April 27, 2004
I've provided a number of links which give a tiny bit of insight about Dad's
WWII wartime service.
During
World War II, Dad served with the Royal Dutch Navy on the destroyer the Piet
Hein, which was
sunk during
the Battle of Bandung Strait, 19th-20th February 1942 by an enemy torpedo in
Indonesian waters.
Dad was one of 33 survivors from a crew of 152. After spending 2 days on a life
raft,
Dad washed
ashore on the Island of Bali. Dad became a P.O.W., and spent most of
1942-1945
in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp. The
accompanying Internet links have
additional
information about the Piet Hein and its
role during the war in the Dutch East Indies.
During
a brief time,
shortly after his ordeal at sea, Dad was re-united with Mom before being
captured and
being sent to a
POW
camp. They were
married on March 2, 1942. During the time that Dad was in the POW
camp,
Mom was sent to a
separate internment camp for women. Both remained in the camps until the
end of the war.