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The Brave Japanese

By: Kenneth Harrison
Narrated by: Cameron Goodall
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Publisher's Summary

The Brave Japanese is the autobiographical account of an Australian who fought against the Japanese in the desperate struggle to save Malaysia. Ken Harrison’s experiences as a prisoner of war take the listener to the work camps of Singapore, to Thailand “Death Railway” and to the dockyards of Nagasaki. His journey culminates in a visit to the bomb-devastated Hiroshima long before the arrival of the occupation forces.

©2010 Guy Harrison (P)2020 Guy Harrison

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A fabulous read for all Australians



The title, The Brave Japanese, is immediately questionable. Normally, writers condemn the atrocities committed by Japanese soldiers; however, Kenneth Harrison, having survived as a Prisoner-of-War from early 1942 to Liberation in 1945, recalls:
We could loathe everything they stood for, be disgusted at their cruelty,
shake our heads credulously at their stupidity, be scornful of their duplicity…
but one thing we could not doubt; they were brave.

Harrison’s first-hand details of the demeaning and brutal treatment dealt by the Japanese, read more as those of an observer, rather than the sufferer. With his sense of humour, ability to survive starvation, disease, and unpredictable captors, is not Harrison and his soldier mates - the cream of Australian youth at that time - not the brave in this autobiography?

With every page speaking of human endurance Harrison finds beauty in disillusionment, humour in the hum drum, and unfailing mateship while suffering the unspeakable.

Fighting nineteen different ailments at the one time, Harrison appreciates blessings:

Into the harsh cutting… flew clouds of butterflies… incongruously
beautiful in this setting, they came in their thousands and swarmed
over us… everybody… caught in the spell… long after they had left
in soundless floating clouds, a little of their magic stayed with us.

Aussie light-heartedness and skylarking proved a panacea for stress. ‘I wouldn’t leave you for quids, you old wog; you’re going to show me how to grow oranges in Mildura.’ Hilarious designations helped create fun, ‘Centenary Bell Ringer,’ ‘Banana Straightener,’ ‘Bullshit Merchant.’

Despite differing nationalities crammed together, (seven hundred men in a previous space allotted to thirty females), farewell gift exchanges, following Armistice, compare English decorum with Australians’ horror of showing emotion:
English politeness: ‘By the way, Harrison. Put these in your bag, like a good chap. might come in handy and all that sort of thing, you know.’
Australian larrikinism: ‘Here, shove these up your arse, you scruffy old bastard.’
Which probably meant, ‘Good luck, friend, and God be with you.’

Harrison suffered Pudu Prison under Japanese brute force and from there, Changi, where amazingly, prisoners were left to their own resources. Lack of food and exhausting labour kept 50,000 womanless young men well occupied.

From Changi, Harrison slaved on the Burma Railway where sickening facts reveal hideous inhumanity: One life was lost for every 17’6” of track laid; 304 prisoners died every mile.

Harrison was one of the first to witness the aftermath of Hiroshima (‘joto nei’ (bad) day). ‘All bitterness was shed and left behind forever in the desolation.’ Harrison’s sympathy bled for the burnt, the scarred, and the apathetic people.

There would be no better reading for Australia’s youth of today than this ‘tattered warrior’s’ account of human empathy, stoicism and, above all, bravery.

Jennifer Mooney (Dr).

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