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Thomas Fanahan Finn.

The movie Unbroken directed by Angelina Jolie which was released last year and will at this stage have been viewed by many readers, is currently causing some debate in Japan between those who want it put on general release and those who don’t.

It tells the story of American Louis Zamperini who is sent to a prisoner of war camp in the coastal town of Naoetsu, Japan during WW2. There he is starved and beaten by a sadistic guard named Watanabe and barely survives.

When the conflict ended, Zamperini struggled with alcoholism, depression and an understandable desire for revenge. Then he embraced Christianity and ultimately forgave his captors. His story was turned into a bestselling book in 2010 and now the subsequent film, Unbroken has been shown worldwide apart from in Japan, where it has been labelled as anti-Japanese by some opponents.

Others point to the fact that most things to do with the history of the Second World War are sensitive in Japan, particularly in 2015 which marks the 70th anniversary of the nation’s surrender in August 1945.

Today a small park marks the spot where the prisoner of war camp once stood. Roughly 60 died from disease and mistreatment within its confines between 1942-45. When the war ended, eight guards were tried and executed however the one who tormented Zamperini, managed to escape going on to become a successful businessman in later years.

So what does all this have to do with Mitchelstown. Well one of the inmates in the notorious Naoetsu POW camp was local man named Thomas Fanahan Finn who had enlisted with the Manchester Regiment aged 19 and was transported to the camp towards the end of the war.

For full story, see this week's print & digital edition

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