Aiden MacCarthy
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Dr Aiden MacCarthy (1914-1992) was an Irish doctor who showed great courage, resource and humanity during his capture by the Japanese during the Second World War.
He was born in 1914 in the town of Castletownbere, County Cork, now in the Republic of Ireland. His parents owned land and businesses in the area. His address was on the Square. He attended Clongowes Wood School and University College Cork.
He served in the RAF as a medical officer and reached the rank of Air Commodore. In 1941 he was awarded the George Medal for rescuing the crew of a crashed and burning aircraft. He was present at the Battle of Singapore in 1942. MacCarthy was on a hospital ship that escaped from Singapore. It was bombed by the imperial Japanese air force and sunk. MacCarthy had to do the best he could for his patients whilst splashing around in the South China Sea. MacCarthy was later picked up by a Japanese warship. He was beaten up and thrown back into the sea. Later a Japanese fishing boat pulled him out of the brine and transported him to Japan. He has to care for Allied prisoners of war who were forced to work in horrific conditions. At roll calls he had to answer his name. To the Japanese ear 'MacCarthy' and 'MacArthur' were indistinguishable. The Japanese assumed that MacCarthy must be a close blood relative of the American commander. Therefore whenever the unfortunate MacCarthy answered his name he was struck on the forehead. This may have contributed to his developing brain cancer in later life. When the war ended some Australian ex-prisoners were keen to hang their erstwhile Japanese captors. Quick-thinking MacCarthy locked the Japanese guards in a cell and threw the key into the sea to prevent the Japanese from being lynched by the enraged Australians.
He was the senior Allied serviceman in Japan at the Japanese surrender. Japan presented its surrender, initially, to him[citation needed] before Gen. MacArthur et al arrived in Tokyo Bay several days after the end of the war. Dr McCarthy later practiced medicine in southern England. He retired to Castletownbere. He wrote a book on his wartime ordeal entitled, "A doctor's war".
