OUR AGM & REUNION WEEKEND IN CHELTENHAM 9th to 11th August 2024
It was with some concern that Lesley approached the Doubletree Hilton in Cheltenham on 9th August. She had not had a chance to visit the hotel previously to check out the facilities and accessibility and knew they were in the middle of a refurbishment!
Being so used to the luxury of knowing the hotel like the back of her hand, and that the staff and facilities will all be great, it was a little worrying. However, thankfully, the initial trepidation was unfounded as the hotel was lovely, the staff were all very helpful and it all worked out very well indeed! Thanks to Manager Ben and Event Coordinator Charlotte.
Sadly, Chris and Alan Broadhurst and Hazel Wilson had to cancel at the last minute (we wished them well), but there were still 23 of us. Paul ‘Werley’ Werlemann our Civilian Internee arrived safely, and we were joined by John & Mike Baxter, Chris Beer & Doug, Meredith Bell, David Brede & Jill Robertson, Susie Browne, Jacquelyn Frith, Imogen Holmes, Stephen & Su John, Tom Jowett, Caroline Maddox, Sue Turner & Peter Parmee, Martin Prechner, Judith & Gary Provis, Steve Surr and Frank & Ann Williams. Some ‘old’ faces and new, and even the ‘newbies’ from last year returned!
The first night’s dinner made new and rekindled friendships and it all started off in our normal jolly manner.
The AGM was held on the Saturday morning, the minutes of which are printed later in this newsletter. The highlights were …
Sharing the lovely letter we had received from our Patron, HRH The Duchess of Edinburgh.
Thanking Margaret for her hard work as our Welfare Wonderman and agreeing she should become our new Honorary Vice Chair now she is retired. We had gifts and a card made for everyone to sign, which were duly sent to Margaret after the event.
Welcoming Stephen John as our new Welfare Officer (and having been a Major, is now my ‘Major Right Hand’)
Agreeing that last year’s bonuses should be repeated.
Lesley whizzed through the AGM reports and then we had a session afterwards when everyone introduces themselves and their FEPOW connection. There was great interest and discussion in the room and the sharing of some wonderful stories, which all goes to promote our Club’s friendliness and family feeling, whilst ensuring the weekend is fully honouring the memories of our departed FEPOWs.
Saturday night’s dinner went very well and Martin Prechner shared memories of his lovely wife Noock, who had recently died, but so loved our reunions and meeting all the FEPOWs and widows. It was lovely that Martin could share his touching thoughts with us, and a photo of her and Peggy Binns sat on the table, so that they were still with us.
The evening concluded with our ‘Rubbish Raffle’. There were lots of prizes this year, some rubbish and some very lovely gifts, including books donated by authors. The silly prizes included a ‘Sexy Steve’ corkscrew, a dog treat selfie stick (which Imogen later reported worked well in getting a lovely photo of her dog), a Mrs Always Right mug (we won’t say who that was given to), a Tottenham Hotspur gnome, a floating bath duck who thought it was a unicorn and an Essex Girl Joke Book (some of which made even Lesley blush!!). Thankfully nobody had emptied their garage onto the table this year!
Steve Surr was overjoyed to see another fancy-dress costume. There was a pair of padded cycle shorts and a kimono one year, an evacuee outfit last year, and this year a Hawaiian girl’s outfit, which he so gamely paraded. Sorry Steve, we will try to be a little gentler on you next year!
On the Sunday morning we were warmly welcomed at St Mary’s Church, Charlton Kings by the Reverend Graham Bowkett and all the congregation. The church was so beautiful and they had set up a big screen welcoming us, which then led us through the lovely service that included Lesley giving a talk on VJ Day and FEPOWs (shared at the end of this report). We concluded with wreath laying and the FEPOW Prayer. We then were kindly offered refreshments and the congregation chatted with our members.
The service can be seen in full on the internet at https://youtube.com/live/xNFH-LoCh4A?feature=share
So another reunion ended and we look forward to our meeting again next year! We all had a fabulous time remembering our FEPOW fathers and members, holding the AGM, having plenty of laughs and concluding with an emotional remembrance. Perfect, and what our Java Club Family stands for!
These were the words Lesley shared during the church service on behalf of our Club …
CHELTENHAM VJ SERVICE – 11th August 2024
Firstly I would like to thank Reverend Graham, and you all, for welcoming us here today. The beautiful church and your hospitality has been far more than we expected or hoped for. Thank you!
I am Lesley Clark and honoured to be Chairman and Treasurer of The Java Far East Prisoner of War Club which supports the remaining veterans, wives and widows of those who were held captive by the Japanese during WW2. FEPOW being the acronym of Far Eastern Prisoner of War.
We are visiting Cheltenham this weekend for our annual reunion. 26 of our members are here today, one who was held as a civilian internee and the rest of us being descendants of FEPOWs.
It was 20 years ago when I started helping with the reunion arrangements, then there would be about 80 of us, including around 30-40 veterans. But sadly now, due to their age, they cannot be with us, so it is in their memory, and to honour their friends and comrades that we are with you today.
It is a pertinent time to be here as next Friday will be VJ Day, a date that is sadly often forgotten or overlooked.
Contrary to popular belief World War Two didn’t end on VE Day in May 1945, that was only Europe capitulating. In the Far East the Japanese fought on for over 3 months more until they surrendered on 15th August 1945.
During this time we were still fighting in Burma, and our Allies were trying to push back the Japanese from throughout Asia. Those who had been captured as prisoners of war in 1941 and 1942 were still being worked, starved, badly maltreated and suffering from tropical diseases.
Many more suffered, and died, in the three and a half months after VE Day and the celebrations in May were little comfort to the family of those half way around the world who seemed to have been forgotten.
Little is known or taught of the sacrifices of these brave men; some will know about ‘The Bridge on the River Kwai’ and the 415 kilometres (258 miles) of railway built between Thailand and Burma, at much human cost, some say ‘one for every sleeper’.
But FEPOWs were held throughout Asia and forced to work under inhumane conditions and suffer barbaric treatment … for example building another railway on Sumatra, building runways out of coral in the Moluccas, working in copper mines, coal mines, at dockyards, airfields etc on Java, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Borneo, The Philippines, Taiwan (then Formosa), Korea, China and the Japanese islands.
The men were widely transported wherever they were deemed needed, by walking (as on the infamous ‘Death Marches’), also road, rail and by ship (known as the Hell Ships); those on the Hell Ships were stuck in the hold with inches to squat in for days, not knowing their destination, nor if they would arrive due to sickness, beatings or sinking by Allied torpedoes. These convoys were not marked as carrying Prisoners of War so were often a target.
There were also hundreds of thousands of Civilian Internees and local Asians who suffered.
Many FEPOWs still suffer today, aged around 104, but they were the ‘lucky’ ones; thousands were left behind.
Some think VJ Day is a celebration of atomic bombing, which is certainly not the case! The Japanese at the time were given ample opportunity to capitulate but refused to do so. They planned to kill all the prisoners held by October 1945 and had they not surrendered, hundreds of thousands of Allies and Japanese would have died in the ensuing fighting. Even as the Emperor was preparing to read the declaration, his troops were storming the palace to try to stop him.
On VJ Day, we like to honour all those who were still fighting, suffering and dying in the Far East until the very end of World War Two.
We must remember those who fought, not to glorify war, but to show appreciation of the freedoms we have today thanks to their sacrifices.