Figure of Defeated Japan -- Vivid Memory of a Juvenile-Student -- (by Frank)

Hairbreadth escape from death in air raids

It was fine in Kagoshima on July 27th 1945, 19 days before the end of World War II. The city of Kagoshima had been fired and almost destroyed by the US air force attack a few weeks before. I, a second year student of the junior high school just joined the tail of the procession in the large hall of the Kagoshima station in order to buy a train ticket for coming home to my native village.
At the same instant, though any air attack warning had not been announced, I heard excited voices twice through the megaphone  To the shelter!! To the shelter!!  Next instant, frictional noises between bomb and air were followed. Shul-shul!! Shul-shul!! -------.

Hearing these well-known sounds of terror, I tried to drop myself on the floor, holding ears and eyes by my fingers in accordance with the daily training. However, before reaching my abdomen to the floor, extremely strong pressure rolled over my body away into the distance. The place I dropped was supposed as an air-raid shelter in the station.

After I felt a momentary relief, somebody dropped and spread over my back. I saw an woman hanging forelock, bleeding out her eyes and looking like smiling, but she was dead. Many other people dropped on me, one after another. Uncountable droppers stayed unmoved, because they were also dead. I could not move!

It seemed a quiet room, as if my aural nerves became out of order. The silent space without sound!! I could not hear, never even my own voices. I cried out,
Let's escape!! Get out every body!!" But nobody moved. I understood that I was crashed under several corpses.

Get out!! Get out!! I struggled and struggled repeatedly but in vain.
During the struggle, surroundings changed gradually to dark by dust and smoke. It seemed that the station building began to burn. A burnt iron piece in red dropped on the back of my left hand and rolled down, but I did not feel it hot.
At the next instant, I saw my mother smiling in front of me, though it was unbelievable in my normal sense. Although being temporarily deaf, I spoke to my mother:Mama!! I cannot move!! Should I die now? Only 13 years old!! No reply and she disappeared.

After her disappearance, I struggled again and again with all my force. And finally, I succeeded to crawl out from the mountain of corpses, feeling my bowel movement. I stayed in the dark, could not know the direction, but ran to the exit by my guess. I found myself in the large station square.
At the corner of the square, a scene of shambles entered into my view. The scene was that innumerable electric wires hung down from leaned utility poles, and uncountable burned bodies were scattered on their faces down. Even though I was a militaristic boy, it was an intolerable scene and seemed to be a one of another world for me. For a while, my stopped legs did not move again.

However, any petrifaction time was not allowed to me, because the next attack bombers B-25 were rapidly approaching. I jumped forcibly into the nearest shelter, and guarded my back by an empty rucksack. One moment later, after heard the frictional noises of Shul-shul, shul-shul -----, terribly strong power attacked not only my body but also my ears. I had to know that the sounds of bomb explosion nearby are felt like a heavy pressure. I could hear nothing.
At last, only the sound of gravels and pebbles hitting my rucksack was heard.
When the storm of enemy aircrafts flew away, I looked around the shelter inside. It was a terrible painting of hell!! I was only a person who had not been heavily injured.

A woman injured on her head murmured Oh it's lucky, my baby is not hurt!! pouring tremendous volume of blood on her baby's head.
I could see a white bone appearing from the back of a young woman who cries I've pain!! Distressful!! Help me!! Situations of all other dying and struggling people were so miserable that I could not describe here. And for me, it was impossible to rescue them.

In order to escape myself safely from the bomb attack, I could not help leaving them in the lurch. I saw the place I paused for a while a few minutes before. There found a horribly large hole made by the last bomb explosion.
I don't want to die!! I eagerly desire to survive!! I must have been obsessed with a demon of the instinct of self-defense. Afterwards, I continued to escape from perpetual bomb attacks, using several shelters one by one.

I have to confess now my regretful behavior which was at that time made to a bloody boy looking like the same age as mine. That behavior will still remain in my memory through my life. The fact is as follows:

A boy stayed in a watery shelter whose left arm was heavily injured, showing the white bone fractured. He spoke some desperate words and, asked me Give me bandage cloth, if you have it. To his request, I replied a lie No, I've nothing, though I had a white triangle cloth in my pocket. After heard my reply, the boy said feebly Is that so and, his downcast and butch hair cut head was rapidly paled down.

In the next shelter where nobody stayed, I repeated rudely Hey, enemy aircraft!! Immediately get off from here!! But finally I said supplely in the polite word American gentlemen!! Please kindly return back quickly to your place!!
Having altered to a sissy military boy, I came to myself, at the outskirts of the station square, escaping from the enemy. While, noisy roars of the bombers which drastically destroyed the Kagoshima station flew away to the Pacific Ocean.

Frank


(American Military's Propaganda Bill)