ARTICLES & STORIES

ANOTHER VALID REASON FOR DROPPING THE ATOMIC BOMBS. . .

     In August 2014 I received an email with a story about a B-29 bomber crew on a mission to mine the waters off Kyushu Island Japan and who were forced to bail out after their plane was hit by flak. The men landed in the countryside and here is the account of one of those men, Sgt. Clarence L. Pressgrove – the last surviving member of the crew.

     “I hit the ground running so I wouldn’t break my legs. I drew my chute in and hid it...

A FAMILY CONNECTION

     Many times over the years as I have worked on this wonderful Taiwan POW project, people have asked if I had any family connections to the Far East POWs, if I had any relatives who were prisoners of war, and why I was doing so much to try to tell their story. I always replied that I did not have any relatives who were Far East POWs, and that all my relatives were involved in the war in Europe - as most of the Canadian servicemen were.

     The reason...

ASIAN WAR GRAVES AND MEMORIAL PHOTOS AVAILABLE - FREE!

     In 2011 it was announced on the Taiwan POW Society website that photos of the graves of the former Taiwan POWs who are buried at Sai Wan War Cemetery in Hong Kong were available from the Society - FREE of CHARGE. At the same time it was mentioned that photos of other war graves in the cemeteries in Hong Kong were available from Tony Banham, and that the Thai-Burma Railway Centre (TBRC) in Thailand would also pass on photos from the cemeteries at Kanchanaburi and Chungkai in Thailand and Thanbyuzayat, Burma - all...

ANOTHER SOURCE FOR FREE WAR GRAVE AND MEMORIAL PHOTOS. . .

     We also recommend another excellent organization with a website offering thousands of FREE war grave and memorial photos worldwide. British War Graves - War Graves Photographs, founded and operated for over 10 years by Mick McCann in the UK, provides free photos for almost all the world’s war cemeteries and more.

     With over 200 volunteers worldwide contributing photos to the collection, this is truly the place to look first to find a war grave or memorial photo – FREE !

     Mick says . . . “If you are looking...

THINK ABOUT IT. . . .

by Michael Hurst  MBE

     Over the past number of years as I have gone about my daily routine of life, I have often been suddenly jolted by reality as I compared what I was doing at that very moment to how it must have been for the POWs here on Taiwan those many years ago.

     For example, one Monday morning I woke up, not feeling “all that well” - most likely having a touch of the flu. My body ached from fever and I felt listless and tired. I didn’t feel like...

THE REST OF THE STORY. . .

by Michael Hurst - from the Winter 2001 newsletter

     Early in December 2001, I read an article in an American POW newsletter by historian Greg Michno, who had written a soon to be published book on the subject of the hellships, called 'Death on the Hellships'. Greg had somehow obtained official Japanese records and decrypts of sailing rosters and orders for all of the convoys and ships carrying POWs. He also had captured records and documents, plus offical US Navy records showing ships sunk, places and dates. His research is exhausting, and he finally corrects...

JAPAN’S UNWARRANTED CRITICISMS

June 2004. . .

     We recently received an article relating to the news that Japan had condemned the atrocities committed by American troops on some of the Iraqi prisoners of war. While these acts are certainly not right and should be condemned, as the following article points out, Japan is hardly in any position to criticize the actions of a few soldiers when their entire military was responsible for the slaughter of tens of thousands of prisoners of war held under their jurisdiction during World War II.

     In addition to this, hundreds...

The RAKUYO AND KACHIDOKI MARUS

     In the spring and early summer of 1944 a large group of so-called “fit” POWs were returned to Singapore from Thailand upon completion of the Death Railway.

     On September 4th 1944 a convoy of several Japanese transport ships set sail from Singapore. There were two ships carrying POWs - the Rakuyo Maru with 1,317 POWs and the Kachidoki Maru with 900 POWs aboard. On the 12th of September the Rakuyo Maru was torpedoed by the American submarine USS Sealion II at around 5:00am and the Kachidoki Maru received hits from the submarine...