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6 CHINA Thursday, July 2, 2015 CHINA DAILY

Wang Chenghan, alsoknown as Eddie Wang,is not man who standsout in a crowd. Short

of stature, gray­haired and withwrinkles on his face, the 90­year­oldis virtually indistinguishable fromthe elderly people who can be seendancing in squares across China asthey take their daily exercise.

Appearances can be deceptive,though. In conversation, the retiredengineer is an impressive person; hehas excellent command of Englishand is deeply knowledgeable aboutengineering, but his charismaderives in part from an extraordina­ry experience he had 70 years ago.

In 1945, at the tender age of 20,Wang was the Chinese interpreterfor a group of US soldiers whorisked their lives by parachutingfrom a B­24 bomber to liberateWeihsien civilian internment campin what is now the city of Weifang inShandong province.

Change of statusThe Japanese attack on Pearl Har­

bor in December 1941 immediatelychanged the status of Westerners inChina’s coastal regions, and in amatter of days they were trans­formed from untouchable neutralsinto enemy aliens.

“The Japanese invaders estab­lished many camps worldwide andalso in China to intern Allied West­erners, and Weihsien was the larg­est,” wrote Mary Previte, an 82­year­old US national who was interned atage 9, in a recent e­mail exchangewith China Daily.

In addition to Previte, who laterserved in the New Jersey GeneralAssembly, about 2,000 people from30 countries were interned by theJapanese Imperial Army for morethan three years.

The detainees included past andfuture politicians, artists and scien­tists, such as R. Jaegher, a foreign­born adviser to Chiang Kai­shek, theReverend W.M. Hayes, president ofthe formerHuabei Theological Sem­inary, Olympic gold medalist EricLiddell and Arthur W. Hummel Jr.,who later became US ambassador toChina.

According to Xia Baoshu, 83, aWeihsien camp researcher andformer president of the Weifang Peo­ple’s Hospital, the camp was once theAmerican Presbyterian Compound,but when the Japanese arrived, theyplaced electrified barbed wire on topof the walls, dug a moat outside thewalls, and erected gun towers thatwere manned around the clock.

Former internees rememberedthe place with horror.

“Can you imagine it? I rememberbeing trucked into Weihsien like ananimal. My memories of the campare awash with every kind of misery— plagues of rats, flies, bed bugs,”Previte said.

The late Norman Cliff, a Chinese­born British missionary and writer,was 18 when he entered the camp.In his memoir, he wrote that everyounce of energy was spent acquiringfuel, food and clothing.

Angela Louise Cox, a Canadianinternee, remembers the terribleconditions in the camp: “Sanitaryconditions were very poor. The win­ters were cruel and there was a lackof medical care. But the overwhelm­ing memory for the detainees wasthe lack of food.” According to Cox,the internees were given three poor­quality meals a day, including thinmillet porridge for breakfast everymorning, but “it was ever enough”.

Canadian Edmund Pearson, 79, aretired engineer and businessmanwho was 6 when he was interned,said that after being ravenouslyhungry for more than three years,he would eat almost anything.

“It took a long time before I coulddeal with the Japanese, even thoughas an adult I went to live in HongKong with my family and had to dobusiness with the Japanese. The

people are fine, but the governmenthas never acknowledged what theydid to us,” he wrote in a 2014 e­mailto China Daily. “My personalencounters with Japanese business­men happened when I was sent tolive in Hong Kong in 1973 to 1975.They all denied being in the war,except for one person,” he added.

Lack of experienceOnce the decision had been made

to liberate the Japanese camps inChina, the US military quickly orga­nized nine missions, all of themnamed after birds. The mission toliberate the Weishen camp, code­named “Operation Duck”, was led byMajor Stanley Staiger.

“Eddie Wang accompanied theteam as the Chinese interpreter. Theteam bound for Weihsien flew fromKunming, Yunnan province, in aB­24 plane,” Previte said.

Wang started learning English athigh school in Chengdu, Sichuanprovince, and was a sophomore atSichuan University when he joinedthe military in December 1944,although he had already undergonetraining in small arms, lightmachine guns, and the use of thehigh explosive, TNT.

Wang was recruited into a telecom­munications group in Chongqingwhere he learned Morse code, andwas then sent to interpreter trainingclasses, and completed a 25­daycourse before being assigned to Oper­ationDuck.HisjobinWeihsienwastotranslate anything to do with Chinafor the benefit of the US soldiers.

Seven decades have passed, butWang still has clear memories ofalmost everything that happenedduring the mission. The only thinghe cannot recall fully is the para­chute jump. He had only receivedbasic training on fixed simulationequipment, and had never actuallyjumped from an airplane until thatday in 1945.

“I always worried making about areal jump. Fortunately, the para­chutes used on the missiondeployed automatically, whichsaved my life. When I jumped fromthe plane, the sudden strong flow ofair made me dizzy, almost uncon­scious,” he recalled. Despite his lackof experience, Wang landed safely.

An ecstatic welcomeBy early 1945, the Japanese were

losing ground in most of China andtheir defeat was almost assured. Thenews was withheld from the intern­ees, though, and it wasn’t until thearrival of the B­24 on Aug 17, 1945,

that they knew their long days inhell were over.

“We wept, hugged, danced, andwaved at the plane circling over­head. People poured to the gate towelcome the heroes. All the intern­ees were celebrating liberation, andthey even cut off pieces of para­chutes, and got rescuers’ signaturesand buttons to cherish,” Previte said.

Wang remembers the warmth ofthe welcome he and the other mem­bers of the group received. “Welanded almost a mile away from thecamp in the fields of Gaoliang, andwere welcomed by the internees. Wetook over and stayed in what hadbeen the small Japanese headquar­ters building, not far from theentrance of the camp,” he said.

He said two teenage girls taughthim to dance after the camp was lib­erated. “A Greek girl also gave me apiece of parachute silk embroideredwith the rescue scene and auto­graphed by all seven liberators,including myself,” he said.

Despite thewelcomingscenesandthe smooth takeover of the camp,the soldiers were fully aware thattheir mission was a dangerous one.

“Japan had surrendered, but itwasn’t known whether all thetroops had received the order to sur­render, especially those in remoteplaces. For the rescuers it was a life­threatening task,” said Wang Hao,director of the Weifang Foreign andOverseas Chinese Affairs Office.

Previte recalled that Ensign JamesW. Moore, one of the US party, toldher of the men’s concerns at the time.

“Would the Japanese in these out­posts know that Japan had surren­dered? Would it be peace, or would itbe guns bristling like needles, point­ing at the sky?” she said, paraphras­ing the young soldier’s words.

Moore also told Previte that theofficer commanding the team, MajorStaiger, decided that the plane wouldapproach at low altitude, reasoningthat they would lose fewer men andless equipment if the Japanese hadless time and space to shoot at themand their parachutes.

EndgameAlthough Wang finds it difficult to

recall the parachute jump, manyformer internees, including Previte,witnessed the scene. None of themever forgot the excitement they feltwhen they saw the emblem of theUS Air Force emblazoned on thegiant plane.

“It was a Friday. In a scorchingheat wave, I was withering withdiarrhea, confined to a mattressatop three side­by­side steamertrunks in the second­floor hospitaldormitory. Inside the barrier wallsof the concentration camp, I heardthe drone of an airplane far abovethe camp,” Previte recalled.

Sweating and barefoot, she racedto the dormitory window andwatched a plane slowly sweep lowerand lower, and then circle again.

“It was instant cure for my diar­rhea. I raced for the entry gates andwas swept off my feet by the pande­monium. Prisoners ran in circlesand pounded the air with their fists,”she recalled.

“I watched in disbelief. A giantplane emblazoned with the Ameri­can star was circling the camp.Americans were waving from thebomber. Leaflets drifted down fromthe sky,” she said.

Weihsien went mad.After the war, Wang graduated

from Sichuan University andbecame an engineer. He retired in1990, and has only revisited thecamp once, during a business trip toa nearby city. Almost every mementoof the raid has either been lost ormisplaced over the years, and theonly things he has left are a batteredduffel bag and his memories.“Objects aren’t important,” he said.“It’s enough to know I helped tomake a difference.”

Contact the writer athena@chinadaily.com.cn

Ju Chuanjiang contributed to thisstory.

HISTORY

‘OPERATION DUCK’ ANDTHE STUDENT SAVIORIn mid­1945, a team of US soldiers liberated a Japanese internment camp in East China, freeing more than 2,000 foreign civilians.A young Chinese scholar was also a member of the rescue party, and 70 years later, he’s still feted by those he helped to save. He Na reports.

Scenes from Weihsien

Estelle Cliff Horne, former internee from the United Kingdom

Twenty­five members of my family — three generations — were interned inChina. In addition to those at Weihsien camp in Weifang, Shandong province,some were held in camps in Shanghai, such as my uncle’s wife and three chil­dren who were in the Lunghua camp.

My uncle, Dixon Hoste, was a journalist and editor. He was interned in thenotorious Haiphong Road Camp along with other well­known or importantprisoners. The Kempeitai (Japanese military police) regularly took them toBridge House for interrogation and torture.

I was at a demonstration in London on the occasion of the visit of EmperorAkihito. With the permission of the Queen, we turned our backs on the carriagein which the Emperor was seated. Some wore red gloves to indicate the bloodthe Japanese had shed.

I lived in China as a child, and have also revisited eight times. I have alwaysfelt at home because I lived in walled cities and sandy fields in Shanxi and Hen­an, and in heavenly Hangzhou, before going to school in beautiful Yantai.

Those of us who grew up in China will always love her and wish her well. Wepray every day that she will be blessed.

ESTELLE CLIFF HORNE SPOKE WITH HE NA.

Wang Haodirector of the Weifang Foreign and Overseas Chinese Affairs Office

Weihsien camp is not only a part of Chinese history, but also a part of UShistory. I was told that by a former internee from the United States when herevisited the camp in 2005.

The camp’s unique history provides a connection with the rest of the world.This year marks the 70th anniversary of the Allied victory in World War II

and the end of the Japanese occupation of China.A series of memorial activities will be organized, both officially and by civil

organizations, to remember those unforgettable days and also to call on allnations to cherish peace.

We have sent invitations to former internees, inviting them to visit Weifangin August. We are delighted that a number of survivors — most of them in their80s or 90s — have said they will attend if their health permits.

Relatives of some former internees who have passed away have expressedgreat interest in visiting to see what their forebears experienced.

In the long term, we hope to restore some of the buildings and to make thefew that still stand into a camp­themed memorial park.

We are currently repairing seven old buildings, including one shaped like across, and they will become part of a new memorial museum for the camp. Weneed a lot of space because former internees and relatives have donated ahuge number of photos and other items. We also plan to restore one or tworooms that were occupied by well­known internees.

The camp has attracted a great deal of interest from Chinese movie direct­ors, and a movie will begin production on June 23. A number of books aboutthe history of Weihsien camp will also be published this year.

WANG HAO SPOKE WITH HE NA.

First person

It’s enough to knowI helped to makea difference.”Wang Chenghan,Chinese scholar who helped to liberatea Japanese internment camp in 1945

Estelle Cliff Horne and another former internee are unable to hold back tears when recalling the years they spent at theWeihsien camp in Shandong province. The pair are pictured during a visit in 2005. JU CHUANJIANG / CHINA DAILY

Wang Chenghan at age 23 (left) andnow at age 90.

From top: An exterior view of the Weihsien camp. A scout troop at thecamp. Internees wave joyfully as the camp is liberated and they are setfree. XINHUA AND PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY

Editor's Note: This is the sixth ina series of special reports about theexperiences and influence of for­eigners who either lived or served inChina between 1937 and 1945.

YEARS

VICTORYOVER JAPANESE AGGRESSION