O.W. Camp
No.1 at Cabanatuan.
A few weeks later his wife, Claire, received a note from Chaplain
Frank Tiffany in Cabanatuan, verifying that Sgt. John Phillips had
died of malaria, dysentery and starvation. Frank ended his note with,
"I beg you do not forget the ones that are left; they are dying by the
hundreds! God Bless You!" Everlasting (code name). To fill her
emptiness, Claire vowed revenge. Claire returned to Manila; she
obtained false Italian identification papers from the Japanese,
stating that she was born in Manila of Italian parents.
Claire opened a nightclub, The Club Tsubaki (Camelia) and sang her
heart out every night to high-ranking Japanese officers, all the while
raising money to send to the sick and dying at Cabanatuan.
When the Japanese officers became "high and loquacious," she pumped
them for information concerning the movements of Japanese ships and
troops, and forwarded this information to guerilla leaders.
Claire assumed the code name of "High Pockets," because she kept her
valuables in her bra. Once every two weeks, High Pockets "baked
cookies!" (That is, collected notes, money and medicines from
prominent citizens in Manila: Juan Elizaldi, Judge Riveria, Lopes, Dr.
Pages:
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109