Neighbours share memories of war and of a lost uncle

Robbie Meredith

BBC News NI education and arts correspondent

BBC Tommy Doherty stands in a room in his home, in front of a wall on which medals and a number of plates displaying images of the war are scene. Tommy is wearing a war blazer and beret, and a shirt and tie. He wears a number of military badges and medals on his blazer. BBC

Tommy Doherty was stationed at RAF Aldergrove in 1945 before being deployed to Singapore

Victory over Japan Day – or VJ day – on 15 August marks the day in 1945 when World War Two ended.

Lisburn man Tommy Doherty may be 98 but he still remembers vividly serving in the RAF in Singapore during the war.

He was given only six hours notice to pack up to go to the other side of the world.

Meanwhile, Tommy’s neighbour Brian Buick’s uncle Joseph McCandless died in a prisoner of war camp in Borneo in 1945.

The two men often get together to talk about the war in Tommy’s home, in which his service medals and photographs are proudly displayed.

They also shared their memories with BBC News NI.

Tommy Doherty Tommy Doherty is on the right of the image taken in the 1940s, with his wife to the left. They are both smiling in the black and white photo. She is holding a bay, and is wearing a patterned dress and with dark hair. Tommy is in military uniform, and has his arm around her. The baby appears to be asleep and is wrapped in a light coloured blanket. Tommy Doherty

Tommy remembers he was given only six hours notice before having to leave his family

Tommy Doherty was stationed at RAF Aldergrove when he was spoken to by one of the lieutenants on the base.

“I’ve bad news for you,” Tommy remembered him saying.

“You have to report to Burtonwood (a former RAF base in the north of England) tomorrow at the latest.

“So I had to sail that night, with only six hours between the wife and I.”

Tommy Doherty In a grainy photograph a long passenger type boat is pictured sailing on a body of water. The ship has three decks and is white. Under the image written in black type is "British India Company's Transport. M.V. Dilwara" 11,050 Tons Tommy Doherty

A photograph of the ship on which Tommy sailed to Sinagapore is among his wartime collection

The trip to Singapore took longer – “18 or 19 days” according to Tommy.

He worked in RAF camps in Singapore as a driver, “for a year, back and forward in different camps”.

Later he was transferred to Kuala Lumpur in what is now Malaysia, and then elsewhere in the country.

Tommy Doherty Two military servicemen stand side by side in an old photograph from the 1940. The image is black and white, both men are wearing long dark coats with military insignia on the sleeves.They are standing in front of a white wall, with a door visible to their right. It appears to have shutters. Tommy Doherty

Tommy, pictures with a fellow serviceman, said it was frustrating how often they were moved around

But he told BBC News NI he became frustrated at times at how much he and his fellow servicemen were moved around.

And Tommy recalled talking to former prisoners of war who felt forgotten about, after the end of the conflict in Europe.

“The Germans are beat and the war is over there and the people are all dancing about and having beers and this, that and the other thing and they’ve left us just prisoners,” he remembers one telling him.

He also said that some of the soldiers captured by the Japanese were tortured.

While Tommy made it home, his neighbour Brian Buick’s uncle did not.

Brian Buick is sitting on a white leather sofa, on the top of which is an animal skin style rug. He is bald and is wearing a grey shirt, the top button of which is opened.

Brian Buick said his family have never been able to find out exactly how his uncle died

Brian Buick’s uncle Joseph McCandless was captured on the island of Java in 1942 and held in a prisoner of war camp in Borneo, where he died in 1945.

“I was probably too young at that stage to really comprehend an awful lot about Uncle Joe,” he said.

“It was only when I got older that I realised how tough and sad, really, that his life and his death ultimately had been.”

Joseph McCandless joined the RAF in 1938, and was posted to Singapore in 1941.

Japan captured Singapore in 1942, landing a major blow to the British war effort.

“Joe managed to escape to the island of Java, but the Japanese also invaded Java,” Brian Buick recalled.

‘As brutal as you can imagine’

“That’s where he was captured. He was a prisoner of war in Borneo for about three years.

“It was pretty brutal, probably as brutal as you can imagine. They were treated appallingly, not only the treatment they received but the diseases they encountered – dysentery and parasitic diseases.”

His uncle, Brian added, was in a “horrible place”.

He added: “Being so far from home, no contact with loved ones didn’t help any, they were basically starved.

“If disease didn’t get them the starvation probably did.”

Tommy is is an older man who has white hair poking out from the sides of an RAF cap. He is wearing glasses and an RAF bowtie in red, white and blue. He is also wearing a navy jacket, which has a number of badges and medals pinned to it.

Tommy Doherty at the VJ day ceremony in Lisburn on Friday

Brian and his family have never been able to find out exactly how Joseph died, but tragically it was very close to the end of the war, possibly only a matter of days.

They have always remembered him, particularly on VJ Day.

Events are taking place across Northern Ireland to mark the day.

William Allen is an older man with sparse, white hair. He is wearing a navy jacket with Royal British Legion regalia, including medals and badges. He is standing in front of a large stone war memorial. It says "To our honoured dead and those who served. 1914- 918 and 1939-1945. A poppy wreath is lying the steps up to the war memorial.

William Allen, from the Royal British Legion, says it’s important to remember all who paid the supreme sacrifice

William Allen, President of the Waterside branch of the Royal British Legion, in Londonderry said it was hugely important to remember all who paid the supreme sacrifice.

He said many young men had gone off to war and didn’t return home and it was right and fitting that their sacrifice was never forgotten.

He was speaking at the War Memorial in the Diamond where a small group attended the commemoration.