He suffered a stroke in 1999 and a Thai doctor, in jail for organising the death of his wife, treated him. Along with up to 120,000 Indonesian slave labourers, nearly a 3rd of all POWs and 90% of the slave labourers had died by VJ Day and the line's completion. More than 12,000 Allied prisoners of war (POWs) and tens of thousands of forced labourers perished during its construction. Two nurses were killed in the bombing, nine were last seen drifting away from the ship on a raft and were never heard from again, and the rest reached the shore at Bangka Island, in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia). DeKlerk (AKA Imbari Maru/Imaji maru, De Clerk). His mother, through video chats and online coordination, works to keep the young mans spirits buoyed as he serves time in one of the harshest prison regimes in the world. The surviving POWs then suffered treatment on a par with the worst of all the POW camps. It should be mentioned that they had the greatest difficulty in obtaining the necessary permits for each visit, that during the visit they had to refrain from all reference to humanitarian texts in order not to anger the Japanese authorities, and that the latter always regarded them with suspicion and ill-will. While there, the prisoners were afforded no sanitary conditions whatsoever. Debbie, his mother, herself alluded to this on Facebook recently when she said that although she was very happy that the process was now underway, it usually took a long time. Although the man suffered serious injuries and had his eyeball replaced, he was charged with "fighting back" (as per The Taiger). 5 laws to watch out for in the Philippines. Argyle Street Camp was a Japanese World War II Prisoner-of-war camp in Kowloon, Hong Kong which primarily held officer prisoners. As always you can unsubscribe at any time. }p `MquXbDW2B~LBEsp 8 8csUfkwY\#/ .3VKHJxrQ 02F|!$Q!FU `! Thai prisoners work for little money and often, to survive in prison, they need outside funds. Ireland had 222 British offenders in jail, while Australia housed 144. Fifteen US soldiers and sailors were killed as well as thirteen merchant seamen rescued from the sunk freighter American Leader. About 500 civilians, the great majority of Americans, were interned by the Japanese at Camp John Hay. H-Thailand 3270 pows left 5/5/43 and disembarked Bam Pong, 1979 men were British in this party, many of which had arrived in Singapore in February from Java. stream Built by the British in 1936 this was originally used by the Japanese to intern some 3500 civilians (mostly British citizens and Eurasians), although its capacity was only 600. In 2016, one of Lances legal team, Jeffrey Stevens,suggested that it may be possible to get the residual prison term down to 10 years by working with the UK Foreign Office. The nurses heard a quick succession of shots before the Japanese soldiers came back, sat down in front of the women and cleaned their bayonets and rifles. 1,379 casualties are commemorated in the Chonk-Kai War Cemetery which is on the same spot as the previous POW camp on the railways' course 2km south of the town of Kwai Noi. It was always rice, a liquid of some sort and some inedible meat. And 13 are on death row in nine different countries for murder, terrorism, drugs offences and blasphemy, Freedom of Information figures from the Foreign Commonwealth Office show. Rashin Maru (AKA Canadian Prince/Potomac). The basic menu was a bowl of rice, a cup of miso soup, and some pickles. At the time, Lances mother, Debbie Caswell who has championed support efforts for her son including her own regular video calls to him in prison, felt strongly that the psychological fallout from the sudden death of Lances beautiful Thai fiance, was a big factor in his admitted criminal actions in August 2014. Record of Management of Prisoners of War, Japan Prisoner of War Bureau. In some camps, they had bread once a day. 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Prison life is intimidating and disgusting. Carandiru Penitentiary (closed and demolished) - In 1992, the prison was the site of the Carandiru massacre. Unlike weapons and supply transports (which were sometimes marked as Red Cross ships), these prisoner transports were unmarked and were targeted by Allied submarines and aircraft very often the majority of these ships were sunk by the end of the war. Attempting to stop further attempts, the Japanese required all POWs to sign a pledge of non-escape. The POWs who were accused of committing serious crimes or those who tried to escape were prosecuted at the Japanese Army Court Martial and sent to prison for Japanese criminals, many were executed in front of their fellow POWs. The Tokyo and Osaka Camps had attached hospitals, Shinagawa POW Hospital, and Kobe POW Hospital, which treated seriously ill patients from each branch camp. The senior British senior officer at Keijo, Lt Col Elrington held the perception that Australians were being particularly targeted. Prisoners are forced to live in horrendous conditions and constant fear. Conditions in Thai prisons are some of the worlds most notorious. In the first place, they refused for the greater part of the war to recognise, except in Japan, Shanghai and Hong Kong, the right of representatives of the Protecting Power and the International Red Cross Committee to pay visits of inspection. <> This has been published in the Royal Gazette of Thailand on 05 . on 24 June put the railway out of commission for the rest of the war. Some rosters show if living, dead or killed in action (KIA), cause of death and burial site. These will contain the following sections: Camp, name, nationality, place of capture, fathers name, place of origin, next of kin and address, POW number, date of birth, unit and service number, date captured, mothers name, occupation and some other remarks. Last edited on 26 September 2016, at 04:45, British people who died in Japanese internment camps, British extrajudicial prisoners of the United States, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Category:British_people_imprisoned_abroad&oldid=741224859, This page was last edited on 26 September 2016, at 04:45. This is the reality for more than 15,000 foreigners from over 100 countries, as of 2020. There are also several records of the civilian internees kept at the Changi Museum's website. 37,583 prisoners from the United Kingdom, Commonwealth and Dominions, 28,500 from Netherlands and 14,473 from the United States were released after the surrender of Japan. Lance and the family must now wait for word from the UK and Thai authorities. its the last stop. The best site to research POW records from Taiwan is Michael Hurst MBE's POWTaiwan.org, - highly recommended. About 40 per cent were missionaries from 22 different denominations, some who had recently fled China and organized a language school in Baguio. This series comprises three registers which record the names of some 13,500 allied prisoners of war and civilian internees of British and other nationalities. The four others were recaptured by Imperial Japanese naval vessels, where one died shortly after reaching land. He was imprisoned first at Camp O'Donnell, north of Manila. Debbie has said that he believes her son was vulnerable after the shock death of the young woman he loved. The list contains over 1700 names and is particularly interesting as a record of the decimation, by disease or untreated wounds, of prisoners working on the Burma-Thailand railway. Privacy Policy and She describes the whole journey, in one Facebook post, as the will of God which she and her son try to accept. 25/10/42 1100 British POWs taken to Takao, Taiwan from Singapore. Grashio joined the other prisoners of war in the infamous Bataan Death March. Two months later, he was transferred to a camp at Cabanatuan. Report inappropriate content Yonny Chiang Mai, Thailand Level Contributor At the same time, the Japanese guarding the prisoners opened fire on them while they were trying to abandon ship or swim to the nearby island of Mindanao. Most were moved in groups named 'Forces' named from A to L in order of departure (see Destinations). The Japanese Govt. There is some dispute about the length of time he will have to serve ranging from 10 to 20 years but it certainly will be a long term of imprisonment in a UK prison. She also says that her son is sorry for the crime he committed. Sailed from Manila to Davao departing on 1/7/42 the journey lasted 8 days and had 200 POWs on board. Left Manila the Philippine capital on 23/7/43 taking 501 US prisoners to Japan and was torpedoed and sunk by the submarine USS Picuda (SS-382) in the Taiwan straits. The railway was started from both ends at more or less the same time with Australian POWs and Dutch internees being shipped to Burma also. In 1945, Lieutenant General Shimpei Fukuei (also spelt as Fukuye) was the first to be tried for war crimes. The Thailand-Burma railway was a 258 mile (415km) track route covering the distance between Bangkok Thailand and Rangoon Burma, it was built using slave labour under the control of the Japanese army during the period 1942-45. . The FCO say they are aware of 13 British Nationals currently awaiting execution in the USA, Pakistan, Democratic Repubic of Congo, Ethiopia, Egypt, Indonesia, Kenya, Ghana and Bali. Register with your email address now, we can then send you an alert as soon as we add a record close matching the one you were searching for. Torpedoed by USS Seahorse the next day on 21/1/44. Sailed from Wewak, New Guinea on 17th March 1943 to Kavieng, New Ireland/Rabaul. The Allied governments began negotiations for a second exchange almost immediately, but only the United States and Canada succeeded in reaching an agreement with the Japanese authorities. Dysentery became so prevalent among the children, and adults as well, that a small dispensary was set up in the barracks. After an exchange of salutes between the POWs and their senior officers, the firing squad opened fire. However, prison time in Thailand, at any institution, is not easy particularly for foreigners and especially, according to reports, in recent years with severe overcrowding and the consequent need for tighter prison discipline. When the POWs were unable to work because of illness their food ration was cut. The ship was later part of a convoy sailing on 3rd June 1944 from Batavia, Java towards Japan with 772 Australian, British and American prisoners of war on board. THAILAND_POW_Camps_rosters (WO 361-2171) - Numerous . Though many people fly to Thailand to have more fun for less money, not many tourists realize that the Kingdom of Thailand is a country with strict rules and Buddhist ethics. There were Japanese civilian doctors or medical officers who came around the camps, or there were the POW medical officers in each camp who conducted treatment. 10 0 obj endstream Terms of Service apply. 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