This week's episode of Who Do You Think You Are? followed the "life-changing" experience of TV actor Vicky McClure as she delved deep into her ancestral past. The Nottingham-born actress, who is known for appearing in the award-winning film This is England and hit TV show Line of Duty, found out the real truth behind her great-grandfather's death during the Second World War.
Vicky, who received an MBE for her charity work through the Our Dementia Choir, was inspired to start the choir after her grandmother Iris struggled with the condition. Nottingham born and bred, Vicky still lives in the city with her husband, Merthyr Tydfil-born producer Jonny Owen, only a stone's throw from her parents and the extended family.
When talking about her family, she said: “We’re very much a working-class, hard-working family. My grandad once said, it was “rough, but enough”. And I kind of love that quote, because that kind of sums it up.”
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She added: "My mum’s side is where there’s a lot more holes. I know that my great-grandad - I think his name was Harry, fought in the Second World War. He was a prisoner of war in the Japanese war camps, and I believe he died out there, and he’s buried out there, as far as I know."
During the programme, Vicky went to find out more about her great-grandfather, Harry Millership, on her mother’s side. Her Nonna Iris had suffered from depression in the past, as Vicky’s mum Carol explained. Carol admitted that she knew “nothing about him”, but that he had died when Iris was young. .
Harry had been a coal miner in Yorkshire before he was called up to enlist as a soldier in the Second World War in 1940. During training, Harry was ‘absent without leave’ for five days during the Christmas period, which would be the last time he would spend with his family.
Due to secrecy during the war, Harry and his regiment were provided a tropical kit, which would indicate they would be going east, but they weren’t told exactly where. It would take them 70 days to reach their destination, which would be Singapore. They had been sent to protect British imperial territory from Japanese aggression. However, on December 8, 1941 - barely a month after their arrival, Japanese forces began a land, sea and air assault, leaving Harry and his regiment trapped.
After just one week, the British troops and their allies were forced to surrender to the Japanese forces in February, 1942. It would be one of the greatest defeats that Britain would suffer in the Second World War. Around 130,000 prisoners, including Vicky’s great-grandfather Harry, were taken by Japanese forces during the campaign.
Looking over a photo of soldiers surrendering to Japanese forces, Vicky said: "That’s an unbelievable photo. I’ve never seen anything like it. And knowing that is exactly what it would have been like for him." Vicky later learnt that Harry was sent to a prisoner of war camp in Taiwan.
Vicky travelled over 6,000 miles to Taiwan. “Feeling very far away from home,” she said. “I’m not the greatest at travelling too far, especially alone, to an unknown place that I’ve never been to before”. She later added: “I can’t even comprehend what he [Harry] must’ve felt like. How his head must have been. And knowing that he was such a family guy. My family keep reminding me, imagine if Harry had known that his great-granddaughter was going to travel all this way in his memory, and he wouldn’t be forgotten. I mean, I feel like I’m letting them down by being a bit scared.”
Harry and other prisoners of war were shipped to various locations of the Japanese Empire on cargo ships that were often called “hell ships”. Some would have died under “horrific” circ*mstances, such as malnutrition or dehydration.
Once arriving at a port, the prisoners of war were then sent to Jinguashi, or Kinkaseki, which was a prison camp. They would march to the camps, which saw some prisoners dying along the way. “He must’ve been absolutely petrified,” Vicky said. “There’s a reason I am an actor. I have a vivid imagination and sometimes, you know, I battle with that. And I think I’m battling with it here.
“My head’s all over the shop. And then I’m learning information that is just horrific. And it’s my great-grandad, it’s my mum’s grandad. It’s too close. I feel like I want to go home, and I want to be with my family or I want my family here with me. I feel really on my own in this, because it’s just so much to take in and take on. And yet, I feel terrible for feeling like that, because he was alone, he didn’t have his family, and he didn’t make it home. I just weirdly feel connected, which is bonkers cos I never even met him.”
Harry was taken as forced labour to a copper mine in Taiwan. A Japanese death certificate and report identified that Harry had suffered a one metre fall, fractured his skull and died instantly. He was the first to die in the mine at the age of 35. Nearly 25% of the prisoners of war died.
“Today was going to be a tough day, not knowing where I was coming,” Vicky said. “But knowing that there’d be more to discover. It did get me to thinking about my nonna. She was a hard character but she was unhappy. And I would be, if this happened to my dad. And I didn’t have the closest relationship with her because I was probably an annoyingly happy kid. And maybe this is why. She always had this and the photo of his grave nearby. So, there was obviously a heavy burden on her.”
Close to the mine, Vicky visited a war memorial where his name and many others have been presented on a stone. “I’m really, really proud of Harry,” she said. “I’m extremely proud to be his great-granddaughter. The whole thing has been a wonderful, disturbing and life-changing experience.
“There’s been a lot of it I’ve not found easy. You know, I hoped I’d sort of have that strength - that Millership strength. Yeah, I do, somewhere.”
