HEITO - CAMP #3

The Discovery of Heito Camp | Return to Heito Camp| New Heito POW Memorial

The History of Heito POW Camp

Heito Camp - or Taiwan POW Camp #3, as it was called, was formerly a site that housed local construction workers. It was emptied and made into a POW camp in the summer of 1942, and its first "guests" arrived in mid-August.

Some of its first occupants were American POWs from the Philippines, and the most noted were the top US Army officers who had been captured after the surrender of Bataan and Corregidor. Lieut. General Jonathan Wainwright and Major Generals King and Moore, were among a party brought to Taiwan in mid-August and who were held at Heito Camp for about a week, before being moved to their new quarters at Karenko Camp on Taiwan's East Coast.

A large contingent of British POWs arrived at Heito in late August, and these were the first "permanent residents" of the camp. Along with this group were the top-ranking officers from Singapore and the Dutch East Indies - Lieut. Generals Percival and Heath from Singapore, and Lieut. General H. ter Poorton from the Dutch East Indies. There were many brigadiers and colonels as well as their batmen in this group, and after about a week at Heito, they were all moved out to join their American counterparts at Karenko Camp.

Life at Heito Camp was very hard for the POWs - most of whom were in their early twenties. The main task of the POWs in this camp was to pick rocks and stones from a vast area of old dried river-bottom land near the camp so that the land could be made ready to plant sugar cane. It was back-breaking work with the POWs working from early morning to late afternoon in the blazing hot tropical sun, clad only in shorts or loin-cloths. The rocks and stones were picked by hand using woven bamboo baskets. The baskets were then carried to one of the nearby railroad sidings and emptied into railroad hopper cars. There were few rest breaks and the POWs had their quota of cars to fill in a day. If that quota was not met, beatings would follow at the end of the shift.

Disease was rife at Heito - particularly malaria, because of the huge swamp that lay just to the north of the camp. It harbored millions of mosquitoes which spread the disease rapidly among the POWs. Prisoners suffered from sunburn and sunstroke, malnutrition, beri-beri, and dysentery - and no medicine was provided to help alleviate their suffering. Many of the POWs died and were buried in the camp cemetery a few kilometers from the camp.

The Camp Commandant, Lieut. Tamaki was vicious and sadistic, and cared little for the welfare of the prisoners. Very early in their internment he boasted at one of the roll calls that he would "fill the camp cemetery", and he did - and started another adjacent to it when that one was full.

In addition to working in the fields, some of the men worked at the nearby sugar factory in the town of Heito (now PingTung). There were various tasks to perform - gathering the cane in the nearby fields, unloading the rail cars laden with cane that came into the factory, stoking the furnaces and working at the machines to process the sugar. They worked shifts and were away from the camp for up to 12 or more hours a day.

There were several contingents of men who were sent to the camp at Kinkaseki from Heito - to replenish the supply of men too sick or weak to work in the mine anymore. There were also groups sent to Heito from Kinkaseki and Taichu Camp, as well as many POWs who passed through on their way to other camps, or who stayed their temporarily on their way to Japan. Late in the war the camp received men who had been picked up by the Japs after the cargo ships on which they had been sailing, bound for Japan, were torpedoed by Allied submarines. Heito was one of the main camps on the island and it is estimated that more than 1000 POWs either stayed there or passed through the camp from the summer of 1942 to early in 1945.

Heito Camp was closed in February 1945 after an American bombing raid damaged much of the camp. More than twenty prisoners and several Japanese guards died, and more than 80 POWs were injured in the raid which took place on the afternoon of February 7. The casualty figure would have been much higher but many of the POWs were away from the camp - working at the sugar factory when the attack took place. In typical Japanese style, the camp commandant provided no medical assistance to the wounded POWs which resulted in several more deaths.

Following the raid, the camp was shut down and the remaining POWs were moved north to Taihoku Camp # 6, where most of the POWs finished out the war. Some however, were forced to go up into the hills near Taihoku to build another camp - called the Oka Camp, where the men from Taihoku Camp #6 were to be moved "for their safety from the American bombing of the city". In fact this was the place where the POWs were to be killed when the Allies landed on Taiwan. Fortunately the war ended before this terrible atrocity could be carried out, but not before 17 men had died in the building of the camp. Thankfully there are a good number of survivors from Heito Camp still with us. These men can never forget - and neither should we!

The Discovery of Taiwan Camp #3 - HEITO

The Discovery of Heito Camp | Return to Heito Camp| New Heito POW Memorial

By Michael Hurst

In the summer of 1997 while on a trip to the south of Taiwan, I located the old abandoned rail line that ran near the former HEITO CAMP in the PingTung area, but was not quite able to pinpoint the exact location of the camp.
After more than a year of study, research and investigation into old WWII POW camp reports and records, and after a considerable amount of correspondence with ex-POWs, a team from the Taiwan POW Camps Memorial Society was finally ready to try to locate the site of the former Taiwan POW Camp #3 at Heito - the old Japanese name for Ping Tung.

Since some of the POWs worked in the sugar factory at PingTung during their captivity, we had contacted the historical and public relations department of the Taiwan Sugar Co. to see what information could be gleaned from them. We were also given the name of a local Taiwanese historian in the Ping Tung area who knew of a former camp guard who might be able to help us.

There were four members on the team. and as we set out for Ping Tung City on Friday September 10 our hopes ran high. Stuart Saunders, Gerry Norris and I spent most of the day driving in Stuart's car, and finally arrived in PingTung around 3:30pm. We found the old Taiwan Sugar Co. factory and interviewed Mr. Huang from the PR Dep't. there, who showed us around and let us take photos of the old plant. It has been closed for many years but there is still a lot to be seen. The POWs worked there during the sugar harvest season and some were in the factory when the Americans bombed Heito camp in February 1945.

That night we picked up our fourth member, Jack Geddes, who had flown down late in the afternoon after work. We made our final preparations, and hoped that everything would go according to plan for the next day.

TPCMS Team at the Site of the former Heito Camp

Early the next morning we met the local historian, Miss Huang, who had arranged for us to meet with the former POW camp guard who was going to show us where the camp was located. She had made contact with his family earlier that week.

As we drove through the countryside and came upon the fields of sugar cane, the whole scenario began to unfold in my mind - it was just like some of the POWs had described it from those many years ago.
We arrived at the home of Mr. Lin, the former camp guard. He was working in his back garden and as we approached, gave us a friendly wave.

I had a lot of questions prepared for him and the interview went well. I was a bit nervous at first, because of the stories I had heard from the POWs about some of the Formosan guards and how they treated the POWs in those days.

I wanted to find out his role and was pleasantly surprised to learn that he was conscripted as a "perimeter guard" - that is, one of the guards who patrolled outside the camp in case the POWs tried to escape. The POWs had to bow to him on their way to work or in the fields if he came round - like they did every other guard, but he never really came in contact with the prisoners and was never instructed to hit or abuse them.

It turned out that he is - and was then - a Christian, and he felt very sorry for the plight of the POWs. He said he often tried to cheer them with a smile and sometimes gave them cigarettes if he could get some. He was most co-operative in telling us many things about the Japanese and the "inside" guards.

He told us of Lieut. Tamaki, the camp commandant and how ruthless and cruel he was. There was also Sgt. Chiba who he said was a real animal - even the Formosan guards didn't like him.

I asked about the camp cemetery and he knew right where that was too. He said the Japanese used to take the bodies there, along with several of the POWs who formed the burial party. Later, after finishing the interview, we piled into several cars and headed off for the site of the former camp and cemetery.

The old narrow-gauge railway lines that criss-cross the
area can easily be identified from the maps and
sketches supplied by some of the ex-POWs.

The old camp is now a military base so we were denied access inside, but we were permitted to look around the outside. There is nothing inside the base now from those former times, so nothing was lost. There are now groves of tall palm trees all around the site of the former camp - whereas in the old days there was nothing - just open fields and blistering sun.
The area around the site of the former camp hasn't changed much since wartime. In front of the camp there are still sprawling fields of sugar cane, and others still covered with rocks and stones.

The old narrow-gauge railway lines that criss-cross the area can easily be identified from the maps and sketches supplied by some of the ex-POWs.

We walked along some of the old rail lines and talked to one of the older neighbours who remembered the POWs and their time there.
The former POW cemetery is situated just off the main rail line about 6 km. from the camp. It was part of a larger Chinese cemetery, which still exists, although the former POW burial ground is no longer there. It was an exciting experience to be walking the pages of history once again, and to find real evidence of that former time and place.

Return to Heito Camp

The Discovery of Heito Camp | Return to Heito Camp| New Heito POW Memorial

By Michael Hurst

Wednesday, November 3, 1999 - the phone rang and it was Miss Lee calling from PingTung. She was calling to tell me that permission had been granted by the Taiwan military for a visit inside their army base which was the former site of the Heito POW Camp! The time for the visit had been allocated as the next Monday - November 8, and could I make it there by 9:00am to join them for a tour of the base and campsite area? An added bonus was that Mr. Lin, the former camp guard who we had met on our first trip, would accompany us on the visit.

On Sunday the 7th my wife and I took the train to the south of Taiwan and early Monday morning, Miss Huang picked us up and we drove to the army base. We were joined by two reporters, as well as a television news team. We were also met by Mr. Lin and to our great surprise, two other former camp guards, Mr. Huang and Mr. Yang. Like Mr. Lin, they had been conscripted as youths to serve as perimeter guards at the camp.

ROC Army Barracks where the POW huts once stood.

On entering the camp we were welcomed by a special officer that had been sent for the occasion by army headquarters - Col. Yang. He was a most gracious host and listened intently as we told the story of the former POW camp and of the POWs who were interned here.
As we walked around the camp area the three former guards took turns telling us of their experiences and of their observations and interactions with the POWs. They pointed out where the various buildings in the camp had been located - the Japanese offices, living quarters and guardhouses, as well as the prisoners' huts, kitchen, latrines and parade area. Mr. Lin pointed out the location of the crude camp "hospital" and a hut that was allocated as a chapel - he called it - where the bodies of the POWs who died were kept before burial.

The present military base has been enlarged on the one side to allow more room for maneuvers, but otherwise the camp retains its approximate shape and size from those early days. There is nothing left in the camp from that former time, but now we have seen it first hand and have a good description of the layout from which to make accurate drawings of the site.
We came away very satisfied and thankful for all the effort that was put forth on our behalf by Miss Huang and Miss Lee, the former guards and our friends and supporters in the PingTung area.

TPCMS Hopes to Commerorate
Heito POW Camp #3 with New POW Memorial

The Discovery of Heito Camp | Return to Heito Camp| New Heito POW Memorial

The Taiwan POW Camps Memorial Society is currently negotiating with the R.O.C. military to try to obtain permission to erect a fourth POW memorial at the site of the former Heito Camp near the city of PingTung in the southern part of Taiwan.
The site of the former camp - which is a current R.O.C. army base, was discovered in September 1999 with the help of some local friends and one of the former camp guards who live in the PingTung area. Since that time we have visited the camp on several occasions and have been warmly received by the officers and base personnel.

In February 2000 we took Ms. Alice Myerscough from the UK to see where her fiancée had died and was first buried before later being re-interred at the Sai Wan Bay Cemetery in Hong Kong after the war. Then in November 2000, Mr. Harry Leslie became the first ex-POW to return to the camp while on a visit during Remembrance Week.

Initial response from the army has been good and we are hoping to receive permission to erect the memorial in the next few months. If all goes well, perhaps we'll be having another POW memorial dedication in November 2001.