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Tokyo
12-B-Tenryu Mitsushima Tokyo Area POW Command, Detachment #2 Also called Hiraoka or Matsushima Tok-02D |
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Location: Tokyo #3-B HIRAOKA aka MITSUSHIMA NAGANO-ken, SHIMOINA-gun, HIRAOKA-mura (or MITSUSHIMA) Nihon Hassoden Co. is now the Chubu Electric Power Co. Actually located in Tenryu village MAP - see lower left corner - Hiraoka Satellite- via Google History: 18 Nov 1942: Established; first known as Tokyo 3-B 1 Aug 1943: Renamed Tokyo-2-D HIRAOKA Aug 1944: Renamed 12-B (KUMAGAI GUMI HIRAOKA HATSUDEN-SHO) 4 Sep 1945: Rescue Effected Present day name: Hiraoka Shi Located on east bank of Tenryu River, Actual location: 35'16"N-137"51'E 13 Buildings (included 3 barracks) surrounded by 10 ft fence. 2 gates. A Chinese slave camp and a Korean slave camp just upsteam - unknown numbers. NOTE: Mitsushima is recognized as one of the most brutal camp in all of Japan. Nine (9) guards were convicted and executed from this camp. ["Horyo" p 201-2] Camp had numerous American officers who refused to lead. As a result, officers extremely disliked by the enlisted ranks. Large stores of leather boots from the South African Red Cross were in camp but NEVER issued to the prisoners as the shoes were better than those of the Japanese. ["Horyo" p 160.] Time Line: Nov 26, 1942: Camp already occupied. 81 Americans arrive, 26 Nov 1942 from Nagato Maru ex Manila. Two days later, another 183 British arrive ex Singapore. [Surrey Regt, Singapore's Special Training Corps-STC, and RAF] 16 April 1944 - 49 Americans and British (minus 13 men each) moved to Kanose carbide mill. Two more joined later. 20 Jun 1944: Frank Brancaticano dies of starvation- owed food to fellow POWs for cigarettes. 15 Oct 1944- Dr Al Weinstein, Bataan Field Hospital #1 arrives from Omori. Dec (?) 1944 - Camp Commandant Capt Nakajima replaced by Lt Kubo. 2 March 1945 - Pilot of B-24 [Capt Van Warmer] brought into camp along with Lt Estabrook (USN) and one British officer 27 Jun 1945 - Capt Oliver Gordon & Lt Cmdr Twiss (HMS Exeter ex-Zentsuji POW Camp) arrive with several other Americans. Gordon and Twiss provide exceptional leadership. Camp Layout Photograph and Location Map Camp Photographs & Sketches Japanese Camp Staff: [External Link] Guard nicknamed "Little Glass Eye", Tatsuo Tsuchiya, was convicted for the beating death of Private Robert Gordon Teas. However, we do not find his name on the Gibbs list of deceased. |
Primary Labor Use: Stevedores carrying cement for building of a dam. Japanese Contractor: Honcho was Igarashi- Source: "Horyo", p 157. Other contractor Oiwa (Blacksmith shop), Kamijo (machine shops) and Iwatia (General laborers), "Horyo" p 166 The GIBBS Report- Detailed description including a partial LIST of the deceased Hell Ships: Nagato Maru ex Manila. 17 day voyage, 1600 pows, 20 deaths per Michno book, "Death on the Hellships." Gordon ["Horyo"] states men boarded on Nov 7th, stopped at Takao, Formosa for two days, and arrived in Moji on 25 Nov 1942. Train north-east had three groups of men, only one sent to Mitsushima [two groups to Tanagawa and Umeda]. From train, men walked over a mountain in summer gear through snowstorm at night with three men dying along the way. Reboarded another train to camp. Camp Rosters at Liberation: British (215) and American (93) NARA: Rg 24, Box 6- Unidentified Camp- Confirmed by Roger Mansell to be a pre-liberation roster of Mitsushima. Handwritten and undated - but very accurate. Additional notation of deceased added by Roger Mansell, Center for Research. A number of men had earlier been transferred out to other camps but we do not have any of the interim rosters. Seeking Contact: Do you remember Denning? See his picture of all the men taken by the Japanese! List of deceased at Mitsushima 48 men perished - Gordon, 'Horio" p 148 Skubina (Minnesota) died of fall, brain damage. Interviews [External Link] Major Gordon's post war meeting with former Japanese guards; history of War Crime Trials against guards. Books about Mitsushima: You Shook My Hand- extracts from the diaries of Sgt William C. Rose, RAFVR. Excellent camp maps for Matsushima and pictures of Kanose camp: ISBN 1903172314, Barny Books, Hough on the Hill, Grantham, Lincolnshire <www.tucann.co.uk> [Seen at IWM, London by Director, Roger Mansell] Chater, Les/ Hamid, Elizabeth (Transcribed & Edited by), Behind the Fence; Life As a POW in Japan 1942-1945 (ISBN:1551250640), Vanwell Publ, St Catherines Ontario, 2001. (Now in paperback) Description: 288 pages, b/w photos & illustrations. Les was captured by the Japanese in 1942 on Java- having fled with RAF from Malaya, and remained a prisoner until liberation in 1945. During that time he kept a secret diary, recording life in the camps (Mitsushima and Kanose in Japan) day by day, listing names of prisoners, illnesses, deaths, their daily diet and treatment at the hands of their captors. This secret record survived, written in three palm-sized diaries in an astonishingly microscopic hand. Mr. Chater's diaries were used as evidence at the Tokyo War Crimes trials. Reproduced almost entirely, these diaries present an accurate picture of the horrendous conditions in the camp but also of the efforts of a few such as Les himself to maintain morale among the prisoners, of the likable nature of Japanese civilians, and even some guards and of the difficulty of keeping up the antagonism of enemies in the face of daily, shared hardships. "Horyo" by Richard M. Gordon- "Horyo" is an excellent narrative and documents related to the seven (7) of the guards tried for war crimes. A particularly vicious set of camp officials. Includes rosters of Americans. Unfortunately, a number of men state that he was "full of --". |