Kinkaseki Logo
THE KINKASEKI P.O.W. MEMORIAL
Chinguashi, Taiwan, R.O.C.

"The Kinkaseki P.O.W. Memorial"
Located on the site of the former P.O.W. camp.

On November 23, 1997 in the village of Chinguashi, located on the northeast coast of Taiwan, R.O.C., a memorial was dedicated to more than 1100 British Commonwealth and Allied prisoners of war who were interned in a Japanese POW camp there called KINKASEKI.

The POW's in this camp were forced to slave in the dark depths of a nearby copper mine and were subjected to the most inhuman treatment imaginable. Conditions in the mine and the camp were as bad, if not worse in many cases, than that experienced by the POW's on the now-famous Railway of Death in Burma and Thailand, which was made popular by the movie "Bridge on the River Kwai".

It seems many know about the hardship and suffering of the POW's working on the Death Railway, but few if any know about the "hell-camp" of Kinkaseki. We hope to tell the story of the suffering and deprivation endured by the POW's so that all will know - and hopefully never forget, what these men endured to bring us the freedom that so many now take for granted, over 50 years later.

We are also hoping to locate and make contact with any former Kinkaseki survivors so that they may learn of the memorial and what has been done here in their honour. To date we have located approximately 110 of the former POW's, but want to continue to search in the hope of finding more.


© Taiwan POW Camps Memorial Society
society@powtaiwan.org