The daughter of a former Canadian PoW reflects on atom bomb anniversary

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This article was published 06/08/2015 (4062 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

W

hen the atomic bombs fell on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki 70 years ago, it was the beginning of the end of the Second World War.

While the tragic loss of life will never be fully measured — at least 200,000 people died in the attacks but many more deaths followed due to radiation and other effects of the bombs — Carol Hadley knows the bombings saved her father’s life.

“My dad had a very high regard for the Americans. He knew he would have never survived another winter. None of the PoWs would have. They were too malnourished, tortured and not enough food,” said Hadley, the president of the Hong Kong Veterans Commemorative Association in Winnipeg.

Her father, Borge Agerbak, was a prisoner of war when the bombs fell. He was rescued by Allied forces after the Japanese surrendered following the bombings. For the rest of his life, he suffered mental and physical problems as a result of the torture, starvation and sickness he endured as a prisoner for nearly four years.

Project Peace held the Lanterns for Peace 2015 annual ceremony Thursday night at Memorial Park to reflect on the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima on Aug. 6 and the plutonium bombing of Nagasaki on Aug. 9.

Lantern-making was followed by an official ceremony and the launch of lanterns.

The bombing of the two cities was the only time atomic weapons have been used in war.

Hadley said she welcomes the commemoration of the tragedy because of its cautionary and education value.

“You need to remember (the bombings). You can’t go forward without knowing where you’ve gone. Both so that you don’t make the same mistakes but also to realize where we come from and how we’ve progressed in our dealings with one another,” said Hadley, who has been involved with the vets association since it began 20 years ago.

“It was a tragedy, but I think the Americans thought that it was very necessary.”

While the bombings brought unspeakable horror and death, many historians believe launching a ground attack on Japan would have been worse.

Studies of the planned ground invasion — Operation Downfall — estimated the loss of lives in the millions for Allied forces and tens of millions for the Japanese.

“There were hundreds of thousands of Allied PoWs who would have been annihilated had the Americans tried to invade Japan by land,” Hadley said.

“We (the vets association) have documents on our website that gave all of the (PoW) camp commandants permission to totally kill all the PoWs. It was very tragic, but it was probably necessary to relieve a lot of suffering on both sides of the battle.”

Japan surrendered on Aug. 15, 1945.

Hadley’s father didn’t return to Canada until October due to his poor physical condition and transportation issues.

ashley.prest@freepress.mb.ca