Not enough people know that there were Japanese prisoner of war camps in Taiwan during the Second World War. After the surrenders of Hong Kong in December 1941, and Singapore, the Dutch East Indies and the Philippines in the spring of 1942, the Japanese began moving their POWs to various locations around their newly acquired empire to be used as slaves for their war effort. Many at first were sent to the infamous Death Railway in Thailand and Burma (now Myanmar). Later Japan transported men on ‘hellships’ to other destinations like Taiwan, Korea, Borneo, Ambon, Sumatra, Manchuria and Japan itself. The conditions were appalling: the ships were filthy and overcrowded with little food or water, and rampant disease. “My time on the hellship was the worst I experienced as a POW,” recalled one survivor, Stan Vickerstaff.
In total there were 16 Japanese POW camps on the island of Taiwan (also known as Formosa) during the war. Japan ran 14 of them; the other two were temporary camps set up after the Japanese surrender to house the freed POWs before evacuation.
The first Allied POWs to arrive in Taiwan came from the Philippines in August 1942. This group consisted of most of the top US officers under General Wainwright and some enlisted men. They arrived at the port of Kaohsiung (Takao) and then were sent on to Karenko Camp at Hualien on Taiwan’s east coast. They were later transferred to Shirakawa Camp in the summer of 1943. Shortly after this, the first prison ship from Singapore arrived at Kaohsiung with General Percival and all of the senior officers and generals of the British, Australian and Dutch forces. They were accompanied by the governor of Singapore and other civilian officials from Malaya, the Straits Settlements and Sumatra. Most were sent to Karenko Camp, while some of the enlisted men remained at Heito Camp near Pingtung.
In mid-September, more Americans arrived from the Philippines – the officers were sent to Karenko and about 300 others went to Taichu Camp south of Taichung. In November two more groups of British POWs arrived from Singapore. One group of 500 landed at Kaohsiung – 200 went to Heito Camp and 300 replaced the Americans who had been at Taichu and were being sent on to Japan. The other group of 1,100 landed at Keelung, and of these 575 went to the main POW Camp No. 6 in Taihoku (Taipei), and the others to Kinkaseki (Jinguashi).
In December more Americans came from the Philippines, and in February 1943 a large group of British, Dutch and Australians arrived from Singapore and the Dutch East Indies. By this time there were more than 4,000 Allied POWs on the island. It is a little-known fact that the highest-ranking and most famous British, Australian, Dutch and US officers, as well as civilian officials from all of the Asian colonies conquered by the Japanese, were held in Taiwan.
In all of the camps the men had to work as slaves surviving on small amounts of low-quality food. Many died of starvation and disease brought about by the lack of proper food and vitamins. The Japanese also withheld medical supplies, resulting in more deaths.
Moreover if the men did not perform the required amount of work each day, they were beaten up at the end of their shift. It was hard to complete their quota on starvation rations, so this happened almost every day. Harry Blackham, who was held at Kinkaseki, recalled, “The pain from the beatings was incredible, intensifying what was almost unendurable agony.” Others were beaten for no reason at all, and several were beaten to death.
The work that the prisoners did varied between camps. For example, in Kinkaseki – one of the worst camps in all of Asia – prisoners including Vicky McClure's great grandfather worked down a copper mine, often in temperatures exceeding 40 °C. A number of the prisoners died from accidents and injuries.
In Taichu Camp the men slaved to excavate a flood-diversion channel in the riverbed near the camp. They moved tons of earth and rock by hand in the hot sun, with little rest or water.
At Heito Camp, the POWs had the back-breaking job of clearing rocks and stones from a dried-up river bed so that sugar cane could be planted, and they also worked in the cane fields and the sugar factory. Men died of sunstroke, and also malaria which was rampant in this camp.
In Taihoku Camp prisoners slaved to create a man-made lake and memorial ‘victory’ park dedicated to the early Japanese conquests in Asia. They also grew vegetables to supply the Japanese army garrison, and some later worked in the railway and bus-repair shops in the city.
Over the next two years many men were moved between camps. This largely occurred in the case of Kinkaseki. When the men became too sick and weak to work in the mine any longer, they were moved to other camps to recover, although many never did. POWs were transferred to Kinkaseki from the camps at Taihoku, Taichu and Heito to replace the lost miners.
In autumn 1944 the Japanese were trying to move as many POWs from Singapore and the Philippines to Japan as possible in order to get them away from the advancing Allied forces, and also so they could be used as slaves in Japanese factories, mines and shipyards to replace the men who had gone overseas to fight.
During these months the US and British navies had gained superiority and their submarines were sinking most of the Japanese convoys – many of which carried Allied POWs in unmarked freight ships. More than 21,000 POWs died when their ships were torpedoed or bombed. In October and November 1944, many ships were sunk and some of the POWs who survived were held for a few months in temporary camps in Douliou and Yuanlin. Later in January 1945, those POWs were sent on other ships to Japan.
In February 1945, 701 POWs from camps all over the island were sent to the southern Japanese island of Kyushu and worked in coal mines. There, they finished out the war until the surrender of Japan. This left about 1,300 POWs on Taiwan at war’s end.
In early September the Allies came into Keelung, and all of the remaining POWs were subsequently evacuated by sea or air. John Pelly, a Royal Navy lieutenant who was involved in the evacuation, said, “Pictures of Belsen Camp were nothing when compared to these men – too weak to even lift a fleshless arm – it was a ghastly sight.”
The POWs were all taken to Manila in the Philippines for medical treatment and care, and when they were well enough and transportation could be arranged, returned to their home countries.
Many struggled to cope with life back home, but gradually most of them learnt to live with their painful memories. Now all of us, including their descendants like Vicky McClure, need to remember these brave men as they deserve to be remembered.
