BREAKTHROUGH ON OKA CAMP

      On Friday June 2, we took another step forward towards locating the site of the former OKA “jungle” Camp in the hills north of Taipei City.
      Equipped with some new information recently supplied by several of the FEPOWs, along with the leads we had discovered late last year on our first trip, I decided to try to locate the school where the prisoners were billetted while they laboured to build the huts at the OKA campsite. I figured if we could find the school where the POWs stayed, then perhaps it could lead to finding the POW camp site nearby. I also hoped to find the small temple where the POWs who died at the OKA Camp had been temporarily buried.
       Setting off by motorcycle I followed the winding roads into the mountains on the other side of the valley to where the team had explored last fall. Noting the comments provided by some of the local people on that earlier trip, I made a number of inquiries along the way about the school and after a couple of hours found myself in a small village where the old school was located. A new school has long since replaced the one that stood on the site in the Japanese occupation time, but the foundations of the old buildings and some of the walls and the gate were still there.
         One of the teachers became very interested in the POWs’ story once I explained it to him, and he vowed to help us contact some of the older people in the area who might remember the prisoners. He knows the surrounding area well and has also offered to help us find the location of the former camp site once we have more information from the local people. He supplied me with some local historical materials on the village and the school, and we are currently looking this over to see if any more leads can be found.
      While at the school I met a man whose father had told him that some foreign soldiers had been buried behind the nearby temple in the village and he gladly pointed it out. The old temple still stands, although it now has a new addition attached to the front. He also showed me the spot on the hillside near the temple where the men were buried - it is still just a garden today, as no-one would build a home on that place.
       I am very pleased and grateful once again for the co-operation of the local Taiwanese people, without whose help finding these POW camps would not be possible. Hopefully later in the summer, we will be able to further follow the trail and find the actual location of the OKA camp.
- Michael Hurst

TAIHOKU CAMP # 5 - PRELIMINARY FIELD TRIP

On Wednesday June 14, three members of the Society drove to the countryside east of Taipei City in search the whereabouts of the former Taihoku Camp #5. This was the camp where the 32 senior officers and civilian officials were interned for more than a year before being sent on to Japan and North China.
       The POW camp was reported to have been built on a knoll between a set of hills in an orange grove. The POW quarters were better built than in most of the Taiwan camps, being of wood construction in typical Japanese style. We had the hope that some of the buildings might still remain to this day.
      From a study of some Japanese era documents and wartime records, we had been able to ascertain the general area where this camp was believed to have been located. Our idea, once we got there, was to ask some of the older local people if they recalled anything of the camp and the POWs.
       When we reached the town where we believed the camp to be located, we went to the local government office to make some inquiries. One of the men there kindly put us in touch with a local historian who told us that his father and mother had known of the camp and had seen the prisoners there.
       He took us to his home to meet his father who is 86 years old and who was a conscript of the Japanese. He had nothing to do with the POW camp or the prisoners, but had spoken to one or two of the guards on occasion. He told us about the camp and its construction. The buildings were made of wood and there were orange trees all around the area. He also said that the POWs were well treated in this camp and were allowed to go for walks and even taken fishing once in a while. This substantiates the information reported in the Red Cross visit reports and the words of the former POWs themselves.
      He knew the exact location of the camp, and gave us directions on how to find it. However, time did not permit us to track down the actual site of the camp, so we plan to return another time to complete the task. For now it is sufficient to say that we know the location of the former Taihoku Camp # 5, and can add it to our list of those we are very close to confirming.
      Once again it is the local people who have been so helpful, and we are grateful for their assistance in helping to track down and verify yet another piece of evidence of Japanese cruelty during World War II.