Aiden MacCarthy
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Aiden MacCarthy, GM (1914-1992) was an Irish doctor who showed great courage, resource and humanity during his capture by the Japanese during the Second World War.
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[edit] Early life
MacCarthy was born in 1914 in the town of Castletownbere, County Cork, 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.
[edit] Military career
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 evacuated from Dunkirk where he attended wounded Allied soldiers while under fire from German aircraft. He was captured by the Japanese in Sumatra.The prison ship transporting Allied prisoners to Japan was sunk by US bombers. MacCarthy had to do the best he could for his patients whilst splashing around in the South China 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 clot in later life.He was in charge of a working party in Nagasaki when the Atom bomb was dropped on that city.The prisoners had previously been warned, by secret radio, to take cover at a particular time in the day without getting any further details 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.
[edit] Later years
MacCarthy later practiced medicine in southern England. He retired to Castletownbere. He wrote a book on his wartime ordeal, entitled A Doctor's War.
