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In
Memorium
Mr.
Jack Butterworth
- The Manchester Regiment
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TAIHOKU #
6 CAMP
-
CONFIRMED AT LAST!
| The
view from the site of the formerTaihoku #6 Camp |
The
news that so many have been waiting so long to hear - the confirmation
of the location of No. 6 Camp at Taihoku, can now finally be announced.
The No. 6 Camp at
Taihoku was the main POW camp in the capital area, and the one to
which the first party - mainly comprised of men of the 5th Field
Reg’t., R.A. and the 11th Indian Division - were sent upon arriving
in Taiwan off the hellship “England Maru” in November 1942.
This camp was the main
transit camp for the movement of POWs to and from Kinkaseki, and
it was also the camp that the POWs passed through from the other
camps on their way to Japan. It was from this camp that 150 men
were sent - in July 1945, to build another “hill camp” - where the
Japanese intended to kill the POWs if the Allies landed on Taiwan.
This camp holds much
significance for a great many of the former Taiwan POWs, but has
been very hard to find as so much has changed in the area since
the war.
Late this summer more
local research was conducted, several new leads from former POWs
were followed up, and the eyewitness report of a former camp worker
was obtained, enabling the site to at last be verified.
There is nothing left
on the site itself - in fact it is now just a huge open field. The
area had, until recently, been a part of the site of the ROC Navy
training base, with several old buildings scattered on the grounds.
Last year the buildings were torn down and the area has remained
an empty field since then. However the hills and roads in the area
must look very similar to what they did fifty-five years ago.
We are looking
forward to taking our POW visitors to the site of Taihoku Camp No.
6 when they are here with us in November.
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