A Starshell Video Review by Tony German-
Seasoned Sailors: Dick Leir

Set No. 6, Part 1 - Two Prisoners of War: Richard H. Leir, "Guest of the Emperor." 78 minutes, VHS Format: $20 + $8 Shipping per order + GST. All releases are now available in high-resolution DVD Format for an additional $25 each. Policy Publishers Inc., PO Box 74001, Ottawa, ON, K1M 2H9.

Dick Leir was a Midshipman in HMS Prince of Wales during the Bismarck action in May 1941. He consorted with Winston Churchill and FDR aboard her for the historic Atlantic Charter meeting that August and was sunk with her off Malaya on December 10. Sunk again in HMS Exeter only three months later, he was a prisoner of war in the Japanese-held East Indies until August 1945. Unquestionably he led a charmed life. Acutely observant, he tells his story with clarity, even-handedness and a wry humour that says as much about the man himself and how he survived as it does about the momentous events themselves.

As spotting officer in Prince of Wales' "B" turret, he had an extraordinary view of Hood blowing up. Then he was control officer at the 8-barrelled pom-pom atop the turret in the torpedo-bomber attacks that sank her. In the ferocious Battle of the Java Sea, 27/28 February 1942, he had a prime view from Exeter's AA director until she was heavily hit, knocked out of action and wreathed in covering smoke. The two Dutch cruisers in the American/British/Dutch/Australian force (De Ruyter and Java) and three Allied destroyers were sunk. One could gather from his account that they sank an enemy cruiser, but official accounts say the Japanese lost not a single ship.

Then on March 1, the crippled Exeter and two destroyers were overwhelmed by two enemy cruisers. That night the last of the Allied cruisers, USS Houston and HMAS Perth, went down attacking the Japanese invasion force that the battle was all about. With "The Malay Barrier" firmly in their hands, they could not move on India. This was the nadir of Allied fortunes in the Pacific war, well worth a reread in Samuel Eliot Morison's "The Two Ocean War" for example, or an easy internet search for Battle Java Sea.

Picked up and well treated by a Japanese destroyer (whose gunnery officer had trained at Whale Island), Leir engaged in a three and a half year battle for survival in a series of labour camps - hard labour most often, dawn to dusk, ten days straight then one day off. Prisoners' names were apparently not reported; there was no Red Cross contact. Leir was presumed dead and his mother received a Memorial Cross. Thoughts of escape were snuffed out when two who tried it were tortured then beheaded for all to see. A straw-boss of a gang of fifty, he lost most of his teeth from beatings whenever one of his men transgressed. Prisoners supplemented their handful of rice a day with dogs, cats, rats and mice. Giant fruit bats were the best.

They smuggled parts for a radio received in an interesting way and kept the whole camp in the news right to the atomic bomb and the Emperor's capitulation. Their Japanese area commander accepted the end, surrendered to the prison camp's senior officer and there were no atrocities there. The death toll from malnutrition, maltreatment and disease had been terrible. Down to a scant 100 lbs. himself, Leir believes most had no more than three to four months to live. He reckons though that 19 is one's toughest age physically and mentally; certainly he had his resourcefulness and his wits very much about him. And he was not alone. His three closest friends in captivity were Exeter shipmates. The four of them still get together every couple of years.

Dick Leir's story is recorded in Salty Dips Vol. 5, but don't hesitate to add this tape to your collection. It's well highlighted with charts of areas familiar to many. It's predominantly "talking head," but recounted so well and so tellingly that it's riveting from start to finish.