TEENAGE DIARY:

Santo Tomas Internment Camp

Elizabeth “Bim” Thomas had Welch and Australian parents. Her father, Richard David Thomas, was an independent-minded lad. At an early age, he ran off to sea. In the mid-1920’s, now married to Josephine Adelaide Barter from Sydney, he moved to Manila, where Bim was born in 1929. The couple entertained ship crews that stopped by Manila. Their next-door neighbor was Col. Courtney Whitney, aide to General Douglas MacArthur, to whom Bim was introduced at the age of eight or nine at a party there.

The Thomases were interned in Santo Thomas Internment Camp for the duration of the war. Statistics vary as to the number of internees, 4 January 1942 to 3 February 1945. One internet source breaks down the figures, surprisingly including a handful of neutrals and Japanese allies, as 3792 Americans, 733 British, 200 Australians, 61 Canadians, 51 Dutch, 8 French, 1 Swiss, 2 Egyptians, 2 Spanish, 2 German, and 1 Slovak. A total of 466 internees died.

During the war years, Bim kept well-hidden journals and a diary in camp from which she draws her story. In proofing the narrative, as editor, I took liberties in combining short paragraphs and rephrasing parts of sentences for easier readings, clarifying some passages, correcting typos, and inserting in brackets a few editorial comments. Bim had a keen eye for detail. The story abounds in sharp observations and nuanced insights of internee life. The suspense-filled last weeks leading up to liberation are particularly spellbinding. The camp was liberated on February 3, but the family was not repatriated until March 27. These intervening weeks were action packed with American-Japanese engagements north and south of the Pasig river. Although hers was a personal account, the big Santo Tomas internee story finally came together for me in this engrossing narrative.

In the camp Bim met Dick Meyer, whom she later married in Sydney in 1953. After Bim and Dick were married, they settled down in Sydney and raised two girls and a boy. Except for stint in the United States, from 1967 to 1972, they resided in Australia.

Meyer, Elizabeth.  278 Pages (PB)                                                  $ 19.95