Reflection by Nick Toosey on 75th Anniversary of VJ Day - 1945 - 2020.

Upon 75th Anniversary of VJ Day - 15th August 2020 - Nick Toosey, youngest son of Brigadier Sir Philip Toosey, reflects upon his father's return from the second world war - during a service held on Sunday 16th August in St Oswald's Church Malpas, Cheshire.
Extracts taken from Nick's reflection:
"Maybe I am the only person here in this Church who remembers meeting his father for the first time. As a young boy of 5 I was taken by my mother and other family members to the Pier Head in Liverpool to await the arrival of SS Orbita. This was a ship bringing a large number of British Prisoners of War back from the Far East, after being held for nearly 4 years by the japanese and Koreans in the most appalling conditions..." " The ship was crowded with soldiers in uniform all waving and cheering and I remember m mother saying - There his is..there her is - but of course I did not know for whom I was looking as he had been out of my life since my birth serving in France Dunkirk and then Thailand."
My niece Julie Summers... has written a book called - Stranger in the House - on the dramatic affects on family relationships and the life of those who had been in prison for long periods during the Second World War. Our family was no exception. My father was apparently a changed man who talked very little about the horrors he had experienced and witnessed but was clearly affected by them. For the first few months after coming home, he slept on the floor in his own rom - as he had done for the previous 4 years in prison. He also suffered from serious nightmares, which in the early years were usually accompanied by loud screams and shouts."
"My father was very much involved in helping to set up the Far Eastern Prisoners of War Association.... who held regular reunions... raised funds to support prisoners.... Perhaps one of the most daunting moments of my life was when my father was unwell and unable to make the Annual FEPOW reunion at the Festival Hall in London - so he asked me to deputise for him and deliver his keynote speech...".
"I shall end my memories with a story of a Japanese Sergeant Major Terri Saito, who was initially second in command of a camp called Tamarkan, where may father was based...." "He seemed to have forged some understanding with my father as to how to resolve mutual problems that arose in the camp. After the Japanese surrender, my father and his colleague Captain David Boyle, who spoke fluent Japanese, were asked to write a report on a list of Japanese guards with a view to the authorities recommending the form of their punishment for war crimes. Saito was on that list, but my father and David Boyle argued that although a tough disciplinarian, he was neither vicious nor vindictive. Their version was accepted and it saved Saito's life. Saito knew this and was very grateful to my father..."
"Saito visited UK... after my father had died and my brother took him to see his grave in Landican Cemetery. He asked my brother to leave him whilst he wanted to be on his own with his thoughts at the graveside. When he rejoined my brother he said - You may not know this, but after my experience with your father in war and his treatment of me I converted to Christianity..."