Liberation for Moray POW Bill Barr Cochrane
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Over the past three weeks we have told of Bill Barr Cochrane's capture and subsequent life as a POW, working on the 'Death Railway'.
Here, in the last of our four-part series, we relate his happy homecoming.
Bill contracted jaundice at a time when the Japanese were preparing to abandon Kanchanaburi.
For this the POWs were divided into eight parties.
Possibly because he was ill Bill was placed in the last of these eight. The general view was this was bad luck, because that party would have to clear up the camp before going.
Instead, it proved to be a stroke of good fortune as these men never had to leave.
Bill said: "It was about 10 o'clock at night on August 16, 1945, and Colonel Sugasawa, who was the boss man of prisoners of war in Thailand marched into the camp. We were all assembled and he announced that his country had surrendered.
"You can imagine the celebrations that went on. We had nothing to celebrate with but I just couldn't go to bed that night.
"I can remember walking up and down this parade ground we had in this camp and there was a magnificent moon about six times the size of the moon that we normally see here.
"And I was with this chap Sandy Lamont from Aberdeen. All we could talk about was what we were going to do when we got home."
One stage of his long journey back to Scotland involved a military plane to Rangoon, the capital of Burma.
Bill said: "During the flight this Sergeant came round with blankets because it got quite chilly.
"I don't know what prompted me but I asked him, 'Sergeant, did you serve any of your time at Kinloss or Lossiemouth?'
"He said, 'I was at Kinloss'.
"I said, 'did you go into Elgin at all?'
"He said, 'oh yes, we used to go to Elgin quite a lot'.
"I said, 'can you picture the centre of Elgin at all?' I was trying to find somebody who knew where my parents were or where the business was.
"I added, 'do you remember where Woolworths was? Directly opposite there was a music store'.
"He said, 'of course there was. I used to buy my records there'.
"So I was cock-a-hoop after that, to think that I'd met somebody who knew where I came from."
Nearly four years after having sailed from Liverpool, Bill returned from the Far East on board HMS Worcestershire, another former cruise ship,
Travelling up by train, he alighted at Elgin Station at about 9pm.
For several months, until his captors had allowed him to write a letter, Bill's mother, father and brother had not known whether he was alive or dead.
That night there was a party in the family home.
Bill said: "My father went to get everyone a drink. He didn't ask me what I wanted, but came back and handed me a glass.
"He said, 'here, get that down you'. And it was a glass of whisky. It was the first whisky I'd drank in my lifetime and by this time I was 30."
After a brief period of "wanting to escape to the hills", as he put it, Bill adapted happily to civilian life.
He accepted his dad's offer of a 50% partnership in the music store and went on to have a very successful business career.
A member of Elgin Rotary for 40 years, Bill was also an active freemason and sang in a choir at St Andrews Lhanbryde and Urquhart Church.
In addition, he met Helen.
The couple married on April 14, 1948 and had three daughters – Liz, Sue and Rosemary.
Liz and Sue said: "Our father looked on the bright side, his glass overflowing and always a laugh to be had.
"It took time to overcome his POW experience however he made a conscious decision to forgive and move on.
"His motto ‘you cannot live with hate’ is wise and profound.
"He felt that although his circumstances changed, often against his wishes, there was a higher hand watching over him because it worked out for the good.
"When he died we found a small book in his bedside cabinet: a New Testament given to troops by the American Bible Society carrying a message from President Roosevelt.
"Stamped in Japanese it was Dad’s travelling companion on the Burma Road and beyond. It remains a treasured possession."
Related articles:
- Part one of The Accidental Tailor – Bill Barr Cochrane
- Part two of The Accidental Tailor – Bill Barr Cochrane
- Part three of The Accidental Tailor – Bill Barr Cochrane
