Daughter of Far East POW offers to say prayers for others during visit to Taiwan memorial dedication
Sally Dye, from Taverham who is going to Taiwan to visit a memorial to her father Bernard Wilson and other POW's. Photo: Steve Adams
The daughter of a Japanese prisoner of war, who will speak at the dedication of a memorial at a camp where he was held, has offered to say prayers on behalf of other POWs or their families during her visit.
Bernard Wilson pictured in 1940. Photo: Steve Adams
Norwich resident Capt Bernard Wilson, of the Royal Engineers, was captured during the fall of Singapore in 1942 and was later held in three camps in Taiwan, including the Kinkaseki copper mine and the Shirakawa POW camp.
He died in 2001, and now his daughter Sally Dye, from Fir Covert Road, Taverham, is preparing to fly with her three children to the Far East for a remembrance week, which includes the dedication service of the newly-constructed Shirakawa POW Memorial.
At the service, she will read out a prayer her father wrote in the diary he kept during his ordeal.
She said: 'I want to pay my respects to my father and the colleagues who did not come back. I want my children to learn from it.
'I think there are probably men out there who suffered, or their widows or children, who are maybe too frail to go.
'If there's any message I can take, even if it's a silent prayer, I would be happy to do so. It's an opportunity for me to do something for the old soldiers, if they would like me to do so.'
Most Read
- 1 Map reveals Norfolk areas with the highest Covid case rates
- 2 Building of hundreds of homes blocked amid water pollution fears
- 3 'An absolute disaster' - Fuel shortages force taxi firm to slash services
- 4 Dad jailed for assaults on girlfriend which saw baby taken away
- 5 Victim slashed from mouth to ear in blade attack
- 6 Warning to dog owners after pet bitten by snake in dunes
- 7 Benefits of Covid isolation waning, says UEA virus expert
- 8 Air ambulance called to crash involving motorbike and car
- 9 Owner says demolished building was 'beyond repair' after safety fears
- 10 Man who left blood, vomit and urine in communal areas of flats jailed
Her father, a cabinet maker before the war who went into retail afterwards, married her mother Dorothy in Norwich while on embarkation leave in 1941.
Mrs Dye said: 'He did not really talk about his captivity.
'I think he wanted to consign it to somewhere in the dark recesses of his mind.
'He did not like waste. He did not like rice. He never wanted to eat rice again.'
She said his diary was full of memories of Norwich and family anniversaries, and he was a very forgiving person with a strong faith.
Mrs Dye leaves on Wednesday and will be in Taiwan in early November.
To ask her to say a prayer on your or your family's behalf, contact her on 07885 512193, or on dyesally@aol.com during her trip.
