Women are prone to spending money on good-quality shoes, but one of the most durable pairs must belong to a former prisoner of war, who created his still surviving sandals from bits of enemy tyres he smuggled about 70 years ago.
The Japanese idea of discipline was about beating
The rudimentary shoes did not cost Charles Paris anything in terms of money but they almost cost him his life.
Had the Japanese, who kept him in a prison camp between 1942 and 1945, found the bits of rubber from trucks he shaped into shoes with a knife, it would have been the end of him.
But the Valletta-born Mr Paris got away with it and has lived to tell the tale.
The sandals that did the job every single day for over three years of suffering are now being showcased in the National War Museum.
They still rekindle a sense of amazement in the World War II survivor, as well as memories of the hardship he endured in the Japanese war camp.
Although he donated them to the Valletta museum some years back, the sandals, together with an interpretation panel on his story, written by Alfred Conti Borda, were inaugurated yesterday.
Accompanied by members of his family, Mr Paris, who is about to turn 91, lucidly recounted his story of sacrifice and survival to Tourism Minister Mario de Marco, PN MP Francis Zammit Dimech and Heritage Malta chairman Joseph Said.
Smart in his suit, beret and scarf, Mr Paris sported about seven medals across his chest and showed signs of emotion as he handled his homemade sandals once again.
Mr Paris was in the Royal Navy and involved in the Battle of the Java Sea between February 27 and March 1, 1942, aboard the heavy cruiser, HMS Exeter, which sank. The Allies got a beating and the fleet of 14 was lost.
“We ended up in shark-infested waters, but somehow, we survived,” he recalls. “A Japanese destroyer threw ropes and we could not stay in the water…”
The seven Maltese on board were saved but Mr Paris is today the last man standing.
Avoiding death at sea meant three-and-a-half years in a Japanese war camp, starving, thirsty and beaten black and blue with bamboo.
“The Japanese idea of discipline was about beating,” Mr Paris said, recalling getting hit across the face throughout his imprisonment.
It was three-and-a-half years of hard labour in coal mines, and hunger.
“We only ate rice, morning, noon and night” – so much so that he could not look at the dish when he eventually returned to Malta.
But the measly ration did serve a purpose for the religious man, who once forfeited his food for rosary beads.
“I still have the cherished wooden beads a Scottish prisoner carved for me in exchange for my bowl of rice. I remember he was an atheist. I have since passed them on to my children…”
Asked how he felt when he was finally freed, Mr Paris said: “We did not even know the war had ended…”
The Australians eventually picked up the prisoners of war and Mr Paris spent six months Down Under, undergoing several operations for his kidneys and chest, among others, before returning to Malta in 1946.
During his time in the war camp, Mr Paris learnt some Japanese, which he reeled off yesterday. It is not surprising these words have remained impressed in his memory – they include “eyes right” and “attention” among other orders he would receive from an intimidating commander.