An Unsung Hero
William Barter 1913-1991
William James Barter was born in Dublin, Ireland on the 2nd of July 1913 to William Barter and Catherine Doyle, he became known as Billser Barter throughout his life. He had two brothers, Joseph and James. The family lived in one of the most poverty stricken areas of Dublin City where prostitution and crime worked hand in hand. In 1916 Billser Barter's father worked as a Carter, collecting and delivering items of import and export from the nearby docklands and railway stations. On the night of the 26th April 1916, having bedded his horse down for the night William senior was heading home when the crack of a rifle shot split the stillness of the night. It was one minute past the hour of eight o'clock and the military twelve hour curfew had just begun. William fell to the ground having been shot in the back by a British Soldier stationed on a nearby overhead railway bridge. He managed to crawl several hundred yards into a shop doorway where he was found dead the following morning by family and friends. Two years later Billser's mother remarried.
Billser Barter in Dublin
In 1931 Billser's first cousin Archie Coffey had joined the British Army and was posted to the Mediterranean island of Malta. It was from here that he sent home letters encouraging Billser to also join the army. The early 1930's were relatively peaceful years for the British Army until the Arab Uprising of 1936. Being stationed in sun drenched Malta was almost like a dream come true. Billser spoke to other cousins of his about the possibility of them all joining the army together but nothing ever came of it until Billser signed up on the 15th February 1937 to the 9th Heavy Regiment of the Royal Artillery, later to change in 1940 to the 9th Coastal Regiment. On completion of his six months basic training Billser's regiment was shipped out to defend the island of Singapore in the possible event of a Japanese invasion.
The British had begun building a naval base in Singapore in 1932, partly in response to the growing power of the Japanese Navy. By 1938 the major part of the project was completed and became the largest dry dock in the world at that time. In 1940 the entire base was completed with artillery, searchlights and an air base nearby. There was also a floating dock of 275 meters in length. Singapore grew beyond all expectations almost over night boasting a town that housed 12,000 Asians workers, cinemas, hospitals and churches. There was enough fuel in storage to last the navy six months. By 1941 Britain was locked into a European and Middle East battlefield with little or no troops to spare in the event of an attack on Asia. On the 8th February 1942 Japanese troop using collapsible boats invaded Singapore, taking with them 18,000 bicycles. Whenever they ran into heavy British resistance they cycled their way around the situation through forests or headed back to sea in an effort to outflank the British resistance.
Guns in Singapore
By the following day the Japanese had taken the Tengah Airfield strip. On the 12th of February the Coastal batteries were destroyed by the Japanese air force.The following day, February 13th Japanese forces finally over-ran Pasir Panjang. On the 14th they came to Alexandra Barracks Hospital where a British lieutenant offered to surrender the hospital to the Japanese, he was bayoneted and killed on the spot. All of the hospital staff and patients were slaughtered. On the 15th February 1942 the British commanding officer, Lieutenant General Percival offered a surrender to the Japanese High Command. Over 80,000 British, Australian and Indian troops were taken prisoner. This proved a major triumph for the Japanese Imperial Army.
The Fall of Singapore 15 Feb 1942
The British Army barracks in Selarang were used to house all the British POW's. The Australians were housed in Changi Prison where over 850 prisoners perished during their time there. Changi was reckoned to be one of the worse prisoner of war camps run by the Japanese. It was a harsh regime imposed by the Japanese High Command in Singapore on the Allied prisoners because of there willingness to surrender without a fight to the death. The Japanese Imperial Army viewed surrender as a weakness and held the belief that such men had dishonored not only their families but their country also. Therefore any soldiers taken prisoner deserved to be treated disdain.
Th Allied troops were more or less allowed to govern themselves within the camp and everything was organised under strict military discipline. This however changed when a prisoner attempted to escape. The Japanese demanded that each prisoner sign a document stating that they would not make any attempt at escape. The Allied leaders ordered their men to refuse to sigh any such document which resulted in 20,000 Allied prisoners being ordered to stand out on the main barracks square until they decided to carry out the Japanese order. When this threat failed a group of Allied prisoners were taken to a nearby beach and shot by Japanese soldiers. Eventually all of the prisoners were instructed by their commanding officers to sign the document under protest.
Selarang Barracks, Singapore 1942
It was in Selarang that Billser witnessed something more of the cruelty and mindless killings that would come to be accepted as the norm in the not too distant future. He states that three Gunners he knew from the 9th Coast Regiment had tried to escape from the Changi POW camp in Singapore but were captured and shot by Japanese soldiers. He names the prisoners as Gunners McCann, Jefferies and Hunter. Their commanding officer Lieutenant Colonel Heath D.S.O. C.O 9th Coast Regiment R.A. Changi, witnessed their execution.
Billser Barter was responsible for three acts of sabotage against the Japanese. While held as a prisoner of war in the Changi Camp in Singapore he was selected along with several other prisoners to carry out menial jobs for his captors. His first act of sabotage that took place in Singapore involved filing down the striking pins on many of the Japanese rifles that he was assigned to clean. When he was later transferred to Tamuang on mainland Thailand he was assigned to work with a team of soldiers to unload cans and drums of petrol and oil from the railway carriages that had arrived into the depot. Billser states that when unloading this cargo he used a Jack Knife and a brick to puncture holes in the sides of the containers to allow the contents to spill out. His third act of sabotage took place later on while he was unloading bombs and detonators from another train. He says that he threw as many of these as he could into the jungle. Billser knew quite well that such acts of defiance could and probably would result in his immediate execution as had already happened to his three fellow artillery men.
In November of 1942 six hundred men from the Royal Artillery were placed on an old coal ship that was docked in Singapore harbour, they were destined for the Solomon Islands. Conditions on board the ship were horrific with all of the being crammed into the hold. Most of them were suffering from dehydration, heat exhaustion and dysentery, there was no food, water or sanitary arrangements for these men. For entertainment while out at sea the Japanese soldiers poured bucket after bucket of urine down through the hatches onto the men below. Rabaul is a township on the island of Papua New Guinea where the sea area north of the island is known as New Ireland. It was here on the 6th of November 1942 that eighty two of the prisoners disembarked. William Barter from Dublin, Patrick Ahern from Fermoy in County Cork and Lance Sergeant Patrick Nolan from Wexford were among those prisoners that went ashore. In poor physical condition and dehydrated they were forced to unload cargo from a Japanese ship.
One of Billser Barter's gun crew had a major wound on his back that opened up and caused him severe pain while he was helping to unload the ships cargo. This soldier made a request to the Japanese officer in charge to be excused from carrying out this type of heavy work. He was immediately ordered back to work but he refused to do as he was ordered. The Japanese officer had him tied to a nearby tree and ordered him to drink urine and when he refused to do so he was tortured in front of the rest of his companions. Again he was beaten and a bucket of the urine was poured over his head. He was then stripped and had animal manure rubbed onto his genitals. Still tied to the tree the Japanese soldiers left him to be tormented and bitten by tropical insects. The following morning he was taken out and shot. It was in retaliation for the murder of their comrade that Billser Barter punctured holes in the side of drums of oil and petrol while Patrick Ahern ripped holes in sacks of rice destined for Japanese soldiers. Of the eighty two men who disembarked at Rabaul only eighteen survived the war.
Ban Pong Railway Station
Billser Barter and his fellow POW's eventually arrived at Ban Pong station in Thailand. It was from here that he was then sent north on the railway via Kanchanaburi of 'Bridge on the River Kwai' fame. Billser eventually arrived at his destination of Kin Saiyok, a jungle camp situated to the north of Hellfire Pass, a large rock cutting where prisoners were forced to work up to eighteen hours a day to complete that part of the line on time. The Hellfire Pass got it's name from the eerie night scenes of half starved and emaciated prisoners working through the night by torch light that resembled scenes from Hell. Sixty eight prisoners were beaten to death by Japanese soldiers in the six weeks it took to build the cutting.
Bridge on the River Kwai
In July 1943 Billser Barter was sent back down the line to the hospital camp in Chungkai where he was treated for malaria and dysentery. This extensive hospital camp was situated on the outskirts of Kanchanaburi. Only those prisoners who were considered very sick were sent to the hospital at this time because of the urgency in completing the work on time. This became known as the 'Speedo' period because every available man was required to work on the construction of the railway due to the approaching monsoon season. Billser Barter must have been very sick as he remained for quite some time in the hospital compound.
Chungkai Camp
In 1945 he was sent to Nakhon Nayok Camp in central Thailand which was situated well away from the railway and its main camp. It was here that Billser Barter was assigned to a party of 600 men who were sent on a 630 kilometer forced march which took them almost four months to complete. Their job was to work on repairing roads and smaller bridges to allow the Japanese troops to make a quick exit in anticipation of an allied invasion of Thailand.
