Internees

Japan entered the Second World War, against the Allies, in December 1941. Thousands of men women and children from countries then at war with Japan suddenly found themselves living and working in enemy occupied countries. These people were rounded up and placed in Civilian Internment Camps, where they were to stay until the end of the war living in brutally harsh cramped conditions with little contact with the outside world.

After Japan’s surrender, on 15 August 1945, HMS Belfast was one of the first ships to reach Shanghai in China. As well as visiting the camps, HMS Belfast’s ships company held a party for the recently released civilian internee children on 01 October 1945, transforming the ship into a children’s playground.

On 13 August 2005 HMS Belfast held a reunion where former child internees and veterans from the ship’s crew, who were present at that original party, came together to share their memories, not just of that party but also of their experiences of life as internees.

This section includes:

• Film showing the forbidden radio hidden in the wooden toy car
• Former internee R C Blythe talking about food in the camps
• Photos taken at the children’s party held on board
• Memories of life in the camps and of the party on board written by former internees