THE Taiwan pow camps memorial society

Since early in 1997 there has been an effort to recognize the former Commonwealth and Allied prisoners of war in Taiwan who suffered at the hands of the Japanese during World War II. This project which was known originally as the KINKASEKI POW MEMORIAL PROJECT, came about as a result of information coming to light late in 1996 about the notorious Japanese prisoner of war camp at Jinguashi, Taiwan, formerly known as Kinkaseki. Michael Hurst MBE, a Canadian expat living in Taipei, formed a committee to organize a memorial service for the men of Kinkaseki in May of 1997, and this ultimately led to the construction of a memorial to the POWs of Kinkaseki and the other POW camps in Taiwan. The Kinkaseki / Taiwan POW Memorial was officially dedicated on November 23, 1997.

Since its formation, the society has found the locations of all of the former prisoner of war camps on the island and has been in contact with more than 800 former POWs and family members. To date we have erected twelve more memorials to the POWs across the island, in addition to the one at Jinguashi, plus two in the UK and one in Hawaii. The Taiwan Prisoner of War Memorial Park – the only one of its kind in the world, with its 56-foot / 17-metre long POW Memorial Wall contains the names of all of the former Taiwan POWs. In addition, a striking life-size bronze sculpture of two POWs struggling to survive, the Taiwan POW Memorial, and an Eternal Flame of Peace and Remembrance, adorn the park in honour and memory of the former Taiwan POWs.

There is still much to do, and despite the passing of all the former Taiwan POWs, we are continuing to look for more information on those men who were POWs here during World War II. It is hoped that family members will come forward with their stories and any materials which will aid us in our research. We would appreciate help from anyone who might have information about the POWs or the former POW camps in Taiwan. If you can be of any assistance to us in any of these areas, we would like to hear from you.

Our work of continuing research into the stories of the camps and the men is ongoing. A big part of that work is answering inquiries from former POW family members, researchers and others about what took place here in World War II, with the principle aim of making sure that the Taiwan POWs’ story is made known and those wonderful men are ‘never forgotten’.

to search for the locations of all the former Japanese POW camps on the island of Taiwan and document their history. [ completed ]
to search for the survivors of the 1942 – 45 Taiwan POW camps.
to tell the story of the Taiwan POW Camps to the world, and to ensure that the men who were in those camps know that they and their comrades have not and will not be forgotten.
to help organize and participate in an annual memorial service for the Taiwan POWs at Jinguashi every November on Remembrance / Veterans Day.
to help educate the people of Taiwan in a little-known part of their history.
to provide information to researchers, scholars, museums and POW groups on the Taiwan POWs' story.

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THE Taiwan pow camps memorial society

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