world suffered…….
Whenever soldiers trudged through the rubber plantations, Siva would run after the men, calling – “Johnny” or “Tommy”.
Then the Japanese brought the war to Malaya and many Australian stragglers took refuge in the jungles. They crept out to scavenge food from the locals.
Siva persuaded his mother, Neela Kanni, to spare whatever they could from their meagre store. Late at night, he would pick his way to the jungle fringe and leave baked tapioca wrapped in banana leaves. One morning, a scrap of paper held down by a stone, greeted him:
“Thanks mate!”
With a broad smile, Siva ran home with the treasured gift held close to his heart.
About two weeks later, sharp raps on the door startled the household. It was five in the morning. Siva’s father opened the door to four Sikh policemen, who emerged from the ghostly fog. They were apologetic but had come for Siva and his father – on Japanese demands.
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Posted on June 17, 2015, in First-hand Accounts, WWII and tagged 1940's, CBI, family history, History, Japan, Malaya, WW2, WWII. Bookmark the permalink. 29 Comments.
This struck home as I have spend parts of the last few years reading about similar tragedies.
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I knew it might, Hilary, sorry.
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Hi, I wanted to let you know that I nominated your for a Reader’s Challenge. Here is the link:
https://charlesfrenchonwordsreadingandwriting.wordpress.com/2015/06/17/reading-habits/
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Do you want answers in your comment section?
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Thanks for keeping this sad story alive.
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And hopefully will never be repeated. Thank you for reading, Gary.
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Unbelievable, horrific, Humanity at its worse
Is the name of the book, Fear not Dear Mother-Blue Maiden, by Eric Alagen, gp.
Not sure if I read correctly.
Great factual post mate.
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You had better ask Eric about that, Ian. I wouldn’t want to send out incorrect info.
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I commented over there. This is so very sad.
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But, I’m certain Eric appreciates you reading the story. Thank you, Dan.
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I’m afraid to read the rest. I so hope there’s a happy ending.
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No spoilers, Jacqui!!
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Dear GP Cox,
I have nominated you for the Versatile Blogger Award: http://michelinewalker.com/?p=51422&preview=true&preview_id=51422. If you do not have the time to follow the rules, please accept your nomination as a sign of appreciation. Displaying your nomination is all you need to do.
Congratulations,
Micheline 🙂
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Thank you very, Micheline, and YES I am honored. It is not so much time that has me refuse the award, but the fact that I am merely the faceless narrator of what courageous people have done before me. I thank you for thinking of my site for this honor.
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As the narrator of what courageous people have done before you, you prolong their lives which is honourable. If you do not feel you should accept this nomination, I will respect your wish. Best,
Micheline
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Thank you for understanding, Micheline. I am glad you did not take the refusal personally.
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The rule is “live and let live.” Best regards GP
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ThanksGP. I have had a quick look at Eric’s blog and will get back to it soon. I wonder if in years to come the difference between the Japanese soldiers of 1942/5 and now will be reflected by a similar difference between ISIS now and sometime in the future. I’m not too hopeful.
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You have a similar situation with ISIS, IMO. A handful of glib power-hungry thugs talk people with low self-esteem into following them. Hitler and Tojo – alike, don’t you think? Pretty much the same set up if you ask me.
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There are no words for this cruelty.
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I know, Sammy – understood.
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Reading the comments elsewhere, I feel I may be an old dinosaur to point out that toi me there is a profound difference between war and a war crime. The Battle of Britain was war, but shooting prisoners in the Battle of the Bulge was a war crime. Not enough Japanese were brought to book in 1945 for this kind of savagery. I’m glad you gave me the chance to read the story though, many thanks for that.
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I’m certain many of the Allies got away with murder themselves, but as I told Pete, I don’t think we’ll ever know the extent of the horrifics. The major players in the Pacific were brought to trial, but as you go down the chain of command, you run into another fine line of ordering men to kill and torture verses taking orders. I would venture to say, it was a matter of judgement – at the time. [back then, being politically correct and following civil rights was not as imperative as it is now]. I thank you for sharing your view on this story, John.
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A sad tale of Japanese cruelty in occupied countries. So many things like this happened, it is hard to contemplate the level of atrocities.
Best wishes, Pete.
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I don’t suppose we will ever know the extent of what really happened. I’ve heard similar stories about our “Allies” the Soviets on the Eastern front too. Have a good one, GP Cox
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Unspeakably sad.
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So much went on at the same time, we can only give snippets of each area. This was horrible era for the entire world.
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Thank you for the reblog. Much appreciate this. Many similar tales abound – not all recorded, I reckon.
Peace,
Eric
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It would be nice if all the stories could be recorded and pressed to memory, but we do what we can.
Have a wonderful day, GP Cox
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