The second in Command, acting as interpreter, asked each our names and rack in turn. Gillie Campbell was a Major and Bob Martin, a Lieutenant. When my turn came i pronounced that I was a Sapper of the Royal Engineers. They didn't seem to know what that was, Bob said. "Tell them you are a private soldier". This revision of identity was clearly difficult for our interrogators to accept. It was inconceivable to them that a private soldier should have shared the same small boat in company with two officers. With our unkempt beards we presented a wild sight, but Grill in particular still possessed an unmistakable air of distinction and authority. The interpreter we soon learned was a Lieutenant Commander Tanaka, as diffirent in appearance to his skipper as one could imagine, being tailer, clean shaven, and leas as a greyhound. He possessed a very agile mind and had been to Oxford, which no doubt accounted for his excellent command of the English language.

This was to be only a cursory examination. When told that we had sailed from Singapore in that small wooden dinghy they became very interested - almost sympathetic and enquired, "Are you hungry?" Are you wounded?" to which we answered "Yes" to the first question and "No" to the second, but a rating standing closely by pointed to a large blister on my left thigh where I had been burned by the infamous petrol cooker. After ten minutes the first interviews were concluded; the skipper, turning to Tanaka, gave orders in Japanese. Tanaka i turn said "Bow to the Captain, now go with the sentries." This was the first occasion I had bowed to anybody - it was to become a routine in future. Our quaters turned out to be two long "shelves" immediately above a stack of naval shells. Bob and Gill were settled in at once. I was told to wait on deck and to my surprise, within minutes a medical orderly arrived with what must have been the largest alabaster jar of Ponds Cold Cream ever made. He was most gentle and considerate, and padding up my blister, wound on the dressing. On rejoining Bob and Gill, I explained what had happened. bob said, "There must be something in this idea of the traditions of the sea.

Our first meals arrived - three bowls of rice adorned with small fishes, followed by a shared tin of oranges and washed down with a beaker of very sweet coffee. Early the following morning, Tanaka summoned us to appear before the Captain again - this time for a much more detailed interrogation. Singapore having fallen, the Japanese were in possession of everything there. Nothing we could say concerning material things could have any bearing on the war. All the same we did a good deal more listening than talking. Tanaka was very curious to know how we sailed from Singapore to Java, and insisted on our tracing the course with a pencil down through Riau Strait and southwards. When we came to Bank Strait, the Captain was curious to know what we had seen there, and asked for precise dates. It transpired that we had sailed right through the tail-end of invasion barges conveying troops for the attacks on Sumatra - they seemed amused that nobody in the Imperial Japanese Navy was not all that impressed with their Army counterparts. We were then told of Perth and Houston; this confirmed all the rumours and more which we had heard from the fleeing fisher-folk.

After that the questions ceased. Tanaka, ever attentive to his superior, translated the Captain's summing up, which was, "You have been very brave but also very foolish. No men escape, Japanese Navy now masters of the sea. Japanese soldiers shoot all men who attempt escape. Japan win the war." etc.

So ended out tete-a-tete with the enemy. Their curiosity was routine and academic. We retired like human moles to the forecastle head; still none too sure of the future, but we were not questioned again. At about 1 o'clock, to our surprise and delight a small improvised table was erected on the deck. A meal of rice garnished with the eternal fish was served; this time on plates. Out of the ship's stores heavy silver knives and forks were laid out for our use. Obviously the cutlery was reserved for rare state occasions and was very green with silver oxide and had not seen a polish or a rag for many a long year. It was dropped in a bucket of hot water and seen to be wiped and cleaned, by which time a fair contingent of the ship's crew had assembled to see how knives and forks are used in the western world. Many of the ratings were merely boys. There was much muttering, pointing and laughter, then quietly the crowd drifted away and we finished our repast in solitude.

We were given a very surprising option which amounted almost to old-world courtesy and chivalry. An interpreter delivered the message. "You give your word as English gentlemen. You will not attempt to interfere ith the ship. You have permission to stay on deck. If you break your word you will be shot!" We gave our word - walking the deck was a pleasureable exercise, and anyhow, where do you begin to blow up a cruiser. One almost felt that we were necessary to their ego. We were intended to appreciate how good they were. I contented myself with thoughts that the Japanese Navy had been largely taught and modelled on our own Royal Navy.

Rather more than thirty hours had passed since our recapture by Asigara, it was now Saturday, 7 March. Looking at teh bridge there was a faint suggestion of the pagoda in her appearance. Both funnels were raked distinctively and abaft the smaller one, a platform, housed a seaplane. Overhead, a solitary aircraft, rather like a Wairus, circled at 2,000 feet.

At about 4pm, the peace and trabquility was rudely shattered by the ship's klaxons blaring and croaking in general alarm. Asigara's funnels began to belch forth clouds of black acrid smoke, the decks heaved and listed first to port, then to starboard. The cruiser was zigzagging. the decks suddenly became a very crowded place. All the deck guns were quickly manned: ratings stood by their torpedo tubes. The aircraft was no longer at 2,000 feet, but screaming in, low over the water, dropping flares and marker cans which spouted coloured smoke on impact to mark a trail. The ship's helm was hard over in a quick "U" turn to port. The benign smiles of the ratings had disappeared. This was no practice. Within a minute the first depth charges climbed teh air in ponderous arcs in pairs, some to port, some aft and others to starboard. Great explosions whipped great furrows in the sea and the very water seemed to fizz with motion. Asigara was now at full speed: clearly we were under submarine attack.

During the ensuing pandemonium we had largely been forgotten until quite suddenly we were confined to our quaters above the magazine. bob remarked "If this little lit is hit, nobody will find the pieces." Twenty minutes passed. We sould feel the swaying of the ship each time she altered course and the engines caused a chattering vibration. Asigara was flat out for the kill; the flat thuds and bangs continued and the water seethed. Although the doors of our quaters was left ajar we were not permitted to see the outcome of the contest. As there was no obvious sign of jubilation from the crew, it was surmised that the action had not altogether been a roaring success.

I felt satisfaction that somewhere under the waves some clever fellow had outwitted his hunters. Later, it was inferref by Tanaka that an American submarine had been sunk. Not long after this the ship slowed and Tanaka appeared to announce that they were to be taken ashore. A motor sampan came out to be a temporary prison ship. a young officer eyed us askance and hissed through his teeth "Englissoo? Americano?" to which we replied that we were English. He spat contemptuously into the sea. This was a foretaste of our treatment, mostly at Lintang camp in Borneo, for the nest 3 1/2 years.
The Asigara and her sister Haguro were a luckless pair, both being sunk in the last two months of the war; the former succumbed to HMS/M Tranchant in the Banka Strait and Hunguro to the 26th Destroyer Flotilla in the Malacca Strait.