Today marks the 78th anniversary of Victory over Japan Day – the day marking the end of WWII.
Services and commemorations will be held across the country to mark Victory over Japan Day, also known as VJ Day, which saw Japanese forces surrender to the Allies after six years of war on August 15, 1945. In the years that followed, former soldiers, their loved ones and cities like Liverpool have bared the scars of the war.
Many of us in school were taught how victory over Japan came at such a high price – but many families on Merseyside still to this day know that all too well. As an adult, Mike Berry, now living in Aughton, came to learn the horrors his dad endured as a prisoner of war.
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Born in 1916 in Toxteth, John 'Johnny' Berry was a keen boxer before he was one of the 700 Saigon Battalion prisoners sent to work on the Burma Railway. Ahead of VJ Day, we spoke to Mike about his dad's inspirational story and early life in the city.
Mike, 75, told the ECHO: "He came from a really, really poor family. There was not a lot of money in the family and it was a big family.
"He grew up on cobbled streets and would be out in bare feet on occasion and it was a tough upbringing. But like most kids in those days, it didn't affect them – they just went out and played and enjoyed it.
"My dad fought for the school and he loved boxing. There's a famous story in the family about how he went to Sefton Park one day with the brothers and he got invited up into the ring.
"He won this belt in Sefton Park and then he was given a job, he travelled around boxing. It was a hell of a thing at that age, he was only 16. Then he came back six months later, homesick."
As WWII began in 1939, Johnny, like many others in Liverpool, joined the army, with many other local soldiers finding themselves leaving home for the very first time. Mike said: "He was selected from his regiment to go up to Scotland to join a crack force.
"Churchill wanted to get a crack force of real disciplined, tough, strategic soldiers that could go behind enemy lines and commit surprise attacks on the enemy. They had to pick the roughest and toughest soldiers from across the country and my dad was one of them. He did his training with some very famous soldiers, one of them was Paddy Mayne."
Later part of the embryonic plan for the SAS, a confrontation meant Johnny returned back to his regiment, who were then shipped to Singapore. In June 1943, Johnny became one of the 700 Saigon Battalion prisoners sent to work on the Burma Railway.
For the four years that followed, Johnny and his fellow soldiers suffered brutality at the hands of what was then the Japanese Imperial Army. As he got older, Mike heard stories of his dad's experiences as a prisoner of war.
Mike said: "My first thought was how did he get through that. And now I look back I know how he got through it – he was a very strong minded individual. The brutality and the barbarism that they suffered, its frightening when you look at it.
"I was shocked when I started to look at what he went through and where he had been. These young soldiers, including my dad, they were only in their early 20s, they were young boys.
"These young soldiers paid a heavy price to give us the freedom we enjoy today and we should never forget that, especially on VJ day. Everybody is aware of the horrors of war but the Japanese Imperial Army, which is what they were called, took it to another level with the torture, brutality, barbarism and use of prisoners as slave labour.
"In those days, post traumatic stress and mental health wasn't even in the vocabulary, nobody even addressed it. So much so when he came back from being a prisoner of war, he was advised to just pick up his life and get on with his life."
Mike said when his dad returned home after the war, he weighed six stone and was shocked by the devastation in Liverpool caused by bombing. Going on to marry his wife, Mary, and have three children, seven grandchildren, 20 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild, Mike said his dad "was always laughing" and went on to live a full and active life despite the brutality he faced during his lengthy captivity.
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Growing up, Mike said his dad never spoke too much about his time as a prisoner of war, but in later years told him the inspirational stories of himself and his comrades, which has inspired a new book. Written all on his iPhone, Mike's book is a tribute to his dad and shares the suffering endured by Johnny and his comrades and their survival – a story which shouldn't be forgotten.
Mike told the ECHO: "He was very jolly, he was always laughing, he had such a hearty laugh and a great sense of humour. He was always very very positive.
"He was always looking on the Brightside, probably because of what he went through – maybe he thought I'm going to live my life now. All subsequent generations should know what happened in these moments in history so it doesn't get repeated.
"I hope people enjoy the book and I think it is a great piece about Liverpool. On a visit to the worn torn city during the conflict, Churchill once famously said: "I see the damage done by the enemy attacks, but I also see the spirit of an unconquered people.
"This typified the courage, defiance and fortitude of the Liverpool people during this awful time. I think that’s important. That sums up Scousers. The message is a simple one – never forget."
When Johnny Came Marching Home was published today, August 15 2023 and is dedicated to John Berry, his fellow surviving prisoners and all the other brave young soldiers who sadly never returned home.. To find out more, click here.
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