Marine Diary - Serving in the Far East

Bernard Bradley Stowe was a fitness instructor in the Marines, serving in the Far East in 1945. His diary records that on 11th May he was on a ship bound for India, and they celebrated VE day with a bottle of beer and corned beef.

On 16th August 1945, he records ships celebrating VJ day with rockets, sirens and searchlights. He had a feeling of 'unspeakable relief that the end has come', and hoped that he would soon be repatriated.

In September 1945 he was on the first ship to enter Singapore since it was occupied by the Japanese in 1942. Although their landing was not opposed safety could not be guaranteed. Japanese soldiers had looted before they left when Japan surrendered.