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Summary:

Interview with Frank H. Bigelow, a Navy veteran (USS Canopus), concerning his experiences as a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese during World War II. Boyhood in North Dakota; various jobs during the Great Depression; enlistment in the Navy, 1939; volunteering for duty in the Philippines and assignment to the submarine tender USS Canopus, 1940; pre-war military life in the Philippines; the Japanese bombing of Cavite Navy Yard and the destruction of the Canopus, December, 1941; retreat to Bataan, January, 1942; retreat to Corregidor; the fall of Corregidor; confinement in the 92nd Garage area; forced march down Dewey Boulevard in Manila; confinement at Cabanatuan, 1942-43; hell ship to Japan, July, 1943; coal mining for Mitsui Heavy Industries, Omuta, Kyushu; amputation of his leg by fellow prisoners after a mining accident, January, 1945; liberation; his description of the destruction in Nagasaki due to the atomic bomb. Appendix consists of photocopies from the website www.vetshome.com, which chronicles the story of the interviewee (eight leaves).

Author/Creator:

Bigelow, Frank H., 1921-

Contributors:

Alexander, William J.

World War II Prisoners of War Oral History Project

Languages:

English

Language Notes:

Item content: English

Main Work:

Oral history interview with Frank H. Bigelow, 2002 June 13 [by Bigelow, F.H.]

Related Works:

University of North Texas oral history collection

Related Series:

Oral History; [volume] 1464

Subjects:

Bigelow, Frank H., 1921- — Oral history

United States Navy — History — World War, 1939-1945 — Oral history

Canopus (Submarine Tender : AS-9) — Oral history

Cavite Naval Base (Philippines) — Oral history

Cabanatuan (Philippines : Concentration camp) — Oral history

World War, 1939-1945 — Personal narratives, American — Oral history

World War, 1939-1945 — Campaigns — Philippines — Corregidor Island — Oral history

World War, 1939-1945 — Prisoners and prisons, Japanese — Oral history

Prisoners of war — Japan — Oral history

Prisoners of war — Philippines — Oral history

Prisoners of war — United States — Oral history

Nagasaki-shi (Japan) — History — Bombardment, 1945 — Oral history

Genres:

Oral history — Examples

World War II oral history — Examples

General Notes:

Interview conducted in 2002 for the World War II Prisoners of War Oral History Project. Interviewer: William J. Alexander.

Physical Description:

95 pages, 9 unnumbered leaves ; 29 cm

Call Numbers:

OH 1464

OCLC Numbers:

424526047