The Hellships Memorial

The hellship Lisbon Maru – sunk while carrying POWs from Hong Kong to Japan – September 1942

As early as the spring of 1942, only a few months after the fall of the Allied territories in the Far East, the Japanese began moving POWs by sea out of all the areas they had conquered - Singapore, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Java, and other places, and sending them to Japan, Taiwan, Burma, the Dutch East Indies and other areas to be used as slave labor.

Thousands of prisoners were transported on dozens of Japanese "Hellships", and many thousands of those perished from murder, starvation, sickness and neglect - or were killed when the unmarked ships were attacked unknowingly by friendly forces. Some of the cruelty they experienced was extraordinary, even for prisoners of the Japanese.

To date, there is no memorial dedicated to those who suffered so greatly and whose sacrifice must be preserved for future generations. The time has come to set aside a place of remembrance and a lasting tribute to the POWs of the Hellships and what they suffered! The Hellships Memorial will be a permanent tribute to the many who died and those who survived the unparalleled atrocity of the hellships.

Plans are now underway for the construction of a memorial to honor ALL persons of ALL countries who were POWs of the Japanese during World War II, and who were transported by the Japanese in the various ships they owned or controlled. This includes civilians who were transported with the POWs and were treated essentially as POWs. The Memorial is not only an American effort. There are multiple people of many countries who were either aboard various hellships, or who desire to participate in establishing this memorial.

The MEMORIAL is to be located on land that has been made available to the Hellships Memorial Committee by the Subic Bay Municipality Authority (SBMA) on the seashore in Subic Bay, The Philippines. It is within twenty feet of the sea wall on the eastern shore of Subic Bay in a most visible and prominent position. It is also located about 500 metres from the site of the sunken hellship the Oryoku Maru which lies at the bottom of Subic Bay.

MUSEUM: An integral part of this Hellships Memorial effort is the display of artifacts, photos and texts that will tell more of the story of the hellships. About 15 feet of wall space has been provided in a nearby Museum and it is hoped that we can obtain a good number of documents, pictures and artifacts for use within permanent or rotating displays at the museum. These hellship related displays will assist those desiring to study and those who want to know more about this little-known part of World War II history. Part of the effort will also be to establish a tribute display to those who were on board these hellships. We expect to place a "Tribute Book" in a prominent location for viewing by visitors.

The Hellships Memorial Committee is intimately involved with FAME (Filipino American Memorial Endowment) a well known, historic and much respected organization within the Philippines which assists the establishment of WWII memorials. They are the financial "umbrella" for the Hellships Memorial and donations arriving at FAME will be converted into Philippine pesos for the Hellships Memorial design and construction work.
To date we have received about US$15,000 and are seeking over US$25,000 which we estimate will be needed to complete the project. Those choosing to assist this process can send donations by check or cash marked for the “Hellships Memorial”, to FAME at the following addresses:

DEDICATION: The dedication of the Hellships Memorial is scheduled for mid-January 2006 with the specific date and time to be announced later. We are inviting participation from those embassies in Manila who we know had people who were affected by the Hellships. We are hopeful that representatives of other POW Groups worldwide will choose to participate in establishing this Memorial and will be present at the dedication. There is at least one tour being arranged from the United States which will be present at Subic Bay for the dedication. See www.valortours.com for more information. For those not in attendance, photos and video will be available of the dedication on the website and on CD.

The project is moving forward; however, your help is needed. Please click on this link - www.hellshipsmemorial.org
to read current information concerning the project and find out how you can help.

The Taiwan POW Camps Memorial Society supports the Hellships Memorial project and is actively involved with the organizers to help bring this dream to completion. All of us involved desire to share our vision for the Hellships Memorial with all interested people and we seek your direct participation.

“May We Never Forget Their Loss”