Submitted by Tom Bennett

Special to Black Press

This poem was written on Aug. 15, 1945 at Yeshiku, Camp 25 Fukuoka (Nippon) by Chief Petty Officer, H.M.S. 鈥淓xeter鈥� Arthur Morris Carne.

HMS 鈥楨xeter鈥� was sunk in the Java Sea in 1942. Together with the crew, Arthur Morris Carne was taken prisoner by the Japanese and sent to the Prisoner of war camp at Makassa on the Island of Suluwesi in the Celebes.

He was rescued by U.S.Navy from Fukuoka, Japan and taken to San Diego Naval Base in California to aid his recovery before repatriation to England and reuniting with his wife. She believed him to be dead.

According to Ancestry.com, the poem was discovered among his wife鈥檚 effects.

It was submitted to Black Press for publication by Tom Bennett, Arthur Carne鈥檚 nephew.

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The day of freedom at last is here

The day we鈥檝e all waited for,

The day the whole world has longed for,

The day of the last all clear.

To the whole world it is wonderful

To know it鈥檚 the end of the war,

To know it鈥檚 the end of the blood, and the tears,

To know that it鈥檚 peace once more.

To the prisoner of war it鈥檚 a greater thing

To know it鈥檚 all over and done.

It means at last his soul is his own

That the battle of fate has been won.

It means the end of that alien yoke,

Of slavery鈥檚 hateful grind

When his body was aching and weary and worn,

His body, his heart, and his mind.

It means once more he can stand up straight

With his shoulder set back all square

Out in the world of civilized men,

And knows he will soon be there.

It means that soon he鈥檒l be on the way

To home that he left behind.

Where loving hearts have waited and yearned,

Where he鈥檚 never been out of mind.

Very soon now, we鈥檒l be on our way

To lands across the sea,

To a place beneath the Empire鈥檚 flag

Where nations of men live free.

So now we may all with a grateful heart

Thank God he has given us grace

To carry us through to the end of the road

And be in at the end of the race.

But wait - 鈥淐omrades All鈥� 鈥� say a silent prayer

For pals - lest we forget,

They鈥檙e pals who crossed the great divide

While slaves in the Nipponese net.