When We Had Wings

Los Baños Prison Camp, January 1945

Conditions at the camp continue to deteriorate as Konishi denies access to aid packages, and the nurses are lightheaded from malnutrition. Prisoners routinely die, and David is part of a group building coffins and digging graves.

David reminds Eleanor to keep up hope for rescue, but she struggles despite seeing US planes passing overhead. One morning, they wake to find that the Japanese abandoned the camp overnight; they raise American and British flags and play their national anthems. In the officers’ barracks, they find a wealth of food, and Eleanor and David go to a nearby village to barter for supplies. They wake a few days later to commotion and think they’re being rescued; instead, however, Konishi and his garrison have returned.

Kempeitai Headquarters, Manila, January 1945

The Japanese interrogate Lita about her activities with the Resistance and beat her for her silence. As she’s escorted to a third day of interrogation, she passes a soldier she recognizes—Yamada, the Canadian she treated—but he pretends not to see her. Guards hook Lita’s fingers up to a machine to administer electric shocks, but the wail of an air-raid siren spares her. After the bombs pass, guards return with Yamada, blindfold her, and take her away.