Welcome…

We are honoured to welcome David Campbell, the new Director - General of the British Trade and Cultural Office in Taipei as an ex-officio member of our board of directors as of this January.
David replaces Michael Reilly who left Taiwan for another posting. We want to express our appreciation for the interest and support that Michael and his staff have given to our Society over the past several years and we wish him well and look forward to working with David and the staff of the BTCO in the days ahead.

TAIPEI EUROPEAN SCHOOL STUDENTS LEARN ABOUT POW HISTORY

Once again this year on May 26 and 27 the junior high history students of Taipei European International School took part in a 2-day program to learn about the story of the Taiwan POWs. Society director Michael Hurst went to the school and gave a PowerPoint talk and displayed some POW artifacts. The second day the group was taken on a tour of the former POW camp and mine and museum at Jinguashi. A short Remembrance Service was held at the POW Memorial with several students taking the leading roles. The challenge was given for them to “take up the torch of remembrance” and carry it in the future.

The students outside the mine entrance

FROM THE DIRECTOR. . .

Another exciting year is unfolding for the Society and our work as we continue to research and tell the story of the former Taiwan POW camps and the men who were interned in them.

     Further information has been received from fellow researchers and also official sources such as NARA and the National Archives in the UK, so thankfully more of the story is coming together now.

     We still continue to receive a lot of enquiries from family members and friends of the former POWs seeking information, and it is not only a challenge but also a pleasure to be able to tell them more about a loved one who was a former POW on Taiwan.

In February I had the great pleasure of visiting my good friend Rod Beattie in Kanchanaburi Thailand. We spent several days together in and around the wonderful museum he has set up adjacent to the war cemetery near the Bridge on the River Kwai. We also spent two wonderful days “up country” exploring along the length of the Death Railway right up to the Burma (Myanmar) border. We dedicated some time to the area where my two Australian second cousins worked laying track as part of the No. 1 Track Laying Squad.

It was while we were on the way back to Kanchanaburi that I learned that my mother had passed away in Canada. I went back for her funeral and spent the month of March there settling her affairs. She was in her 92nd year and passed away peacefully in her sleep. She was a wonderful mother and I will miss her very much.

     This spring has seen much progress with the dedication of the War & Peace Memorial Park at Kaohsiung Harbour – the site of the Taiwan POW Hellships Memorial (see story on page 7), the dedication of the Toroku POW Memorial (see story on page 8) and the upcoming dedication of the plaque on the old Taipei Prison Wall. I have also been privileged once again to be able to share the story of the Taiwan POWs with the students of the Taipei European School Junior High history class and take them on a tour of Kinkaseki. So the story is being told to all ages!

     There is still much work to do however. We are now making plans to erect two more POW memorials at the two schools which were the sites of the former Inrin and Inrin Temporary Camps. We have already approached the schools and the reaction was favourable. We will be looking to complete these two memorials sometime in the next 12 months.

     FEPOW Day 2009 is also being planned for Saturday August 15th and local friends and supporters will be notified of the event and the details closer to the time. We are hoping for a good turnout this year too.

     I am very grateful for all the interest and support that is being shown to us from various organizations such as the Taipei City Gov’t., the ROC Veterans Affairs Commission, The Kaohsiung City Culture Bureau, local schools and many individuals – without whose support our work would be much harder. Thanks to you all, the POWs’ story is being told