Ex-prisoner of war demands apology (From Witney Gazette)

Ex-prisoner of war demands apology

9:00am Wednesday 5th April 2006 in Witney By Andrew Alexander

FORMER prisoner of war Arthur Titherington has vowed to continue demanding an apology from the Japanese Government for its treatment of captives during the Second World War.

Mr Titherington, 85, pictured, believes expert opinion published in a new book of international law will help his 60-year campaign for compensation and an apology.

The ex-mayor of Witney and chairman of the Japanese Labour Camp Survivors' Association spent three years as a prisoner of war, and when he was released one of 90 who survived from a group of 522 he weighed little more than five stones.

He has sent copies of The Rights of Individuals under International Law, recently published by a group of respected lawyers and academics, to members of the Government, including Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, and Defence Secretary, John Reid.

He said: "I'm not going to give in. What Japan did during the war was an absolute abomination, and what we're after is a written, meaningful apology. There's one very important word in Japanese when it comes to apologising, it's shazai, and it means 'I have committed a sin, for which I humbly apologise'.

"All we've had so far has been expressions of regret for what happened. Well, no one regrets what happened more than us, because we were on the receiving end, and thousands and thousands of prisoners died because of it."

"It wasn't the British taxpayer who knocked the hell out of me for three years."

Arthur Titherington

During his campaign, Mr Titherington, of Church Green, Witney, has met with almost every Prime Minister, Foreign Secretary, and Defence Secretary to hold office.

The POWs were paid £76.10 by Japan in 1953, and were given £10,000 compensation by the British Government in 2000.

Mr Titherington said: "That £10,000 came from the wrong source it came from the British taxpayer. But it wasn't the British taxpayer who knocked the hell out of me for three years."

He is hoping to find a lawyer who will pursue the cause for the association, which still has about 1,000 members.

Mr Titherington has published a book called One Day at a Time the philosophy he developed during his time as a prisoner of war. The book recounts his experiences in Singapore and Taiwan, then Formosa, where he worked in a copper mine, through to the end of the war and the trials of his captors for war crimes.