"KINKASEKI" PRISONER OF WAR CAMP No.1

"KINKASEKI" PRISONER OF WAR CAMP No.1 

In November 1942, over 500 British Commonwealth and Allied prisoners of war, captured in the Japanese invasion of Malaya and Singapore, were brought to the POW camp formerly located on this site. The number later rose to over 1,000 men. 

Forced to work under extremely harsh and unsafe conditions in the nearby copper mine, the prisoners suffered injury, disease, starvation and cruel treatment at the hands of their guards. Consequently, many died. 

In late 1944, the Japanese had an access tunnel built from the back of the camp to the mine, under the pretext of making it easier for the prisoners to go to work. In reality, and in the event of American forces landing on Taiwan, the Japanese High Command had ordered that the tunnel was to be used to "kill all the prisoners and leave no trace". The original annihilation order, found in 1946 by those investigating wartime atrocities, and one of only two copies ever discovered, is now in the US National Archives in Washington DC. 

A friendly Taiwanese guard secretly informed six of the prisoners of the plan, but fortunately no invasion came. The prisoners were later moved to another camp near Taipei where they stayed for the remainder of the war. 

This memorial pays tribute to all the men who were interned here, and also to those brave Taiwanese who showed sympathy to them. Today, all that remains of the camp are the wall and gate post which are situated to the right beyond the pavilion, "LEST WE FORGET"

#ww2 #pow 

【金瓜石戰俘營，又稱國際終戰和平紀念園區】

因為mates雕塑所以來看看，這個雕塑讓我想到在德國符森看到的戰爭紀念館、戰友扶持的石像。希望不再發生戰爭。有看到時雨中學。

交通方式是在板橋公車站搭965公車就可以直達，手機可以充電，瑞芳火車站(區民廣場)有多人上車，九份老街有設站。