Days
of Yore
|
as
recounted
by
Bill
Day
|
POW mail
|
Robert (Bert)
H. Bourn
[Bert was Jean Day's brother]
Pvt. R. H. Bourn, Killed in Subic Bay, Luzon, Dec. 15 (1944)
Beach Haven Man Killed in Bombing of Japanese Prison Ship by US Forces
The family of Pvt. Robert H. Bourn, Corps of Engineers, received word
this week form Major-General Edward F. Witsell, Adjutant-General of the
US Army that he had been killed in Subic Bay, Luzon, in the Philippines
last December 15 through the bombing of a Japanese prison ship by our
forces. He was one of 1619 prisoners marched through the streets
of Manila early in December, recognized by an Army nurse, placed aboard
ship for transfer to the mainland of China and later sunk in the China
Sea. Only two survivors evaded capture and returned to our forces.
Mr. and Mrs. William E. A. Bourn of 319 Holyoke Avenue, Beach Haven,
received the official condolences of General of the the Armies, George
C. Marshall, Monday afternoon and reviewed the long suffering
imprisonment of Bert captured by the Japanese after Pearl Harbor in
1941. He was a graduate of Beach Haven grammar school and
Barnegat High School, class of 1940. He enlisted in the Army for
foreign service and left Philadelphia for Fort Slocum, New York, on
October 1, 1940, at 18 years of age. He arrived at Scheffield
Barracks in the Philippines of Christmas eve and transferred to the
809th Army Engineers, Air Corps, in May 1941.
The last word was received from him on November before Pearl
Harbor. He received a leg wound early in December that year on
Corregidor which took more than two years to heal, due to poor
nourishment at the hands of his captors. The fullest information
about Bert's imprisonment came just a month ago from a youthful Jesuit
Priest, Father Julius, who came to Beach Haven to tell Mr. and Mrs.
Bourn about his many hours of conversation with Bert during their
imprisonment at Santo Tomas Prison,. The boy was hidden for a
while in a Spanish Jesuit Hospital, but was taken from there by the
Japanese in military raids and was lodged for a while in Aquilla
Hospital.
Father Julius said, "We were both good Christians and I realize Bert
was a man despite his youth of 19 years. He didn't like fish and
gave me a can of salmon paste, which was (rest of the clipping not
available)
Box 95 Canyon,
Texas, November 17, 1945
Mr. and Mrs. William Bourn,
Dear Friends:
Forgive me for not writing sooner, but I've been thronged by my family
and my excitement has been too great for me to remain quiet long enough
to write a sensible letter. In fact, I'm not sure this effort
will be seem sensible to you.
You must realize that your son was the best friend that I had while a
prisoner of the Japanese. When I was sent to Japan I promised (or
we promised each other) that I would contact him as soon as I was
released. Being usable to find him in the Philippines, I believed
he had been rescued by the taking of Luzon by the American
forces. I apologize for calling the way I did, but my faith of
seeing him was so great that I was sure he would survive. The
truth has been a hard blow to me, but you too are standing the loss and
of course we all must bear it.
Everyone in the Army called him Bob. I understand that you called
him Bert. I compromised and called him Bobbart. We enjoyed
the name a great deal. I still affectionately remember him as
Bobbert.
I do not know what you have learned of his activity since the war
started. I lived with him from April 1943 until July 1944.
In that time I learned to love him as a brother and I suppose we talked
of almost everything that had ever happened to us. We ate
together, slept together, & worked together, of course. Bob
had many other friends. I'm sure that everyone liked him quite
well. Others loved him as I did. However, at present I do
not know where any of them are.
I shall now tell you what comes to my mind of his activity from the
time that war began until July 17, 1944. If any question comes to
your mind that you think I might answer, by all mean ask me. You
deserve to know all of your son that anybody can tell you. So
don't hesitate to call upon me if you think I can help. Remember
that anyone that was ever dear to Robert Bourn is my own friend.
I must say that in spite of the hardships, I believe that Bob lived as
fully as anyone. You knowing his personality can readily believe
that statement.
When the war began Robert was driving the Command car of his Company
Commander. (I do not remember the officer's name.) They
were stationed at Nichols Field out of Manila. The Field received
daily raids by enemy bombers. About December 20th 1941 Robert
received a bomb fragment which carried away a considerable portion of
the calf of one leg. He was hospitalized at Stormburg Hospital in
Manila. A few days later he developed gas gangrene and with
several others he was transferred to Philippine General hospital which
is also in Manila. There he was placed under the care of a native
Doctor whom Bob credits with saving his life. He could never say
enough in praise of that Doctor.
Manila was soon declared an open city after the American Forces had
evacuated. Bob and his friends were forgotten or deliberately
left behind. At any rate they remained in Philippine General
which later proved to be quite a break for them. There Robert's
wound was treated, and when he was well enough they transferred him to
a Malate Catholic Hospital which was prior to the war Malate Catholic
School, also in Manila. There Robert and friends with countless
Manila civilians -- Spanish, Philippine American, Canadian, and what
not. They stopped at nothing to make life pleasant for him.
I only became acquainted with one of the other American patients who
went with him. He was Eddie D. Benetti from Salinas,
California. I have not yet ascertained as to whether o not Eddie
was separated from Robert in time to miss the boat on which Robert
started for Japan.
Finally most of the boys including Robert were directed to be sent to
the American internment camp as Santo Tomas by the Japanese
authorities. The Japanese believed they were civilians and they
remained in St. Tomas for only a few weeks when the medical men St.
Tomas and Philippine General convinced the Japanese, Robert, Eddie and
one other should return to Malate Catholic Hospital where they could
receive better care. Now while at Malate this time as a result of
an investigation by the Japanese Military Police these boys along with
fourteen others were apprehended and placed in the Prison at Fort
Santiogo for a period of 78 days. I think Ft Santiogo was the old
head quarters of the early Spanish defense of Manila.
The Prison there is still as it was then and at best could not be
good. There as far as my knowledge goes was Robert's most trying
experience. You may be proud of your son who went through that
experience like a trooper and came out sound in body and mind.
Upon being released for Santiogo in March /43 Bob was sent to Bilibid
as a prisoner of war. In Bilibid he was given the best of
attention possible by the Americans and was soon sent to POW Camp #1
near Cabanatuan in Central Luzon. That was in April 1943 and
there I was blessed with the acquaintance of Robert Bourn.
In short we are different in every respect but our personalities seemed
to blend to perfection. I'm somewhat older and a great deal
larger that Robert, our experiences were far different. In my
judgment though Robert had the appearance of a boy he was a man through
and through. Robert has told me of his home, his family, and many
of his experiences and I liked it all. Again I say feel free to
call on me for anything I can help you in. I'll gladly do
anything for Bob and his loved ones.
Private
Robert H. Bourn, 21 of Beach Haven, N.J., listed as missing
with the fall of Bataan, is now in a Japanese concentration camp,
according to a War Department telegram to his parents, Mr. and Mrs.
William E. A. Bourn. He enlisted shortly after graduation from
Barnegat High School in June, 1940. He was a member of an
Engineers outfit.
Pfc. Robert
H. Bourn of Beach Haven is shown in this interesting
self-portrait taken in the Philippines in October before Pearl Harbor
with a camera sent him by his father, Wm. E. A. Bourn of Holyoke
Avenue, Beach Haven. A prisoner of the Japanese for three years,
"Bert" was reported killed last December 15th aboard a Jap evacuation
ship in Subic Bay by bombing from an American plane. He was one
of 1619 prisoners who lost their lives through a strange trick of
fate. "Bert" had enlisted in the US Army for three years service
in the Far East and planned another three years in the European theater.
Jean
recounted two family stories about
Bert. The first occurred after she had left Beach Haven and
started working. She returned home for a visit and Bert
challenged her to shoot a rifle. Previously, Jean had always
beaten Bert in this family rivalry but on this occasion she could not
hit anything. Bert laughed his head off at each shot. She
then found out that he had loaded blanks into the rifle when she handed
him the rifle to reload it.
The second story occurred when she and Bill left on their honeymoon in
a borrowed two passenger car. It was a hot June and after a day
or so, the car began to develop a very strong stench. Bill and
she looked everywhere in the car for the source of the odor without
success. The smell got so strong that they could barely ride in
it even with the windows rolled down. On their return, they
complained about the smell. Bert sheepishly showed them that he
had put a fish behind the seat -- he expected them to find the fish
once it started to stink. There was a piece of cloth that snapped
between the seat and the rear wall of the cab and he had unsnapped the
cloth to insert the fish. The fish was covered with maggots and
the car recalled the odor whenever the weather got hot. It was
customary to try to play tricks on a new couple on their
honeymoon.
Fish and
Kindred Stories
Speaking of fish stories, etc., Billy Day, the young man who tells one
all there is to know at Neumeyer's, while fishing in the bay near Bach
Haven, had the misfortune to upset in the row boat in which he was
fishing. Of course all the fishing tackle, any many dollars'
worth, went to the bottom, and a camera was somewhat dampened, although
he managed to save it. Billy rescued his feminine companion, but
lost all the fish he expected to catch.
