Resource Type

Oral History Interview with Arthur B. Clark, September 29, 2000

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
Interview with Arhtur B. Clark, a Texas National Guard WWII veteran and POW from Abilene, Texas, who was captured with the 2nd Battalion, 131st Field Artillery. Clark discusses joining the National Guard, training and maneuvers, deployment to the Pacific, the fall of Java and surrender to the Japanese, experiences in internment at Tanjong Priok in Batavia, internment at Changi Camp in Singapore, labor on the Burma "Death" Railway, and liberation. The interview includes an appendix with a reference page and a written flight log by Col. Tom Sledge.
Date: September 29, 2000
Creator: Marcello, Ronald E. & Clark, Arthur B.
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library

Oral History Interview with John L. Bates, Jr., September 21, 2003

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
Interview with attorney and Army veteran John L. Bates Jr. The Interview includes Bates' personal experiences in the China-Burma-India Theater during World War II, Officer Candidate School, being selected for the Counter Intelligence Corps, British Intelligence School, assignment to Kweiyang, China, the end of the war and his transfer to the War Crimes Section as an Assistant Theater Judge Advocate, his assignment to Hankow to investigate the executions of three of Jimmy Doolittle's pilots and to Formosa to investigate war crimes, dealing with Japanese military personnel accused of committing atrocities against Allied POWs on Formosa, and his postwar career in the Army Reserve.
Date: September 21, 2003
Creator: Alexander, William J. & Bates, John L., Jr.
Object Type: Book
System: The UNT Digital Library
Oral History Interview with James F. Sansom, October 8, 2004 transcript

Oral History Interview with James F. Sansom, October 8, 2004

Interview with James F. Sansom, an officer in the U. S. Army during World War II. Sansom joined the Army in 1940 and began training on anti-aircraft guns in Florida. He was selected for Officer Candidate School (OCS) and was commissioned a second lieutenant in 1942. He was assigned to the 843rd Anti-Aircraft Artillery Air Warning Battalion, which made its way to India via the Panama Canal and Australia. Shortly after reaching Calcutta, the unit moved to Myitkyina, Burma. After the war, Sansom was assigned to Sagumo Prison outside Tokyo where Japanese war criminals were being held while on trial for war crimes. He describes some of the routines and residents in the prison. Sansom taught Hideki Tojo how to play card games like gin rummy. Sansom also describes the process of executing convicted prisoners as he carried out some sentences. In all, he executed nine convicted war criminals.
Date: October 8, 2004
Creator: Cox, Floyd & Sansom, James F.
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Alan W. Saunders, October 8, 2004 transcript

Oral History Interview with Alan W. Saunders, October 8, 2004

Interview with Alan W. "Buck" Saunders, a pilot during World War II. He discusses joining the Army Air Corps, becoming an airplane mechanic, and going to flight school for pilot training. He was stationed in India and flew supplies into China over the Himalayas (known by pilots as "the Hump"). In China, he traded items such as jewelry or opium for information on Japanese troop placements in Burma. He also discusses his meetings with native Burmese and talks about later experiences he had after the war and during the Vietnam War.
Date: October 8, 2004
Creator: Cox, Floyd & Saunders, Alan W.
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with W. A. Henderson, September 20, 2003 transcript

Oral History Interview with W. A. Henderson, September 20, 2003

Interview with W. A. (Bill) Henderson, a pilot during World War II. He discusses his time as a bombardier and navigator on a B-24 in the China-Burma-India Theater. His crew hit the bridge over River Kwai (Mae Klong) while making bombing runs along the Burma Railway and also flew runs to supply gasoline to various bases in China, India and Burma. He relates anecdotes about the food and living quarters on the bases and the time he saved his co-pilot's life. He helped his co-pilot land the plane after a bullet tore through the plane's nose wheel and injured the man's leg.
Date: September 20, 2003
Creator: Johnson, Kep & Henderson, W. A.
Object Type: Sound
System: The Portal to Texas History