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15 October 2014
WW2 - People's War

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My Grandparents in WW2

by Wolcott

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Archive List > Prisoners of War

Contributed by 
Wolcott
People in story: 
Yap Kuan & Lucy Choo
Location of story: 
Kuantan, Malaya (Now Malaysia)
Background to story: 
Civilian
Article ID: 
A4640005
Contributed on: 
01 August 2005

My great grandparents, Yap Kuan and Lucy Choo, were invovled in the Second World War. My great grandmother already gave birth to my grandfather in 1938. They were living in the state of Kuantan.

When the Japanese came in 1941, they made no hesitation to hide in the jungle with some other people. It's amazing to know they hid there for 4 long years, and the Japanese never went in to flush out the civilians hiding there. They hid in the jungles like illegal immigrants, enduring harsh conditions like mosquitos, malaria and wild tigers. Only when the British army returned in 1945 did they finally come out.

Since finding this out from my mother, I have not been able to forgive the Japanese for what they have done. Their brutality towards innocent civilians caused my great grandparents and then 3 year old grandfather to hide in the jungles and suffer for the remainder of the war. I guess I'm glad the Americans nuked them after all, and they truly deserve it.

General Tomoyuki Yamashita, who led the invasion of Malaya, promised he would not harm innocent civilians, but I have seen his and their true colours in a number of ways and I know that they can never be trusted. It may have been about 60 years ago, but it has been difficult to forget.

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