#8. Arthur Lazcano and Gordon Fontaine Sabotaged the Japanese…and Lived to Tell

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As the US military hurriedly withdrew from Manila on Christmas 1941, 4 US sailors were ordered to remain behind on a sabotage mission.

Their mission accomplished; it was too late to join the American troops on Bataan. And Japanese forces had already occupied Manila.

So sailors Arthur Lazcano and Gordon Fontaine pretended to be civilians and were imprisoned at a civilian internment camp in Manila.

But, after about a year, the Japanese heard there were American military hiding in the camp . . .

And they were not pleased.

This is the first of 2 episodes about how 4 Navy men hid from the Japanese – and the consequences of doing so.

Images
Arthur Lazcano pic in the Oakland Tribune in 1945 after he was liberated as a POW.
Picture of Gordon Fontaine, probably taken in 1938 when he was around 18.
Submarine tender USS Canopus with submarines in the 1930s.
A Manila building burning after a Japanese air attack on Christmas Eve 1941. This is one of the first WW2 photos out of The Philippines. 
A former university building became barracks at the Santo Tomas Civilian Internment Camp in Manila.
Entrance gate into Ft. Santiago.
Entrance into a dungeon at Ft. Santiago.
Map showing POW camp locations for Arthur Lazcano and Gordon Fontaine.
“Pine Tree Camp” in Fukuoka, Japan, where Fontaine was liberated in October 1945. The camp is named for the grove of pine trees that are somewhat visible on the camp’s left. Note the supply parachutes dropped from allied planes visible in the upper right corner.
Arthur Lazcano, about 51 years old, in 1969.
Lazcano Sources
  • “1920 US Federal Census,” database online, entry for Arthur Lazcano family, Ancestry.com, accessed 19 Oct 2011.
    “1930 US Federal Census,” database online, entry for Elizabeth Lazcano family, Ancestry.com, accessed 19 Oct 2011.
  • “California Death Index, 1940-1997,” database online, entry for Elizabeth Lazcano, Ancestry.com, accessed 19 Oct 2011.
  • “California Passenger and Crew Lists, 1882-1957,” database online, entry for Elisabeth S Lazcano, Ancestry.com, accessed 20 Oct 2011.
  • “Chikko Camp Report,” Center for Research: Allied POWs Under the Japanese, accessed 1 October 2019.
  • “Deceased Classmates,” Cornell University Class of 1964, accessed 19 Oct 2011.
  • Image of Arthur Lazcano, Ithaca College 1969 yearbook, page 51, online database “US School Yearbooks, 1900-1999,” Ancestry.com, online at https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/yearbooksindex/, accessed 1 October 2019.
  • “Man, Missing Year, Reported Captive,” Los Angeles Times, Thursday, April 8, 1943, page 9, digitized version online at Newspapers.com, accessed 1 October 2019.
  • Memorial for William James Elliott, “Osaka Chikko POW camp, Japan, during the Second World War,” The Wartime Memories Project, accessed 1 October 2019.
  • “Miss Gustafson and Mr Skinner Wed Saturday,” Dunkirk [New York] Evening Observer, December 12, 1955, page 2, online at WorldVitalRecords.com, accessed 20 October 2011.
  • “Navy Enlisted Job Description for Storekeeper (SK),” The Balance Careers, accessed 24 September 2019.
  • “New Jap Torture Related by Liberees Here,” Oakland [California] Tribune, September 12, 1945, page 12, online at WorldVitalRecords.com, accessed 19 October 2011.
  • Obituary for Betsey Lazcano, Observer, Dunkirk, NY, 5 March 2005, accessed through “United States Obituary Collection,” database online, entry for Betsey Lazcano, Ancestry.com, accessed 20 October 2011.
  • “Osaka POW Camp #1,” Center for Research: Allied POWs Under the Japanese, accessed 1 October 2019.
  • “Portland,” Dunkirk [New York] Evening Observer, March 14 1950, page 5, online at WorldVitalRecords.com, accessed 20 October 2011.
  • “Social Security Death Index,” database online, entry for Arthur W Lazcano, Ancestry.com, accessed 19 Oct 2011
  • “US Public Records Index, Volume 2,” database online, entry for Yvonne L Rebholz, Ancestry.com, accessed 20 Oct 2011.
  • “US Veterans Gravesites, ca1775-2006,” database online, entry for Arthur W Lazcano, Ancestry.com, accessed 19 Oct 2011.
  • “US Veterans Gravesites, ca1775-2006,” database online, entry for Elizabeth Pearl Lazcano, Ancestry.com, accessed 19 Oct 2011.
  • “US World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 1938-1949,” database online, entry for Arthur William Lazcano, Jan 1941, Ancestry.com, accessed 19 Oct 2011.
  • “World War II Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard Casualties, 1941-1945,” database online, entry for Arthur William Lazcano, Ancestry.com, accessed 19 Oct 2011.
  • “World War II Prisoners of the Japanese, 1941-1945,” database online, entry for Arthur William Lazcano, Ancestry.com, accessed 19 Oct 2011.
  • “World War II Prisoners of War, 1941-1946,” database online, Ancestry.com, original data “World War II Prisoners of War Data File [Archival Database],” Records of World War II Prisoners of War, 1942-1947, Records of the Office of the Provost Marshal General, Record Group 389, National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, College Park, MD., accessed 2 October 2019.
Fontaine Sources
  • “1930 US Federal Census,” database online, entry for Gordon Fontaine,” Ancestry.com, accessed 23 October 2011.
  • Colonel Wibb E. Cooper, Medical Corps, Medical Department Activities in The Philippines from 1941-6 May 1942 and Including Medical Activities Japanese Prisoner of War Camps,” written April 1946, accessed 10 July 2019.
  • “Gordon R. Fontaine,” in The Quan newsletter, November 1986, page 6, accessed 23 October 2011.
  • Harold K. Johnson, affidavit on experience as a POW, accessed 10 July 2019.
  • “Hans Alh, Oshkosh, Wins Boxing Title,” Oshkosh Daily Northwestern, 23 February 1938, page 13, newspaper online, World Vital Records, accessed 23 October 2011. “Killed in Action,” Life Magazine, July 5, 1943, page 38, online, Google Books, accessed 19 Oct 2011.
  • “Killed in Action,” Life Magazine, July 5, 1943, page 38, online, Google Books, accessed 19 Oct 2011.
  • Obituary for Virginia Fontaine, Green Bay Press-Gazette, 6 Jan 2019, Page A10, found on Newspapers.com, accessed 28 October 2019.
  • Obituary for John Fontaine, Green Bay Press-Gazette, 16 Jan 2014, Page A11, found on Newspapers.com, accessed 28 October 2019.
  • Obituary for Gordon R. Fontaine, Green Bay Press-Gazette, 22 October 1986, Page 23, found on Newspapers.com, accessed 28 October 2019.
  • “Prisoner of Japs,” Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune, 23 December 1942, page 10, online, NewspaperArchive.com, accessed 23 October 2011.
  • “Rites Monday,” Green Bay Post-Gazette, Green Bay, Wisconsin, March 18, 1948, page 5, online at Newspapers.com, accessed 2 October 2019.
  • “Santo Tomas Internment Camp,” Wikipedia, accessed 3 October 2019.
  • “Social Security Death Index,” database online, entry for Gordon Fontaine, Ancestry.com, accessed 23 October 2011.
  • “US World War II Navy Muster Rolls, 1938-1949,” database online, entry for Gordon R, Fontaine, 31 March 1942, Ancestry.com, accessed 23 October 2011.
  • “World War II Prisoners of War, 1941-1946,” database online, entry for Gordon Raphual Fontaine, Ancestry.com, accessed 23 October 2011.
  • “World War II Prisoners of the Japanese, 1941-1945,” database online, entry for Gordon Raphual Fontaine, Ancestry.com, accessed 23 October 2011.
Historic Audio Source
Image sources
  • Picture of Arthur Lazcano. “New Jap Torture Related by Liberees Here,” Oakland [California] Tribune, September 12, 1945, page 12, online at WorldVitalRecords.com, accessed 19 October 2011.
  • Gordon Fontaine picture. “Rites Monday,” Green Bay Post-Gazette, Green Bay, Wisconsin, March 18, 1948, page 5, online at Newspapers.com, accessed 2 October 2019.
  • USS Canopus with submarines. Official US Navy image, image number 80-G-1014615, in the collections of the US National Archives and Records Administration, found online at Naval History and Heritage Command, Department of the Navy, accessed 19 August 2019.
  • Burning Manila building. Acme Newspictures photograph, posted online by John Tewell, flickr, accessed 27 September 2019.
  • Santo Tomas Internment Camp. US Army photo, public domain, Wikimedia Commons, accessed 2 October 2019.
  • Entrance to Ft Santiago dungeon. Licensed from Adobe Stock Images.
  • Pine Tree Camp. “Prisoner of War Camp #1: Fukuoka, Japan,” accessed 11 July 2019.
  • 1969 portrait. Image of Arthur Lazcano, Ithaca College 1969 yearbook, page 51, online database “US School Yearbooks, 1900-1999,” Ancestry.com, accessed 1 October 2019

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