TWO members of the Tamworth RSL Sub-branch will return a family photo album to Japan next month after its owner left it behind 70 years ago, following World War II.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Sub-branch vice-president Sandra Lambkin and secretary Jayne McCarthy will travel to Japan in November, at their own expense, to meet with the family of Yamada Yosoo whose photo album was found by a
US serviceman in Dutch New Guinea in the 1940s.
The widow of a Mr Houghton gave the album to the sub-branch in May 2011 and the search has been on since then to find the family of the original owner, Mr Yamada.
During the search, Mrs Lambkin contacted a number of government agencies and removed the photographs from the album to find inscriptions on the back, allowing some people to be identified.
The photos include family and military scenes in Japan and China and, in one case, Taiwan.
The search continued in mid-2014 through author Paul Ham and Dr Steven Bullard at the Australian War Memorial, and they made contact in Japan with Harumi Sakaguchi.
Mr Sakaguchi was formerly with the United Nations, his last duty station being Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea (2000-2004) and just last month he found the Yamada family in remote northern Japan.
Mrs Lambkin and Mrs McCarthy will now fly to Tokyo and get the bullet train to meet with Mr Sakaguchi and the Yamada family before returning to Tokyo where they will spend five days in all.
“It’s the right thing to do, to take it back to the family,” Mrs Lambkin said.
“The family were delighted to hear about it and are looking forward to welcoming us to their town.”
Mrs Lambkin said this was the first time Tamworth sub-branch had done anything like this.
She said she felt satisfied with the outcome and returning the album to Mr Yamada’s family after working on this on-and-off for three years.
