Themes

Charles Sheppard

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The end of the War

Sheppard left Guam in April 1945 to take up a position as Chief of Intelligence Staff in Sydney. This was largely an administrative job. He travelled to Japan in August 1945 and was involved with returning Allied POWs. He recounts that:

'Some Allied prisoners of war had apparently broken out of their camp and saw the ships at anchor. They thought they were Japanese warships till someone picked up an empty packet of 'Camel' cigarettes. They then realised they were American and Allied ships. Two of them, British I think, made their way to one of our ships and gave an account of the terrible conditions in a so-called hospital camp. They reported that some men would die if left there much longer...I have never seen men in such a condition, emaciated, living skeletons and with huge ulcers on their legs and I shall always remember the expressions on their faces as I stood at the top of a gangway, with others, to see them brought on board. First stretcher cases, then those who could walk with support, then those who were able to walk by themselves without help. I could not control my feelings, remembering my own minor experiences, and wept as the stretcher cases came on board.'

The war ended for Sheppard with his return to Britain in December 1945.