The archives

A FAMILY CONNECTION

Many times over the years as I have worked on this wonderful Taiwan POW project, people have asked if I had any family connections to the Far East POWs, if I had any relatives who were prisoners of war, and why I was doing so much to try to tell their story. I always replied that I did not have any relatives who were POWs, and that all my relatives were involved in the war in Europe as most of the Canadian servicemen were.

The reason why I work so hard at telling...

THE MEMORIALS FOR THE TAIWAN POWS

In the past twelve years from 1999 - 2011 the Taiwan POW Camps Memorial Society has erected a number of memorials in honour and tribute to the men of the Allied nations who were taken prisoner by the Japanese in December 1941 and the spring of 1942, and who suffered so terribly in the fourteen prisoner of war camps on the island until they were liberated in September 1945.

British, Australian and Commonwealth POWs captured at the fall of Hong Kong, Malaya, Singapore, North Borneo; Dutch taken prisoner with the surrender of the East Indies in...

15 YEARS OF RESEARCHING, REMEMBERING and HONOURING THE TAIWAN POWS

2011 was the 15th anniversary of the recognition of the former Japanese prisoner of war camps on Taiwan during World War II and the beginning of the effort to uncover the story and to make sure that the men who were interned in those camps had their story told and were not forgotten.

The following is a list of events and achievements to that end over the past fifteen years:

(Note - Memorials erected by the Society are highlighted in bold italicized text.)

1996

Nov. - The Kinkaseki Prisoner of War Camp is...

"REMEMBRANCE WEEKEND 2011"

November 9-16 were the dates for this year’s “Remembrance Week” event which takes place annually to honour the former Taiwan prisoners of war and the veterans who suffered so much for our freedom. It is organized by the Taiwan POW Camps Memorial Society, and was co-hosted this year by the Canadian Trade Office in Taipei.

There were major three events held this year in conjunction with the regular week-long program that the POW Society provides for its overseas guests. The first was the dedication of the Taihoku Camp # 6 POW Memorial on Friday afternoon,...

THE TAIHOKU CAMP 6 PRISONER OF WAR MEMORIAL DEDICATION CEREMONY

On Friday November 11th 2011 - exactly 69 years after the first POWs arrived at Taihoku Camp # 6 from Singapore on the hellship England Maru, a memorial was dedicated  to the men of No. 6 Camp by the Taiwan POW Camps Memorial Society and the ROC Ministry of National Defense. Taihoku Camp 6 was the main POW camp in the capital area, and one of the principal camps in Taiwan, and the Society is very thankful to the Ministry and Minister Kao, Hua-Chu for their help in getting this long overdue memorial erected.

Despite...

A MAN SENT FROM GOD

This is the story of a true hero of World War II - the Canadian doctor - Major Ben Wheeler, who gave himself to help his fellow prisoners of war in the infamous "Kinkaseki " Japanese POW camp on the island of Taiwan (formerly known as Formosa). It was the re-discovery of the former camp, and this story of Dr. Wheeler and his courage, that started the movement in early 1997 to remember the men of Kinkaseki and the other POW camps on Taiwan. From that humble beginning, the Kinkaseki / Taiwan POW Memorial was built...

THINK ABOUT IT. . . .

by Michael Hurst  MBE

Over the past couple of years as I have gone about my daily routine of life, I have often been suddenly jolted by reality as I compared what I was doing at that very moment to how it must have been for the POWs here on Taiwan those many years ago.

For example, one Monday morning I woke up, not feeling “all that well” - most likely having a touch of the flu. My body ached from fever and I felt listless and tired. I didn’t feel like getting up and going...

TRIP TO KINKASEKI - TAIWAN - NOVEMBER 2009

by Peter Bowkett IN MEMORY OF HAROLD VINCENT BOWKETT

I suspect the earliest part of planning for this trip actually must have started when I was a young boy - seven or eight years of age - at home in Clydach as I recall one day asking Dad why he had scars on his back and he told me that they were from working in the copper mine whilst he was at a Japanese Prisoner of War camp in Kinkaseki - Formosa (now Taiwan).

Growing up I became more and more aware of the fact...