WARTIME P.O.W. DIARIES OF LT. DAVID NASH, A PRISONER OF THE JAPANESE FOR OVER THREE YEARS, WITH PERSONAL EFFECTS
Absolutely the finest set of diaries from any conflict we have ever encountered anywhere, the wartime diaries of Lt. David Nash, covering the period from Dec. 1, 1941, just days before Pearl Harbor, until, Oct. 10, 1945 and includes accounts of Nash's 3 1/2 years as a prisoner of war of the Japanese and his ordeal aboard Japanese "hell ships". These unpublished diaries are written in very legible pencil and ink, closely-written (to save paper), all dated, most daily, contained within two matching half-leather cloth-bound books (probably custom binding of the original diaries), one a 14" x 8 3/4" alphabet-sectioned lined ledger book, 300pp., front cover detached, covering the period Dec. 1, 1941 to May 24, 1944. The second diary is 6" x 8 1/4" lined, 80pp., and covers the period from Oct. 13, 1944 to Oct. 10, 1945. In only a few instances, some of the entries cover a period of a few days during which we know Nash recorded his entries in the margins of books, scraps of paper, etc., and then entered them into these journals as he was either in transit or these diaries were inaccessible, but 95% of the entries were made almost daily. Both books are completely filled. This sailor's story is an incredible tale of fortitude, survival, and devotion to duty and family. Some background on his ordeal is necessary: After graduating from Annapolis in 1935, Nash served upon the USS NASHVILLE before being transferred to the USS MINDENAO operating out of Hong Kong. On Dec. 2, 1941 the vessel was ordered to Manila, and after the declaration of war, the vessel captured a trawler and took some of the first prisoners of the war. The vessel, with two other patrol boats, patrolled off Bataan and as fuel ran out, was stationed off Corregidor. Nash assumed command and was responsible for an attack on eight enemy vessels, and helped rescue 60 trapped soldiers. Heavily damaged by gunfire, the vessel was stripped and scuttled and Nash and his crew went ashore. He surrendered with the garrison at Corregidor on May 7, 1942. Nash was transported to a camp in central Luzon where he was held for six months, then transferred to Mindanao where he spent the following 20 months working up to 16 hours a day planting rice. In June, 1944 Nash was returned to his original camp on Luzon, only to be transferred again in October to Bilibid Prison in Manila. Before the transfer, he gave the first diary here to a shipmate who buried it in a five gallon can for recovery after war's end. He was soon placed aboard the infamous troop transport "hell ship", ORYOKU MARU, where the lack of ventilation, water and food, and bombing and shootings resulted in the death of 300 of the 1,519 men aboard and drove insane many others. The vessel was attacked by planes from the USS HORNET, sunk, and survivors were sent back to Manila and then placed aboard yet another vessel bound for Japan, but it too was attacked and hundreds more prisoners were killed. Nash finally arrived in Japan in January, 1945 but only after 40 more fellow prisoners died en route from exposure and lack of food and medicine. In all, of the approx. 1,600 men who left Manila, only 325 made it alive to Nash's camp on Kyushu. In April, 1945 Nash once again boarded a vessel, this time bound for Mukden, in Manchuria, to be imprisoned at Hoten P.O.W. Camp. On Aug. 16, 1945 OSS officers were parachuted near the camp, and on Aug. 19 the camp was liberated by the Red Army. It would be impossible to quote even a tiny percentage of the incredible, heart-rending content in these museum-quality journals - they should at the very least be skimmed by prospective bidders. We quote a few selected passages: "...[near and on Corregidor, December, 1941] the dirty little bastards have caught us with our pants down...Cavite Navy Yard...they leveled the place...we sighted planes...they hit on all sides of us and close...We couldn't hit back...Four men got hit...we certainly are the lone defenders now...Two P-40's went up this morning for the express purpose of rubbing out a nipper dive bomber and did a most efficient job...beat it back to their hidden airport...the main part of the island has really been plowed - bomb craters everywhere...shells started falling close to the LUZON which had been abandoned...Ft. Frank & Drum started firing back...shelling of Corregidor continued...[many descriptions of shelling, Japanese air attacks, and minor naval encounters]...spotted 9 small boats...our later shots were right on - they might even have been passing through the light structure...in the past days we have seen 247 planes overhead...picked up 11 launches or barges in the moonlight...we opened fire...heard shells whistling around us...we closed and withdrew trying to get a good crack at them...Jap planes getting closer...things were crumbling on Bataan...3 Army officers paddled out...and said they had 19 more men ashore...sent a motor launch after them...Jap bullets were whistling around...pitiful remnants of the 31st Infantry...our total was 60...Japs shifted their aim to the ship next to us...MINDANAO has been hit by shells...and is sinking...we sent a demolition party to the ship...we ran up a white flag and ran around destroying all our ensigns...the [Japanese] men took what watches they could get a hold of...no food had been issued to our groups...10,000 men crowded into a small area, a well and 3 water spigots...latrine line 100 yards long, looting and stealing...[May 26, 1942, Bilibad Prison, Manila]...food situation has eased...'over the wall' candy or fruit...80 of us were herded into a small box car...Filipinos threw cigarettes and food into the cars...[May 29, 1942 near Cabanatuan P.O.W. Camp]...for 350 men altogether...we received 350 lbs. of rice, 4 squash, 3/4 sack onions, and 20 lbs. of sugar for the week...we talk constantly of food...they shot 4 men who had attempted to escape...rice coffee and rice scrapings...managed to buy 2 cans of sardines from the Filipino well diggers...they cost us $3...for 96 officers we had one five. gal. tin of rice...Japanese general appeared...inspection amounted to our standing at attention for 20 minutes, facing and saluting his car...death rate dropped to one-fourth what is was; must be about 6 a day now...one of the attempted escapees who were tied hand and foot at the fence...had gotten loose...the Japanese shot them...there is a law prohibiting sleeping during working hours...spotted about 12 Japanese soldier dressed in Filipino clothing...going guerilla hunting...grouping of all men in camp in 10 man groups, so that if one escapes...the others will be shot...was sent...to take charge of a burial detail...dragging our bodies and carrying them on a litter...39 bodies...a gruesome sight, such skinny devils, dirty, and naked...the road is gooey...groups slipped and fell, dropping their bodies in the mud...We covered over the grave and saluted. There was no service...I'm hardened to it...had 10 light duty men to dig drainage ditches. Poor guys could hardly manage themselves let alone a pick and shovel...I had yellow jaundice...one of the officers found 2 crabs on himself - something we've been dreading...Japanese officers announced...the the U.S. troops on Mindanao had met with severe reverses...official death rate for this camp was 29 per day...at least 3300 Americans have died as prisoners...they are going to have a mighty tough time explaining the shooting of 9 men for 1 escapee...I signed a statement I would not attempt to escape...a threat of pretty severe discomfit to those who do not sign - possibly shooting...chopped wood from 3:30 up until dark because one of our gang broke the axe handle...3 ensigns who escaped our first night in camp had been apprehended and shot. Shortly afterwards we learned that a patient and his guard escaped last night from the Hospital...Thompson, the escaped Marine, was caught...the Japanese beating the hell out of him...they aren't going to shoot him but he'll wish they had...[they] exhibited Thompson...saw an armed guard march the three [escapees] up the road...we heard three volleys of rifle fire and the Japanese returned...have spent 68,000 since July 16 on commissary...victorious Japanese soldiers singing at tops of their voices and dangling the head of a Filipino from a long stick...loaded us 80 to the box car...headed to Manila...terrifically crowded hold...officer died today of heat exhaustion...[Nov. 10, 1942, Davao Penal Colony] ...the camp is many square miles...5 water spigots...supposed to be self-sufficient...our job was to load the train [with gravel] ...I lost 35 lbs. in about a month...I can expect permanent impairment from my beri beri...Capt. Fossman died...he had an infection of the leg that took him off in 4 days...Kozer, the other psychopathic case, died...he committed mental suicide...[Filipino] axed a Jap guard and then chopped him up a little with his bolo...a free man. Nice going...we held a mock trial in which the 3 rabbits were tried for failing to reproduce in spite of cohabitation...it was agreed before the trial that the verdict would be guilty and that the rabbits would be cooked...One of the corpsmen celebrated St. Pats by getting very stinker...stayed tight for two whole days...one of the patients was presented with a canteen full of straight alcohol...man killed was a corpsman, picking canottes, he asked for his canteen from a man inside the fence. The Jap guard shot the receiver...spent the day in the rice paddies...did our contract of 2 paddies each...I finished the first paddies and passed out - malaria...we had to slap each other for being so sulky...Major Masuda...had been ordered to cut the rations by Manila..little food is coming into Davao...every man must produce food enough for 4 men...ration of rice reduced again to 550 grams...quite a demonstration of bullying...they slapped us around, threw an axe at one man, and the officer his several over the head with the flat of his saber...22 in the brig are crowded into 3 very small cells...they broke officers' arms hitting them with sticks...Japs continue to waste food all over the plantation...". Much of Nash's writings at Davao concern the steady work of planting, weeding and harvesting of rice, logging, the cruelty of camp guard "Little Caesar", the insistance by the commandant that the camp become self-sufficient, and his diet, which during his stay is ample and supplemented by purchases from the camp commissary. On March 29, 1944 things take a turn for the worse when seven men on detail outside the camp attacked their guards, wounding three and killing one. Four others had been surrounded. He relates the event and after-effects: "...no food has entered the gates since the escape...we expect to eat only 400 grams of rice and a little salt...we are all criminals in the minds of the Japanese...being called 'Murder Men'...a yardbird attacked a star guard with his bayonet...an American...knocked the yardbird out...the inner gate has been locked constantly...men carrying American grenades...they're taking a truck convoy out each morning loaded with our miscellaneous equipment. Medicines have gone...Nip civilians take out rails...spent the week making packing cases...there are now 4 psychopathic cases...Maj. Charlie Harrison...ran amuck...picked up a piece of scrap iron and banged the guard on the head...Charlie got hold of his rifle...rifle was unloaded...the guard has been increased again...fixed bayonets...". The first diary ends at this point, as Nash is returned to Cabanatuan where this diary was cached. The second diary starts with his narrative commencing with events from Oct. 13, 1944 at Cabanatuan as he prepares to leave the camp. In part: <"...On Oct. 13, 1944 we were scheduled to leave the main camp at Cabanatuan...rolled into Bilibid Prison...four men were assigned to an area approx. 18 sq. ft....served an average of 270 [grams of rice per day]...we had no meat at all during the last month...an old Air Corps sergeant was caught stealing several items...trounced by his mates...was also confined in the Psychopathic Ward...a Taiwan guard urinated out the second floor window...hit the high voltage wires...[Aboard the ORYOKU MARU, Dec. 13, 1943]...we were crowded in the forward starboard upper tier...jammed in a sitting poistion...862 had been crowded in...barely space to turn around...our only light now filtered through from the partially uncovered hatch 3 decks above...no tea nor water although we were all sitting in pools of sweat...men passed out...no ventilators in operation and repeated demands for air were ignored...guards reiterated their threats to close the hatch unless the commotion subsided...the men were too crazy by this time...shouting and crazily babbling all around me...we were under air attack by our own forces...no one seemed to care...we had received only one meal and no water...Men became raving maniacs...the mode of quieting the more violent was by disemboweling them with knives. This practice degenerated into an opportunity for some of the enlisted men to murder senior officers...every man was fighting for his life...my neighbor pounding me with his shoe...He was dead in the morning...So many had died that there was sufficient air...a sentry emptied his rifle into the packed hold...the ship was on fire...heard the machine guns on the beach...firing on some of the straggling swimmers...285 were missing...we filed in the fence of a nearby tennis court...detrucked at the provisional prison in San Fernando...received no food...ordered down into the upper level of the No. 2 hold...men were lined up shoulder to shoulder in companies of 100 each...daily routing consisted of sending a detail of 6 or 8 men to hoist out the 2 or 3 corpses...Lt. Brown, Air Corps, hid on the deck and plunged over the side in the darkness...ration was usually half a loosely packed canteen cup of rice and 5 or 6 spoons full of soup...men were eating the horse rations the found...[Formosa, Jan. 9, 1945] ...we were being jarred by falling bombs...all around us were killed and wounded...285 had been killed...the cremating party went ashore and a little later we were advised to stand by to move to another ship...West Point rings were traded to the Nip guards for three canteen cups of tea...[deaths] reached forty a day...corpsmen made the rounds and dragged the bodies that had been dumped in the passages to the heap on the hatch cover...of the original company of 475 which departed Bilibad only 100 remained...about 325 to 350 of the original 1600 who left Manila are still alive. We consider ourselves lucky...[Fukuoka Camp #3, Jan. 30, 1945]...situated 500 yards from the second largest power plant in Japan... our strength is now 83...Major Starkey dies tonight making 22 since our arrival...I walk daily but don't seem to gain any strength...Japs discontinued the Red Cross issue...there have been shakedowns, lectures, castigations, beatings, immersions in cold water...[Hoten Camp, Manchuria, April 29, 1945] ...food was good - many beans in the soup...they don't seem to give a damn how lousy we are...only one bath with hot water per week...Nips reiterated their orders banning gatherings between morning and evening tinko...Vice Adm. Matloy protested to the Japs because of the slapping of a British chaplain...I've had every form of lice and vermin...B-29s had bombed south of here...Several hundred Jap refugees in horrible condition arrived atthe factory...only one out of ten safely completed the crossing to Korea...caught 3 men bringing the empty chow buckets from the TKK factory...They contained a hundred and some packs of contraband cigarettes, chewing tobacco, hair oil, etc. ..some of the senior officers had supplied the yen...[Aug. 5]...All of us feel that the fold up of the war is imminent...The next 72 hours should bring us news...[Aug. 9]...Funny business! At 0430 the air raid sounded...increased guards digging trenches on the outside...[Aug. 16]...Holy Smokes! I do believe this mess is all over...airmen from the nearby stockade were being brought through the gate...This then was changed...They were shaking hands with the Jap officers and the officers were handling their bags [they were OSS officers parachuted to secure the camp following Hirohito's capitulation]...Another Nip told the Americans to come to the garage early for there would be much saki...One Nip stuck a pack of cigarettes through the wire and said: 'Friend?'...". Nash concludes his entries describing the arrival of Russian soldiers to formally liberate the camp, interesting demands by various officers of a Russian general, liberty in Mukden, and his slow return home. It should also be noted that Nash was a very accomplished artist and draftsman: the diaries bear many sketches and arhitectural views, including Fukuoka Camp No. 3, a view of the "Hell Ship" ORYOKU MARU, hand-colored maps of Corregidor and vicinity, sketches of sailors and the MINDENAO under attack, bunkers at Corregidor, a schematic of his attack on Japanese vessels, a prisoners' poker session, a guard on watch over water, a soldier's burial, hospital isolation ward, layout of the Dapecol Prison Camp, and a highly detailed side view of the USS MINDANAO. At the end of the first diary he also carefully listed all of his crewmen's names and the disposition, camp duties, home addresses, and possible recommendations for medals at war's end. Also included is a definitive scrapbook bearing important ephemera from Nash's schooling and military career. Among the items included within are: Annapolis graduation pass, clippings relating to service aboard the USS NASHVILLE, marriage announcements, Hong Kong dependent evacuation notices, etc., War Dept. telegram and letter from Frank Knox advising Nash is MIA with clippings, notice of the award of the Navy Cross, notice of status change to P.O.W., seven postcards sent home while a P.O.W. with typical scanty information, a Christmas, 1941 T.LS. sent to his mother advising that he was now in command of the MINDENAO; a partial A.L.S. by Nash to his wife, repatriated with the captain of the MINDENAO once he was liberated in April, 1945; a finely-executed 7 3/4" x 6" pencil drawing of the interior of the barracks at the Hoten P.O.W. camp, a pre-formal liberation flyer dropped on the P.O.W.'s signed in print by Gen. A.C. Wedemeyer, field-printed pass from the Hoten camp to visit Mukden, 11 photos from Mukden including barracks and a plane dropping supplies, telegrams to his wife indicating his liberation and location in Manchuria, a letter from Truman (signed in facsimile) welcoming ex-prisoner Nash home, and a few post-war items. Also present: a pre-war photo album with images of Hong Kong, a typhoon at sea, and the USS MINDANAO; his 1935 Naval Academy diploma and lieutenant's appointment signed by JAMES FORRESTAL; USS HORNET action reports regarding the ORYOKU MARU; commissions as midshipman, commander, and captain, Bronze Star award certificate, two post-war Navy photo albums, official functions; 1959 photo album showing aerial and ground views of abandoned Corregidor, Bilibid Prison, naval meetings, etc., a post-war scrapbook, mostly concerning events while he was attached to Naval Intelligence at Coronado, Ca. and retirement commendations; Naval Academy yearbooks for 1932-1935; 1936 "Ancient Order of the Deep" certificate from the U.S.S. Idaho; "plank-owner's certificate from the launching of the USS HURRICANE, 1993; chest ribbons including Navy Cross, Legion of Merit (with citation signed by Forrestal), and Purple Heart, uniform buttons, dozens of negatives, all personal, from his childhood up to retirement, including pre-war Pacific, many showing Corregidor and Ft. Hughes in the 1950's; strip negatives labeled: "Naval Academy thru 1953 & '54" (not viewed), a folder of correspondence and clippings, some biographical, all P.O.W.-related; desk name plate, and two presentation plaques, one received in recognition of his command of the USS BAYFIELD; Also together with Nash's presentation sword, ribbon bar, and medals including his "Black Widow" Navy Cross with the corresponding citation signed by Sec. of the Navy James Forrestal and other campaign medals. All in very good to excellent condition, with a transcript of about two-thirds of the diaries' contents.

This grouping is of great historic import and certainly worthy of purchase by, or donation to a scholarly institution or public World War II collection.