Fukuoka #17 - Omuta, Branch Prisoner of War Camp was a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

prisoner-of-war camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured as Prisoner of war, prisoners of war by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, inte ...

located at the Mitsui Kozan Miike Kogyo-Sho coal mine and Mitsui Zinc Foundry in Shinminato-machi, Omuta-shi, Fukuoka-ken, Japan, during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. It was the largest POW camp in Japan.

History

The camp was opened on 7 August 1943 with 500 Americans arriving on the hellship ''Clyde Maru'' from the Philippines. It was gradually populated to about 1,757 by Allied prisoners of war of mixed nationalities, mostly

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n, American,

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

and Dutch. The British, Dutch and Australians were survivors of the

Burma Railway The Burma Railway, also known as the Siam–Burma Railway, Thai–Burma Railway and similar names, or as the Death Railway, is a railway between Ban Pong, Thailand, and Thanbyuzayat, Burma (now called Myanmar). It was built from 1940 to 1943 ...

construction in

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

(Siam). The last group to arrive were all Australians, in June 1945; they had formerly been held in the Fukuoka 13-D Oita POW camp. There were also Norwegians, Czechs, Portuguese, Saudi Arabians, Canadian, British Indian, British West Indian, Malayan, Chinese, and British Guianan POWs, as well as civilians. The site was originally the labourers' quarters built by the Mitsui Coal Mining Company owned by the Baron Mitsui. The camp was gradually expanded with further buildings constructed over the years.

Description

The camp measured 200 yards by 1000 yards and was surrounded by a 12 feet high wooden fence fixed with heavy gauge wire. There were 33 barracks, all one story buildings 120' x 16' with ten rooms to a barracks. Officers were billeted three or four per room measuring 9' x 10', with four to six enlisted men accommodated in rooms of same size. There was no heating whatsoever, which was a serious problem in the winter months as the men were living on starvation diets. The Gibbs reports were prepared post-war based upon assorted prisoner affidavits. There were two meals served each day, usually one cup of rice and some radish soup. Protein was rarely provided. The camp commandant was Asao Fukuhara, who was executed after the war for

war crime A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hostage ...

s. The camp doctor was an unidentified Japanese surgeon who forced men to work even when critically ill. Baron Mitsui's company leased the POWs from the Japanese Army, who received payment from the Company of about 20

yen The is the official currency of Japan. It is the third-most traded currency in the foreign exchange market, after the United States dollar and the euro. It is also widely used as a third reserve currency after the US dollar and the euro. T ...

per day. The American, Australian and Dutch POWs all worked in the Mitsui coal mine whilst all the British worked in the nearby Mitsui zinc foundry. Pay for privates and NCOs was 10 yen per day and all POWs received about 5 cigarettes each day. Baron Mitsui liked to visit the camp and seemed to enjoy seeing the POWs. He sometimes provided costumes so that the POWs could put on musicals that he and the guards would watch. When the war ended, he invited camp officers to dinner with his wife. The camp was liberated on 2 September 1945, by which time most of the POWs were in a desperate state of health. Many were suffering from severe

beri-beri Thiamine deficiency is a medical condition of low levels of thiamine (vitamin B1). A severe and chronic form is known as beriberi. The name beriberi was possibly borrowed in the 18th century from the Sinhalese phrase (bæri bæri, “I canno ...

and on average had lost about . Camp survivors were evacuated via the destroyed

Nagasaki , officially , is the capital and the largest Cities of Japan, city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Founded by the Portuguese, the port of Portuguese_Nagasaki, Nagasaki became the sole Nanban trade, port used for tr ...

about ten days after liberation. War correspondent George Weller interviewed many of the men who were released. These interviews can be found in a book edited by his son Anthony Weller, '' First Into Nagasaki: The Censored Eyewitness Dispatches on Post-Atomic Japan and Its Prisoners of War''.

References

{{coord, 33.014, 130.456, source:wikidata, qid=Q5507677, display=t South-East Asian theatre of World War II Japanese prisoner of war and internment camps Japanese war crimes Ōmuta, Fukuoka Buildings and structures in Fukuoka Prefecture History of Fukuoka Prefecture