The Several Duties of the Navy Paymaster Officer　（by Fubou)

{　Guard of His Majestys Portrait　}

I recollect the matter when I saw Mr. Ragoras [His Majestys portrait] I wrote here before that I was paymaster officer of navy engineering work school from March 1944 to April 1945.

One of the very important duties of paymaster officer was to guard "His Majestys Portrait".

Before the second world war, it was common for all the government and public office to equip the　enshrine room.
In this engineering school as well, there were enshrine room on the center of the second floor, which kept a Chinese chest enshrined "His Majestys Portrait" and "an Imperial descript to soldier".

When the siren of air defense alarm sounded, I had the military equipment immediately and I rushed to the enshrine room with a petty officer and a few soldiers to convey the Chinese chest to side-cave anti-air-raid trench near the mountain side.

The guard accepts the one soldier who was carrying the Chinese chest, all stately marched with fixed bayonets.
We enshrined the Chinese chest in the trench and put two guards at the entrance of the trench.
Then I returned to school house and stood up near side of school master to make record of battle for the air raid hanging the record board from my neck.
But enemy air craft seldom appeared to Kurihama area. So I had not so frequent chance to do the record work.

It was a time of carrying and decorating His Majestys Portrait an auditorium with events, such as a ceremony, that I cared most.
His Majestys Portrait was the photograph as big as widened news paper and that was in the magnificent heavy frame.
Deputy of school master carried the Emperors Portrait and I paymaster carried the Empresss Portrait.
We carried them holding the both side of under part of frame keeping the arms strait forward and went forward quietly for the rather long distance.
That was the age we had to disembowel myself in case by sudden blow of wind we fell down or dropped down the Portrait.
That was the case which I was under the very heavy tension.

TheImperial descript to soldiers case was the same situation.
At the ceremony in front of all the members of unit, I had to carry the black painted rather big box keeping the same to the eye sight high and hand over the box to the schoolmaster on the platform.
After the hand over of the descript I had to keep the box with the same style until the descript reading completely finished.

{　A member of court-martial　}

Another duty of newly appointed paymaster officer who engaged in home service was to be a member of court-martial and to attend the court-martial.
The court-martial was consisted of the president captain in the first reserveand under him two young paymaster officers and one judicial officer.

In case some one appointed a member of court-martial, he had to sit down to the court in the dusk all day long.
Almost all young paymaster officers were not fond of to be a member of court martial.
So paymasters who were engaged in the Yokosuka district played this part in rotation.
I myself served twice for this duty.

The judicial officers all passed judicial examination and entitled to be judge prosecutor or lawyer. In the court martial they were doing two jobs prosecutor and lawyer.
And also we amateur judge did not understand how to weigh offence; judicial officer had to play a part of judge as well.
I remembered that we had a few cases in one day and almost all of them were the case of escape of drafted worker from a naval dockyard.
Among the cases one of a bit different from others was the case of a petty officer who promoted to warrant officer by the distinguished service in the Hawaii Pearl Harbor attack and awarded Order of the Golden Kite.
He knocked down his senior officer under the influence of liquor and suspected for the insulting senior officer.
I do not remember what sort of judge of guilty he got.

My second attendance to the court martial was 22nd December 1944. It was a very cold day and I was shivering with cold all day long in the unheated court room.

I am not accustomed to make haiku but in the diary of that day I mentioned two haikus as follows.
[prisoner cloth his face shows coldness]
[prisoner crying in the very cold court]

Fubo