REMEMBRANCE DAY 2024

     Sunday November 10th was the date for this year’s “Remembrance Day” service sponsored by the Taiwan POW Camps Memorial Society and assisted this year by the New Zealand Commerce and Industry Office in Taipei.

     The service - which was attended by more than 150 people, commenced at 11:00 am in the Taiwan POW Memorial Park in Jinguashi with a traditional New Zealand Maori ceremonial welcome put on by Tina Wilson of the New Zealand Trade Office and her family.

     Speeches from New Zealand director Mark Pearson were followed by addresses from representatives of the Veterans Affairs Council and Veterans Association of the ROC. The Society director reflected on 'Remembrance' .

     This year we were honoured to have six family members of the former POWs with us for the entire Remembrance Week event sponsored by the Society and they did readings and spoke of what the trip back has meant to them. In Flander's Fields was rendered and the service part finished with a message and prayer of remembrance.

     Wreaths were once again laid on the memorial despite the rain, Last Post, two minutes silence and Rouse was played to bring the event to a close. Once again so many folks came up afterward and said how much they enjoyed our simple yet sincere ceremony. This is only fitting and what those soldiers, sailors and airmen deserve for their service.

     Following the service, those in attendance were invited to gather together for a picnic lunch in the nearby community centre and a nice time of fellowship was had by all.     

     Everyone is welcome to join us for next year’s  event and we hope that many will come out to remember and honour the men to whom we owe a debt that can never be repaid. 

Seminar on the POW B-24 crashes in Taiwan

     On Saturday September 7th the Taiwan POW Camps Memorial Society held a special presentation telling the story of the US Army Air Force B-24 aircraft that crashed around Taiwan while transporting evacuated prisoners of war from Okinawa to Manila in the Philippines for medical care and treatment before their onward journeys home.

     On September 10th 1945, eleven B-24’s from the 494th Bomb Group US Army Air Force stationed in Okinawa – including several from 866th squadron, were loaded with 20 POWs each for such a transport mission. Each plane had a crew of five in addition to the POW ‘passengers’.

      The aircraft took off early in the morning and while en route some of them ran into a typhoon and thus had to divert their courses to try to avoid danger. Most made it through or around the typhoon but three planes – two from the 866th Squadron, 494th Bomb Group and one from the 98th Squadron of the 11th Bomb Group were lost. One had to ditch in the Taiwan Strait, and despite high seas and typhoon winds, 13 were saved by a nearby British destroyer - including the crew of five and eight of the POWs. The other 12 POWs were lost. Two other B-24s were lost over Taiwan when they crashed into mountains in the storm.  The whereabouts of one of the aircraft was never found while the crew and passengers of the other were found and subsequently buried in war cemeteries in Hong Kong and America.  

     Our special guest, Mr. Walter Liu, shared with us the story of the ill-fated planes and the accounts of his explorations to the crash sites high in the mountains near Taitung. An exhibition of photos and artifacts from the crashed B-24 was on display. A crowd of nearly 40 people turned out to the SPOT THEATRE  to hear more about this little-known part of Taiwan’s wartime history.

     Following his presentation, the new POW Association in Taiwan - the "MOTH", held a special zoom meeting to induct some new members and also to present the Society director with an Associate Member status, which was humbly and gratefully appreciated. Following this a presentation was made by Mark Wilke on the  disappearance and fate of a Royal Australian Air Force Catalina seaplane while on a mission to mine the waters off Penghu. All of the crew were lost and no trace was ever found of the plane. The Granddaughter of one of the missing flyers joined the online meeting and it was nice to hear from her as well.  

     It was a great time of fellowship for our members and several new friends who joined. We hope they will continue to come out to our events in the future.   

TAIWAN POWS' STORY FEATURED IN 'BRITAIN'S BESTSELLING FAMILY HISTORY MAGAZINE'

      In August, the Society director contributed an article to the popular British family history magazine "WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?" which is affiliated with the TV series of the same name. Having done the research for one of their recent TV episodes on Taiwan, the magazine asked if he would do an accompanying article for their September issue.

     The monthly family history magazine goes out in hard copy all across the UK and also overseas to more than a dozen countries including the USA, Canada, Australia, Ireland and the Netherlands with subscriptions in the thousands. Almost 11,000 copies circulate every month - 9,000 going out to subscribers, and over 2,000 distributed at newsstands in the UK and overseas.

     The magazine is also affiliated with the online APPLE NEWS PLUS network and hence it is on the Net globally for people to see. After only three weeks, the combined Apple News and hard copy readership worldwide rose to over 30,000. This was a great opportunity to highlight a bit of the story of the Taiwan POWs and the camps for those worldwide who may have no idea that such camps and stories even existed. We are grateful to the magazine for giving us this opportunity to share the Taiwan POWs' story further.     

     Much of Michael's work over the past 27 years - in addition to interviewing the former POWs and getting their stories while there was still time, has been answering the questions and inquiries that the POW families put forward about their relatives who would never talk about what they experienced or their time as POWs. This work is ever increasing now that all of the former Taiwan POWs have passed on. As so many can attest to, this information has unlocked mysteries and provided knowledge and hence closure in so many instances. Hopefully this latest publication will provide the contact details that others may be seeking to find information on their own POW relatives. 

       If anyone wishes to know more about the Taiwan POW camps in World War II and the men who were held  and suffered in them, please feel free to contact the society for help. Together with whatever information folks can provide we can learn more about those brave wonderful men.

FEPOW DAY 2024 

     On Saturday August 10th at 6:00 pm, the Taiwan POW Camps Memorial Society hosted the 17th FEPOW Day event to be held in Taiwan. As usual, the event took place at the SPOT THEATRE – 18, Zhongshan North Road Sec. 2 in downtown Taipei. There was a display of POW and military artifacts, a short memorial service to remember the POWs, and then the award-winning film “Unbroken” was shown.

     This much-acclaimed film directed by Angelina Jolie tells the story of former POW Louis Zamperini and his experiences and triumphs as a prisoner of the Japanese in WWII. It is based on his true life story from the book by Laura Hillenbrand.

     Following a short intermission a 30 minute documentary on the life of Louis Zamperini entitled “The Real Louis Zamperini” was shown. The program finished about 10 pm.

     This year the program featured two special presentations. The first was a display of artifacts - parts of the B-24 Liberator bomber that crashed into a mountain in Southern Taiwan while ferrying ex-POWs to freedom, provided by Taiwanese historian Walter Liu. We thought it fitting since Zamperini's plane was a B-24 to display a few parts. On Saturday September 7th, Walter will give a presentation at the Spot Theater on the crash. See the announcement above for more details.

     Secondly, a special presentation was made to the Society director from Frederic Delort, the Taiwan representative of the French War Graves Memorial Society.  A few weeks earlier Frederic was back in France and made a special effort to visit Michael’s uncle’s grave at the La Deliverande War Cemetery in Normandy. His uncle was killed on D-Day, although not on the beach, but rather as his group were making their way inland toward Caen. Frederic sent Michael a lot of wonderful photos of the grave and the war cemetery, and also placed a lighted candle on the gravestone in honour and memory of his uncle’s sacrifice. Frederic brought that candle to the service and it was used in our candle-lighting ceremony in remembrance of all those who suffered and those who died as POWs and then he read the FEPOW Prayer and Pledge.

     It was a great event with over 30 in attendance and we look forward to another great event for our 18th FEPOW Day next year. Lest we forget!

SPRING - SUMMER 2024 NEWSLETTER NOW AVAILABLE . . .  

The Society's Spring-Summer 2024 newsletter "Never Forgotten" is up on our website now.

CLICK HERE  for the direct link to the page -

It is also available from the link on the 'homepage' below in the "What's New on the Website" section.

You can access this newsletter - and all of our previous ones, by looking in the Society Section of our website and clicking on the item in the newsletters box.

Thank you for your continued interest and support for our work of remembering the Taiwan Prisoners of War. 

2024 - ANOTHER EXCITING YEAR AHEAD

POW CAMP TOURS RESUMED IN 2023  

GOOD NEWS - Taiwan has been open again to overseas visitors since early last year and now our POW Camp Tours program is up and running again. We have run a number of tours - for overseas POW family members, military organizations and researchers, as well as local residents and schools. Now those who have had to put off a tour over the past several years because of covid can once more make plans to visit Taiwan!

     We are once more accepting applications for POW camp tours and we highly recommend that persons wishing to visit Taiwan do so during our Remembrance Week event which is held every year in mid-November in the week around Remembrance Day. At that time we organize visits to many of the camps and arrange memorial services. Participants will be able to fellowship with other family members in a common purpose of honouring and remembering their loved ones. Also, the costs per person are usually less when we have a number of guests attending the event as they are divided equally among the participants. Applications for next year's 80th Anniversary of the end of WWII Remembrance Week event - which will be held from November 5th to 12th inclusive are now open. Please contact us early to ensure you have a part in this exciting program.

     If November is not convenient, then visitors may come at pretty well any time throughout the year - subject to the availability of the Society director to host the tour. This needs to be worked out well in advance by contacting the Society and giving proposed dates of the desired visit.

     We invite anyone who is interested in a tour to consult the 'POW CAMP TOURS' page on the website and we look forward to hearing from you.

     Taking a pilgrimage is important for a variety of reasons. For those who lost family and loved ones on the battlefields or in prison camps, or for those who had family veterans who returned, a pilgrimage is a way to shorten the distance between home and the site of their conflict. For people who only connect with the battlefields and prison camps through history books, visiting these sites is an opportunity to more fully understand the sacrifices that were made by many for the freedom that we continue to enjoy today.

     Here is a comment noted from one couple who took part in our program... "“My wife and I were taken around the camps by the POW Society. It was an incredibly emotional trip. We planned to be there on Remembrance Sunday and the ceremonies they had were incredible. We met a whole group of other people whose family members had been prisoners of war like my father and now we meet up regularly.”

     More reviews of our guests' experiences can be found at the end of the 'POW CAMP TOURS' page on the website.

AMERICA'S DOUBLE STANDARD EXPOSED

U.S. deports 95-year-old who was a Nazi concentration camp guard

Excerpts from an article by LI COHEN / CBS NEWS

      A 95-year-old man who was a Nazi concentration camp guard during WWII was deported from the U.S. to Germany in 2021. Friedrich Karl Berger, who lived in Tennessee, was deported "for participating in Nazi-sponsored acts of persecution" while serving at a concentration camp in 1945, the Justice Department said.

     A 2020 trial by the Department of Justice found that Berger served the Nazi regime at a Neuengamme sub-camp near Meppen, Germany, during the Holocaust. Many of the prisoners who were Jewish, Russian, Dutch and Polish, were held at the camp in the winter of 1945. "The conditions were "atrocious", as the prisoners were forced to labor outdoors "to the point of exhaustion and death," the DOJ said. On the day that the camp was evacuated, there were 1,773 imprisoned at the camp. 

     Berger worked at the camp until the Nazis evacuated it in March 1945, at which time the prisoners were forced to go on a death march to the main Neuengamme camp. "The two-week transfer was made in inhumane conditions", according to the DOJ, "and 70 people who were imprisoned died in the process". 

     Berger is the 70th person identified as a Nazi persecutor to be removed from the U.S., according to the Department of Justice (DOJ). 

     Acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Tae Johnson said the department "will never cease to pursue those who persecute others." "This case exemplifies the steadfast dedication of both ICE and the Department of Justice to pursue justice and to hunt relentlessly for those who participated in one of history's greatest atrocities," Johnson said, "no matter how long it takes."

Ed. Now this begs the question, "WHAT ABOUT THE JAPANESE WHO COMMITTED SIMILAR OR WORSE ATROCITIES AGAINST AMERICANS AND THEIR ALLIES IN ASIA IN WORLD WAR II ?" 

     Why over all these many decades since World War II, has the US Department of Justice never "pursued those Japanese who persecuted others, or hunted relentlessly those who participated in another of history's greatest atrocities in Asia, no matter how long it took."? There is definitely a double standard being applied here.

     The war crimes trials held all across Asia after World War II were terribly flawed and lacking, and there is doubtless a huge difference and a double standard in the attitude of the US and the other Allied nations today regarding their belief in justice and their efforts to also right the many wrongs and atrocities committed against POWs and civilians in Asia in World War II. America and those other nations should hang their heads in shame for not properly ensuring that real "justice for all" - as their constitutions state, was done.

     In thousands of cases justice was never served for those who were tortured, starved, beaten and murdered in the "Asian Holocaust". It seems that it is too late for that to happen now, given the current world situation, but that doesn't mean that America and its Allies won't go down in history as glossing over some of the worst atrocities of all time.      LEST WE FORGET!

A WORD FROM A VETERAN FOR OUR TROUBLED TIMES . . .

     Here is a word to America - and to us all, from a WWII veteran – very fitting and timely for these days in which we live, and in which so many are suffering and dying from covid, racism, anarchy and tyranny.

      Lt. Sr. Grade S., TOM MORRIS, USNR, a member of Torpedo Bombing Squadron VB-80, on the USS Ticonderoga  served in the South Pacific – and had this to say about those troubled times and his wartime duty:

     “I think all of us, all of the United States, was almost to a man united during those years - and everybody in the country, was dedicated to one thing, and that was defeating our enemies: Germany and Japan. So all of us were just doing what we knew we had to do. We were all in the same boat.”

     Tom was one - a part of the ‘Greatest Generation’, who loved and fought for his country and did everything he could to protect her and make sure she stayed strong, united and FREE. May we never forget their example or their sacrifice!

     Like in WWII when our countries were threatened and attacked by enemies, everyone knuckled down, sacrificed and worked together for everyone's good and that of their country. It seems that spirit no longer exists in so many of our countries today. We have become so selfish in our hearts and lives that we no longer care for others or stand together for what is right to defeat these enemies of our nations.

     What a shame that so many millions in America as well as in Canada, the UK, the EU and other freedom-loving countries, couldn’t embody that same spirit today, and all pull together as we fight an even greater enemy – the world-wide scourge of the covid virus, and also the tyranny and the threats of war in Asia and Europe and the domestic mess our countries are in today. May God grant us the strength and the courage and the unity we need in these dire times.

If we are united, there is no way that we can lose.  If we continue to be divided, there is no way that we can win!

'NEVER FORGOTTEN' - THE TAIWAN POWS' STORY. . . 

After 24 years of research and more than three years in production, we are happy to introduce the long-awaited book by Society director, Michael Hurst MBE, titled – 'Never Forgotten. . . The story of the Japanese Prisoner of War Camps in Taiwan during World War II.'

It is the only book ever written that provides the complete story of all the Taiwan Prisoner of War camps and the men who were interned in them.

Description: Softcover Book: 23.5 cm x 16.5 cm (9 1/2 x 6 1/2 inch) format, with cover photo featuring the sculpture of the two POWs in the Taiwan Prisoner of War Memorial Park in Jinguashi, Taiwan. The book contains 620 pages of text and is lavishly illustrated with 850 photos, POW artwork and ephemera (many in colour). Printed on high-quality glossy paper, they visually enhance this epic saga making its 32 chapters and appendices come alive for the reader.

Summary: This highly researched history of the little-known Japanese POW camps on Taiwan in World War II features the accounts of former Taiwan prisoners of war through numerous interviews, the collection of materials supplied by them and their families, and thousands of hours spent poring over their diaries and letters, as well as other material from war records, regimental diaries and archives. It is their story, told in their words from what they have shared with the author, and that which was discovered during 24 years of research. This is a must read for anyone interested in the history of World War II and the prisoners of war in the Far East.

For more details, comments and reviews on the book, kindly click on 'THE BOOK' page in the menu on the left. 

Note: The sales of 'Never Forgotten' have been outstanding, the first run has sold out and at this time it is not certain if or when a second run might be done. It will all depend on the demand. Those still wanting a copy should contact the Society from overseas or locally in Taiwan by email to request to be placed on a waiting list for a book. Thank you.

75 YEARS LATER - THE AFTERMATH OF WORLD WAR II AND JAPAN TODAY. . . 

2020 was the 75th Anniversary of the end of World War II, and the following is a collection of articles and comments regarding the postwar position of the Japanese government and also those of the various allied governments in the aftermath of World War II. Some of these facts will be shocking to readers, but they are included here so that all may know of the corruption and collaboration that has gone on in the 75 years since the end of the world's greatest conflict. For example . . . 

* The United States granted immunity to Emperor Hirohito and Prince Asaka - who ordered the Rape of Nanking and also the massacre of doctors, nurses and patients in the hospitals in Hong Kong. Evidence shows that General Douglas MacArthur and his senior aides and Japanese high court officials schemed to fix testimony at the Tokyo War Crimes Trials so as not to implicate Hirohito and other members of the Imperial Family.

* MacArthur also managed to have Generals Homma and Yamashita captured and brought to mock trials very soon after the Japanese surrendered - even before the war crimes trials were properly set up and convened . . .

CLICK HERE to read the full story from the Articles and Stories section.

POW WEBSITE PHOTOS - MORE WANTED

     Over the past 25 years we have gathered photos of more than 800 former Taiwan prisoners of war and have added them to our listing of the 4,370 men who were interned in the various camps in Taiwan. Now, in addition to listing the POW’s name, rank, regiment and the camps where he was interned, a photo of the man has been added to that listing where available. Also, if the man died as a POW in Taiwan we have included a copy of his grave photo from the Honour Roll. We hope this new format will help these men to be remembered more personally with the addition of their photos, as this is what our site is really all about.

     We are still looking for more photos of the former Taiwan POWs - hopefully in uniform taken around wartime, but photos taken later after the war are acceptable too. We invite you to contact us and share photos of your Taiwan POW relative to add to our collection which will help us to further ensure that they are not forgotten.

If the photos are seen, then the men who are in the photographs are remembered.

Our Honour Roll consists of the names of all the men who died while POWs resident in camps on Taiwan during World War II.

Click to view Honour Roll