A rare opportunity to share the innermost thoughts and feelings of an 'ordinary' soldier through the Second World War. Experience with him the pain of separation from his young wife, his optimism, frustration, and personal journey through the trials of war and imprisonment as a P.O.W. Be transported to the Japanese P.O.W camp to share the ecstatic relief and joy of the prisoners when liberation comes, of his impatience to reach home and anticipation of reunion with ‘darling Gwen’.
This book constitutes probably one of the most complete accounts in personal terms of one man's story from call-up, to over 3 years' imprisonment as a Japanese P.O.W, to his eventual return home to London in November 1945.
Despite privation and forced labour, Harry organised fellow P.O.W.s from the Shibaura work party at Omori Camp, Tokyo to put on several shows. He composed original songs and rhymes for them, as heard about on BBC Radio 4's "Home Truths" (Nov. 2004). Japanese and prisoners alike enjoyed these shows! You can listen to when his daughter was interviewed about her father's songs on Radio 4 Home Truths. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/hometruths/20041106_japan_pow.shtml
This book has been published by Authors Online, as Harry did not want his accounts changed at all by conventional publishers trying to meet a commercial market. Sadly he did not know that his diaries would find their way into print. He had tried, but failed, to achieve this after the war. The ISBN number is 0-7552-0155- 90000 and it is published as a 60th year anniversary tribute to all those who fought, suffered, and died, in the Far East between 1942 and 1945.
It is currently available from The Bookshop, Ruislip High Street at £14.95, or through www.amazon.co.uk plus postage. It can be downloaded from www.authorsonline.co.uk Uxbridge W.H. Smiths will stock a few copies in May, and Barnards in Uxbridge may still have a copy.
The following picture and short biography was reproduced, by permission of Tempus Publishing, from James Skinner’s book, Images of England – Ickenham - price £12.99, from Mace, Euros and local bookshops.
Londoner Harry Berry enlisted in the 5th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery in September 1939. Following service in India and Malaya, he was captured in Singapore in 1942, and held in Changi jail before being transferred to Omori POW Camp, Tokyo. After 31/2 years, US Marines liberated him on 29th August, 1945. Back in ‘Civvy’ Street, Harry resumed his pre-war job as a feature writer on the Star newspaper. Then, in 1953, he became Public Relations Manager for BEA (now British Airways) where his work entailed dealing with celebrities from Sir Winston Churchill to The Beatles. With his wife Gwen, whom he had married in 1940, and daughter Linda, Harry moved to St George's Drive Ickenham in 1952, choosing No. 29 for his house number. Having been freed from the POW camp on 29 August, he believed it to be his lucky number! Harry nursed his wife, Gwen, through Parkinson's disease until her death in 2003, and he died in January 2004.
Daughter, Linda West, who compiled the diaries for publication, said, “the Revd. Philip Robinson, from St Giles’ Church, took both my parents' funeral services (they died within a year of each other) and you can hear him by clicking on Funeral Address listed on the Harry and Gwen website - www.harryandgwenberry.org. This was recorded by Pat McCabe of Ickenham’s Henry Paul, Funeral Directors.”
“The book is, as far as I know, the ONLY one that takes us through the entire war in contemporary letters (to my mother) and previously unpublished secret P.O.W. Japanese diaries. It is a real chunk of our social history. So a longtime Ickenham resident is making, and has made, history. Part of the reason for my doing this (amongst other things) is to remind people the war did NOT end in May as still too many believe but to remind them people were still fighting, suffering and dying in the Far East right up to the end of August really even though the official surrender was 15th August, 1945. One of my father's fellow prisoners died 2 weeks before liberation by the Americans. It's things like this that really ‘get to you’ when you read his letters. It's been quite an emotional year especially with the production of the second book too.”
This second book No Cook's Tour is the sister book to My Darling Wife and will published soon. Sapper Derek Clarke tells the true and gripping tale of his journey to the Far East in 1941, his fight against the Japanese Imperial Army in Malaya, and his subsequent three and a half years' ordeal as a Prisoner of War. This posthumous book, illustrated by sketches "Nobby" drew while serving as a POW, faithfully portrays the daily life and conditions of captured British and Allied servicemen.
Richard Piper's account of the development of Ickenham and five other Metro-land villages is now available from Mace, Euros and Steve Williams' Butcher's Shop. Alternatively, you can still obtain a copy, signed and/or dedicated if you wish, direct from the author on 01895 634348, richardjpiper@btopenworld.com, with £1 a copy sold being donated to ICN. Log on to www.lostelysium.com for more details.
