A 105-year-old Royal Marines veteran who survived the sinking of HMS Repulse and endured more than three years in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp has shared his story with The Duchess of Edinburgh, ahead of the 80th anniversary of Victory over Japan (VJ) Day.
Sophie met James “Jim” Wren over tea and cake at Old Sarum Manor Care Home in Salisbury, Wiltshire. As Patron of the Java Far East Prisoner of War Club 1942, Her Royal Highness heard first-hand accounts of heroism and sacrifice.
Jim recounted the fateful day in December 1941 when Japanese torpedoes sank HMS Repulse in the South China Sea, claiming 513 lives. ‘I was having a cup of tea and the alarm went off’ he told the Duchess. ‘The first bomb got right behind me. And fortunately it didn’t explode. It got down through three decks. That saved my life in a sense. From then onwards it was a case of actions, actions, and it was torpedo after torpedo and they eventually got nine hits.’
Jim was rescued by HMS Electra and taken to Singapore to defend the colony against advancing Japanese forces. In February 1942, while fleeing Singapore, his ship was captured by a Japanese destroyer. He spent the next three-and-a-half years in brutal captivity at a camp in Sumatra.
‘It was a possibility we could perish and all those people on board’ he said. ‘We didn’t know where our next meal or drink would be coming from. They had no idea how to deal with prisoners of war, the Japanese’.
The Duchess sat with Jim and four generations of his family, including his daughter Denise Dables, son-in-law Andy Dables, granddaughter Kirsty Dables, and great-granddaughters Freya and Ellie. Together, they leafed through a photo album featuring Jim’s late wife, Margaret, who spent over three years uncertain whether her husband was dead or alive.
At one point, Sophie asked Jim why he had chosen the Navy. He replied with a wry smile, ‘Nothing attracted me to the Navy – I didn’t want to be in the Navy’ explaining that his first choices had been the Royal Air Force or the Army, but he had been rejected by both at age 19.
Sophie described the encounter as an honour, telling Jim, “Very nice to meet you, thanks for having me. It’s my honour to meet you.”
The meeting came just days before the national commemorations for VJ Day, when The King will deliver an address and join The Queen at a Service of Remembrance at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire. Charles and Camilla, as Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall, previously marked the 75th anniversary by attending national service of remembrance at the Arboretum.
