FORMOSA POW CAMPS WW2
We thank and acknowledge the use of above map from ‘The Taiwan POW Camps Memorial Society’. www.powtaiwan.org
There were 14 Camps.
Camps in Formosa (Taiwan)
-
Kinkaseki#1.
-
Taichu#2 (Taichung)
-
Heito#3 (Pingtung)
-
Shirakawa#4 (Chiayi)
-
Taihoku#5 Mosak (Taipei)
-
Taihoku#6 (Taipei)
-
Karenko (Hualien)
-
Tamazato (Yuli)
-
Oka Camp
Inrin Camp
Inrin Temporary Camp
Takutsu Camp
Toroku Camp
Takao Camp
***Tamazato was a temporary camp set up to accommodate a red cross visit, after which the men were transferred to Shirakawa and Taihoku camp 5.
Life in these North Asian camps was often bleak and harsh however the numbers of death and illness were much lower than Thailand, Burma, Borneo and Ambon.
There were 57 Australian POWs held in Formosa (Taiwan).
In mid-1942 two work parties left Singapore for Formosa. The Japanese decided to separate senior POW Allied officers in Singapore from the men they commanded.
On 12 Aug 1942 1,500 mostly British POWs are marched from Changi Gaol to Singapore harbour to be transported. The Senior’s Officer Party (about 47 officers) including Lt. General Percival and included Major General C. A. Callaghan and 13 Australian senior officers and about 400 men – engineers and technicians are embarked on ‘England’ Maru. The remaining 1,100 POWs are embarked on ‘Fukkai’ Maru.
On 14 Aug 1942 the convoy arrives Saigon, Indochina for a brief stopover, then departs.
29 August 1942 the convoy arrives Takao, Formosa (Taiwan) having passed through three typhoons in South China Sea. The Officer POWs are disembarked from ‘England’ Maru and taken to Heito POW camp then later taken to Karenko on the east coast where a number of US officers from the Philippines were already established. They were later joined by British and Dutch senior officers from the Netherlands East Indies. Accommodated in overcrowded barracks they were treated in a manner calculated to humiliate them, sometimes being slapped and kicked by their guards of much lower rank. Their diet was poor, though they supplemented it by developing gardens. All officers lost weight and most contracted dysentery or malaria.
The other POWS are sent to a camp at Karenko.
The engineers and technicians seperately, stayed at Takao until November 1942, when they were shipped to Moji and imprisoned at Yokohama.
July 1943 the Officer POWs were moved to Shirakawa Camp – except for 32 highest ranking officers, civilian officials and their aides who were transferred to Taihoku Camp 5.
The Second Group, was a working party of about 1,000 POWs on board ‘Fukkai’ Maru of whom 96 were Australian (6 officers and 90 men) are forced to work as stevedores unloading bauxite returning to their ship every night until they are reembarked on ‘Fukkai’ Maru sailing for Korea. The Australian group Included in this group were five soldiers from 2/4th. Jack Taylor, Jim Clancy, Bill Gray, Ted Roots and ‘Dutchy’ Holland. In September 1943 one Australian officer and 50 men were transferred to Konan, also in Korea.
8 Sept 1942 ‘Fukkai’ Maru departs for Korea.
22 Sept 1942 ‘Fukkai’ Maru arrives Pusan, Korea
20 Oct 1942 ‘England’ Maru departs Singapore for Formosa, carrying about 1,000 mostly British POWs.
6 Nov 1942 ‘England’ Maru arrives at Kirun (Keelung), Formosa. The POWs are interned in Taihoku POW Camp No. 6.
The above information is taken from England Maru: Tabular Record of Movement http://www.combinedfleet.com/England_t.htm
In early to mid-1943 conditions improved. The officers were distributed to various Formosan camps:
Tamasata near the east coast;
Mosak near the capital Taihoku in the north;
Shirikawa a dismal marshy spot surrounded by hills in the centre of the island.
In November 1944, the Japanese feared an Allied invasion of Formosa and moved the senior officers to Mukden, Manchuria via Japan.
Please read further about these five 2/4th men
And ‘Fukai’ Maru they sailed on
Manchuria
The Australian officers were concentrated with British and US officers at Chen Cha Tung (Liayuanchow) in an old two-storey stone barracks built by the Russians as a prison in earlier times.
British POWs
Following a month spent in Changi Gaol, a large number POWs were moved on 13th March to River Valley Camp where they remained until October 1942. The POWs, mainly British were taken to Singapore docks and embarked on ‘Dai Nichi ‘Maru sailing to Formosa.
On arrival port of Takao the exhausted POWs were taken to POW Camp Taichu which up until that time, had housed American prisoners. The British moved in and the Americans moved out and boarded the empty ‘Da Nichi ‘Maru and were shipped to Japan. At Taichu camp POWs were engaged in a huge river reconstruction project and working long hours of hard labour in the hot tropical sun.
In October about 1,000 POWs were taken to Singapore docks where they embarked on transport ship ‘England’ Maru. Two weeks later they arrived at Keelung, Formosa. It was now November, and winter in Formosa. This party was split into two groups of about 500 POWs.
One group was taken to a camp called Taihoku Camp 6, where they worked on a number of hard labour projects and the other party was sent to Kinkaseki – a base camp for the nearby infamous “copper mine camp”. Working underground, for many it would be for the remainder of their captivity. The POWs slaved, almost naked and barefooted for up to twelve hours a day in filthy conditions and were subjected to brutal treatment at the hands of their tormentors. Food and medicine were in short supply, as in every Japanese POW Camp.
A group of POWs were sent to Haito in southern Formosa. For these men it was back-breaking work filling trains with loads of small stones for constructing runways. (Airfields being a passion of the Japanese!). They also worked in sugar-cane fields.
All over Fomosa POWs worked and lived in horrific conditions. They were plagued with local insects, bugs, fleas and with millions of flies spreading diseases the results were beri beri, malaria, dysentery, pellagra and the curse of catching worms. As well there were rats. The POWs were beaten frequently, food was minimal and the Japanese held back medicines. Deaths were frequent.
As well as permanent camps at the copper mines, the Japanese had many transit camps to house POWs a short time prior to being shipped to Japan. These ‘hell ships’ were subjected to American submarine attacks and the fear of sinking. Surviving POWs would only be picked by Japanese boats and taken back to Formosa to await another ship to Japan.
Of the 430 Allied POW deaths across all fourteen Japanese POW camps on Taiwan, the majority occurred at Kinkaseki.
Of 1135 Allied PoWs interned Kinkaseki most of them were British, and 111 died.
Kinkaseki was an important mining town for Japan during their rule over Formosa. A US Naval analysis during WW2 found Kinkaseki gold mines were among Imperial Japan’s largest sources of gold, based on figures from 1937. The mines also produced substantial amounts of copper—7,350 tons in 1936, more than anywhere else in Formosa and some silver. The mines were operated by Taiwan Kōgyō K.K. (Taiwan Mining Company). Forced labourers also cleared agricultural land and improved water supplies. Beriberi was rampant among POWs.
Following the Japanese surrender, charges were brought against nine employees of Nippon Mining Company (the parent company of Taiwan Kōgyō) however a far greater number Japanese guards and officers were accused of war crimes, tried and sentenced.
‘In the Kinkaseki Mine trial, nine civilians were accused of imposing subhuman conditions upon prisoners of war at the mine. What is interesting about this case is that it sought to transfer liability from the Japanese Army to a private workforce. Testimony shared by several Japanese officers explained that the civilians were in control of the POWs once the POWs were received at the mine. Beyond that, the army argued that they were not responsible for treatment of the prisoners. While the court ultimately convicted the civilians, the Japanese army did not escape scrutiny entirely. It was charged in other trials for the poor conditions of the Kinkaseki camp for approving slave-like conditions.’
(Kinkaseki) Jinguashi Allied POW Memorial Park memorial park at the site of the POW camp was opened in 1997.
Below: (Kinkaseki) Jinguashi Mine today
Below: As it was. The Kinkaseki mine was accessed by an 1.25 underground tunnel from the camp.
Prior to 12 Aug 1942: