This is the story of the Enoura Maru Hellship Memorial from the beginning in 2011 to its eventual dedication on August 15th 2018. Also on the website are the stories of the bombing of the ship, the memorial service held at Kaohsiung Harbour in 2005, and the building and dedication of the Taiwan Hellships Memorial in 2006.
This is the culmination of seven year’s work that was first initiated by the Taiwan POW Camps Memorial Society back in 2011 at the request of some of the family members of the men who had died in the bombing of the Enoura Maru. Later we were joined in the effort by the American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor Memorial Society, who were eventually able to successfully lobby the government in Washington to get the final approval. It was a long time in coming but certainly worth the effort. This article should bring to a close this saga and what it took to make sure that the previously little-known story of the men who died in the harbour at Kaohsiung those many years ago is not forgotten and the men are remembered where they lie - at the National Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii.
i
* * * * * *
On January 9th 1945, the hellship Enoura Maru was anchored in Takao (Kaohsiung) Harbour, Taiwan. It was part of a convoy of ships that had left the Philippines on December 27th 1944 carrying mostly American POWs bound for Japan. 1,070 men had been crammed into the second hold of the Enoura Maru, and a further 236 men were on another ship, the Brazil Maru. On January 6th the men from the Brazil Maru were transferred to the Enoura Maru and about 470 men were moved from the second hold up to the first hold of that ship.
The Enoura Maru
Then in the early morning of the 9th, just as the men were consuming their meagre breakfast ration of rice, American aircraft from the USS Hornet launched an attack on Takao Harbour and bombed and strafed many of the ships. Several bombs fell on the Enoura Maru and one exploded near the edge of the first hold killing and wounding more than 300 of the POWs. The ship did not sink and the remains of the dead POWs were removed and buried in a mass grave nearby. In 1946 they were exhumed, and after a time of storage in Shanghai China, later sent to Hawaii and re-buried in 20 communal graves at the Punchbowl Cemetery and marked as 'Unknowns'.
On January 9th 2005 - the 60th anniversary of the bombing, a memorial service conducted by the Taiwan POW Camps Memorial Society was held at the harbour in Kaohsiung with one of the former POWs who survived the bombing in attendance. Following that it was decided to build a Taiwan Hellships Memorial to remember the men of the Enoura Maru and all the others who suffered and died on hellships in Taiwan waters. The memorial was built later that year and dedicated on January 26th 2006 with several POW family members present.
Later that year and in 2007, the Society began to receive inquiries from the families of the men who died on the Enoura Maru as to whether some kind of memorial could be built specially for them. In 2011 it was decided to try to have a stone placed on the Memorial Walk at the National Cemetery of the Pacific (Punchbowl) in Hawaii to let people know the story and who it is that lies buried in those 20 communal graves marked 'January 9, 1945' in Section Q of the cemetery.
The Society then contacted the Punchbowl and submitted the necessary application which was basically approved. However, there was an issue with the wording on the stone. The former cemetery director and the Veterans Administration felt that having the word ‘hellship’ on the stone might be "offensive to the Japanese tourists who visit the cemetery Memorial Walk and Overlook for sightseeing". We tried to explain to them the historical significance of the word ‘hellship’ and how important it was to make sure that the story was told and the men were remembered, but to no avail.
Thus began a struggle with the US Veterans Administration (VA) and their National Cemetery Administration (NCA) which lasted for seven years. During that time the Society received the endorsement and support from both the Veterans of Foreign Wars of America (VFW) and also the American Veterans (AMVETS) Organization for our project at their annual national conventions. Representation was made to the US Congress by the VFW urging the placing of the memorial stone, but still the Veterans Administration refused. We then contacted the American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor Memorial Society - a number of whose members had relatives on that ship, to enlist their aid in lobbying the necessary government departments to try to get the memorial built. Finally, after a visit to Washington by a delegation from the ADBC-MS in the fall of 2017, approval was given by the VA's National Cemetery Administration, Department of Memorial Affairs in January 2018.
Once the approval was granted, a budget was formulated for the construction of the memorial stone, its transport to Hawaii and the costs for the dedication ceremony. A fund-raising campaign was then initiated between the two Societies and their members. By June the necessary funds were received and the stone was completed, shipped to Hawaii and installed on the Memorial Walk.
The dedication ceremony took place at the Punchbowl on August 15th and I was privileged to fly to Honolulu to take part. I also wanted to take the opportunity while there to tour some of the famous battle sites and memorials from the attack on Pearl Harbor and the early events of the Pacific War. Prior to going I had discussed this with our Society member Tony Hu, a retired Lt/Col. in the US Air Force, who was also going, and he offered to take me to some of the sites ‘inside Pearl Harbor’ where the usual tourists cannot go.
I arrived in Honolulu on the morning of August 14th and Tony, who had arrived a few days earlier, picked me up at the airport and we went straightway for a tour of Hickam Air Force Base and the Pearl Harbor Navy Base. At Hickam we saw where the Japanese had strafed and bombed the hangars and buildings - the bullet and shrapnel holes are still in the walls of the buildings as they have been since that fateful day of December 7th 1941. We toured the base and saw a number of aircraft, and while eating lunch on the restaurant patio a Los Angeles Class nuclear submarine went by down the channel to the sea. I got some great photos of that. We toured the naval base and the submarine base and saw a number of ships, but could not take any photos there. Then over to Ford Island where the main Japanese attack on battleship row and the air base took place. We took in the USS Oklahoma Memorial and the Ford Island Control Tower - that can be seen in all the movies, along with the hangars which still had bullet holes through the windows of the hangar doors. It was really a step back in time and one got the feeling of what it must have been like to be there on that fateful Sunday morning. It was a fitting beginning to a wonderful week of learning and remembering. My thanks to Tony for a great day.
USS Oklahoma Memorial Ford Island Control Tower
Later that afternoon when I checked into the Pagoda Hotel in downtown Honolulu, I got a nice surprise. When the hotel discovered the purpose of my visit and that we were dedicating a memorial at the Punchbowl, they gave me the royal treatment with a room upgrade and wonderful personal service. One of their sales staff, Jana Duncan, whose father was a Pearl Harbor veteran, wanted to join our activity and offered to drive me to the cemetery and the reception to be held later in the day at the Kaneohe Marine Base across the island. I am very grateful to the Pagoda Hotel and to Jana for their interest and the friendship and good service they shared with me.
Wednesday August 15th - VJ Day, was a beautiful Hawaii morning as Jana and I drove out to the cemetery a little after 10 am. We had plenty of time to visit the graves of the Enoura Maru men, and while there I took the opportunity to find the graves of some other Taiwan POWs and take photos of them to send to their families. We then made our way to the Memorial Walk and the Overlook and spent much time there taking photos of the memorials and the wonderful views of Honolulu, Waikiki and Diamond Head. My thanks to Jana, I couldn’t have done all that without her help. Then it was down to the main plaza where our ceremony was to take place.
The row of Enoura Maru Graves With Jim Erickson at the memorial site
There I met the folks from the ADBC Memorial Society. What an honour to finally meet fellow researcher and my long-time friend Jim Erickson, an authority on the hellships, as well as Nancy Kragh who has worked tirelessly with me almost from the beginning of this project. Also there were Jan Thompson, the president of the Society, and a number of the dignitaries who were busy in preparation for the service which began at 1 pm.
Former POW Dan Crowley 96, was present for the occasion although he had not been a POW on either hellship. A number of family members of the Enoura Maru POWs were in attendance, as well as many dignitaries from the military, the government, AMVETS, the VFW and several other veterans’ organizations. One special guest was Aileen Prendergast from the UK whose cousin Pte. Edwin Trapp of the Leicestershire Regiment, died on January 11th as a result of injuries suffered in the bombing, and who is buried in the cemetery with the others. He was one of three British POWs who died on the Enoura Maru at that time.
ADBC Memorial Society President Jan Thompson began the ceremony by welcoming all those present, and after the opening formalities concluded, Jim Erickson shared the story of the hellship voyages of the Oryoku, Enoura and Brazil Marus. Then I had the privilege of telling how the Enoura Maru tragedy had first been commemorated in Taiwan in 2005, which led to the building of the Taiwan Hellships Memorial in 2006, and the subsequent plan for the placing of the memorial stone at the Punchbowl which we were dedicating that day. I was also honoured to read a message of congratulations sent to the gathering by the Taiwan Minister of Veterans Affairs, General Chiu, Kuo-Cheng (Ret.)
The POW Memorial Society directors addressing the crowd at the dedication ceremony.
Statements from some of the Enoura Maru survivors were read by Jan and Jim, and then Lisa Pozzebon, Executive Director, Cemetery Operations of the Veterans Administration addressed the gathering. She was followed by Brigadier General Thomas J. Tickner of the US Army, Director-General of the Taiwan Economic and Cultural Office in Honolulu Michael Tseng, and finally Captain John Shimotsu of the US Navy Chaplain Corps. The formal service concluded with the flypast of a World War II era Mooney aircraft over the site in tribute.
A very special tribute was rendered when the Governor of the State of Hawaii, David Y. Ige, proclaimed August 15th 2018 as Pacific War Heroes Day - “in recognition of the American Defenders of Bataan & Corregidor Memorial Society and the Taiwan POW Camps Memorial Society dedicating a memorial stone at the National Cemetery of the Pacific in memory of the American and Allied POWs who died in Takao Harbour”.
It was a long and hard struggle to get this memorial done, but by working together with the ADBC-MS we have finally been able to realize our dream, and that of the families of the Enoura Maru men - to have this very fitting memorial stone placed on the Walk of Remembrance in their honour. They will not be forgotten!
The Enoura Maru Hellship Memorial stone on the Memorial Walk at the National Cemetery of the Pacific
Following the ceremony folks gathered to chat and take photos and then we made our way to the Kaneohe Marine Base Officers’ Mess for a reception and time of fellowship. On the way back into the city Jana took me on a tour through the interior mountains of the island and what an incredible sight - the verdant tree-covered slopes of the former volcanoes, sharp and rugged reaching to the sky.
The following day, Thursday the 16th at 3:15pm, our group was treated to a specially arranged boat tour around Ford Island. Jana, who also works as a volunteer at the USS Arizona Memorial, joined us on the tour. Prior to meeting the group at 3 pm, I decided to go to the ‘World War II Valour in the Pacific’ Centre and visit the USS Bowfin submarine and museum and the USS Arizona Museum. By getting there early before the crowds, I got to thoroughly explore the sub and take some wonderful people-less photos. It was a sister sub to this one – the USS Sealion II, that torpedoed the hellship Rakuyo Maru which my two Australian uncles were on in September 1944. They were twin brothers and both were lost at sea. Later, the Sealion and the USS Pampanito rescued a number of the POWs who had survived the sinking. Spending almost a full hour inside the sub I began to get the feeling of how crowded it must have been living and working in such cramped quarters day after day for months, and then when they took on the oil-soaked survivors and the crew gave up their bunks for the sick men, what that must have been like as well. After lunch I visited the USS Arizona Museum and then met our group for the tour.
USS Bowfin SS-287 Balao Class Submarine The ‘business end’ of the sub - the torpedo room
The boat trip around Ford Island was fantastic as we got to see the remains of the sunken battleship USS Utah and the airfield and hangars just as they had been on December 7th. We sailed up battleship row seeing where all of the former great ships had been berthed and passed the USS Missouri from the waterside before coming upon the USS Arizona Memorial. Somehow being out on the waters of Pearl Harbor itself made one able to imagine a bit more and feel closer to what had happened there 77 years ago.
USS Missouri BB-63 from the waterside The USS Arizona Memorial
The tour ended at around 5pm and the park was closing, but the day for me was not finished yet. Jana, a Rotary Club member, had arranged for me to speak to her club at their evening meeting that day. I was again privileged to be able to share a little of the Taiwan POWs’ story with the 'Hickam-Pearl Harbor Rotary Club District 5000' members. The reception was warm and enthusiastic and I was presented with a souvenir club banner as a remembrance of my visit.
My exploration of the World War II sites was far from over, so on Friday the 17th I once again made my way back to the Valour in the Pacific Centre and got my tickets for the USS Missouri and the Pacific Air Museum which are both located on Ford Island. The USS Missouri had looked majestic from the waters of Pearl Harbor the day before, but now being up close it was huge! I took in the excellent docent-led tour and then afterwards further explored the ship inside and out. Especially meaningful was the surrender deck where the peace treaty with Japan was signed at the end of the war. The Missouri has been placed strategically in front of the remains of the sunken USS Arizona, thus signifying the beginning of the war for America in 1941 and its end in 1945.
USS Missouri – BB-63 "The Mighty Mo" View of the Arizona Memorial from the Captain’s bridge
Then it was over to the Pacific Air Museum and, having worked in aviation for a number of years and loving airplanes, I was in another world for a couple more hours. The two hangars of the museum contain a number of historic World War II aircraft and excellent dioramas, as well as a range of more modern jets and helicopters.
P-40E in Flying Tigers markings F4F Wildcat Diorama depicting Guadalcanal
The next couple of days I spent relaxing and sightseeing, touring the old downtown and government area of Honolulu with the former Hawaiian King’s Palace and other old landmarks and buildings. Then a walk all along Waikiki Beach amidst the huge crowds, made me rather glad that I wasn’t staying down there after all. I visited the US Army Museum and met the director. The museum is excellently done and I learned a lot, not only about the army in Hawaii in World War II, but also about museum design and display. My final day I spent on the beach near my hotel just north of the main Waikiki strip and being that it was far less crowded, it was much more enjoyable.
During my stay I met a lot of folks at various places - in the hotel, at restaurants, at the museums and memorial sites, and on the beach. Whenever they would ask what I was doing in Hawaii, I would share the story of the Taiwan POWs, the Enoura Maru tragedy and our mission to make sure the men were always remembered. Those I talked with were both interested and fascinated in what I had to say, and it was rewarding to see their response knowing that a bit more of the Taiwan POWs’ story was now better known to them.
It was a wonderful tour and I was pleased that I was able to see and do all I wanted. Having witnessed so many aspects of the Pacific War first-hand made a lasting impression on me which I won't soon forget. We must never forget the sacrifices made for our freedom!I
* * * * * *
“VINCIT QUI PATITUR”, is Latin for “Who Endures Conquers”.
After a seven year-long battle with the former Director of the Punchbowl Cemetery, his assistant, their supervisor - later the Western Director of the NCA, and the Veterans Administration; by believing that what we were doing was right and needful, we persevered and finally succeeded and we won.
I am so glad that we finally triumphed over those who would have denied the men who died on the Enoura Maru and Brazil Maru in Kaohsiung Harbour in 1945 their rightful and proper memorial. Now at last, those men have had their story told to the world and their final resting place made known so they will not be forgotten and their memory will live on.
Also, now in the end, the Japanese tourists who visit the cemetery Overlook can read their story too!
I
With Jan Thompson (l) and Nancy Kragh at the dedication ceremony.
I
[All photos copyright the Taiwan POW Camps Memorial Society]I
CLICK HERE - to watch the complete Enoura Maru Memorial Dedication Service video – 49:00 min.
The inscription on the Enoura Maru Memorial Stone:
I
HONORING THE MEMORY OF THOSE WHO
DIED ABOARD THE HELLSHIP ENOURA MARU
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
On January 9, 1945, the Japanese freighter Enoura Maru, en route from
the Philippines to Japan, with its human cargo of American and Allied
prisoners of war, was bombed by American carrier aircraft while anchored in Takao
(Kaohsiung) Harbor, Taiwan. About 300 POWs, nearly all Americans, were killed.
Many of those who were injured died in the days that followed.
The men were first buried in a mass grave at Takao Harbor. After the war the remains
were exhumed and brought to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific “Punchbowl”.
Because most remains could not be identified, they were buried in 20 communal graves
located in Section Q. All of them are marked “Unknowns” and dated January 9, 1945.
The 20 graves are the final resting places of brave American and Allied POWs from
the Philippines who had suffered in Imperial Japanese prison camps. This memorial
stone is dedicated to those men so that their story will never be forgotten.
This memorial stone was placed here in 2018 by the American Defenders of Bataan
and Corregidor Memorial Society and the Taiwan POW Camps Memorial Society.
I
THE TAKAO 400
Just over 300 men died in the bombing of the Enoura Maru, but there are actually 400 sets of remains buried in the 20 communal graves at the Punchbowl Cemetery. Not all were from Taiwan or the Enoura Maru.
On researching the initial story of the Enoura Maru, and by perusing all the declassified military and National Archives documents pertaining to the recovery of the remains of the men who were buried on the Takao spit, it was learned that in late May of 1946 the American War Graves Recovery Team came to Taiwan and exhumed 311 sets of remains from the mass grave at Chijin and another 33 sets from two grave sites in the Fukuteikin Cemetery in Takao city. This made a total of 344 men who had either died from the bombing on January 9th or in the days previous from disease and starvation.
After exhumation, the 344 Taiwan remains were first stored in Warehouse #9 at Keelung Harbour Taiwan, and later on November 19th 1946 they were transferred to the Graves Registration Depot in Shanghai to await identification and re-burial. In April 1947 the staff at the Shanghai Graves Depot gathered up 400 sets of remains which they labeled the 'Takao 400' and these were transferred to Hawaii on April 13th 1947 and held at Schofield Barracks Mausoleum on Oahu. There were actually 56 sets of non-Taiwan remains included from other unknown places, and they were subsequently all buried together in the 20 communal graves in Section Q. Now, there is no way of knowing who those additional 56 were or where they came from, but we do know the names of the 344 from Taiwan.
The first internments at the Punchbowl Cemetery took place in January 1949. Then, starting on June 13th 1949 the second group was buried, and this included the remains of the 'Takao 400'. Burial locations were under 20 markers inscribed 'UNKNOWNS - JANUARY 9, 1945', with each marker having beneath it two caskets containing from 15-22 sets of unknown remains.
There has been some confusion with this issue over the years, but having the actual exhumation records and the numbers, one can clearly see that all 400 did not originate in Taiwan. Hopefully this will help to finally clarify the story.
May they all rest in peace!