Taiwan\’s Secret POWs: The Hidden War Tragedy
Unveiling a Forgotten Chapter of World War II in Taiwan
The Taiwan POW Memorial and Peace Park bears a granite wall etched with more than 4,000 names—most of them British and American servicemen who endured captivity under Japanese rule from 1895 to 1945.
From Subdued Memory to Resurgent Awareness
- Michael Hurst—a Canadian pioneer of military history in Taipei—spurred research into Taiwan’s wartime camps after learning of Kinkaseki in 1996.
- He traced the locations of additional camps, erected memorials for veterans, and raised public recognition of the ordeals these soldiers faced.
Captive Journeys Across Southeast Asia
Beginning in 1942, over 4,300 Allied servicemen were ferried from Southeast Asian battlefields to Taiwan aboard Japanese “hell ships.” Their ranks included British, American, Australian, Dutch, Canadian and New‑Zealand forces.
By war’s end, 430 men had perished from malnutrition, disease, overwork and torture—an outcome that had long been eclipsed by the infamous “Death Railway” linking Myanmar and Thailand.
A Lurking Legacy of Silenced Suffering
While Japan’s brutal “Death Railway” claimed thousands, the experiences of Taiwan’s camps largely remained unknown. The stories of Kinkaseki, now acknowledged as “one of the worst PoW camps in all of Asia,” were gradually brought to light.
Anne Wheeler’s Father—A Tale of Ailing Bodys + Tenacious Care
- A Canadian filmmaker discovered the diaries of her physician father, who had been imprisoned in Kinkaseki’s copper mine.
- Her documentary, A War Story, documents Ben Wheeler’s arduous journey from Japanese‑occupied Singapore to Taiwan in 1942.
When her father arrived at Kinkaseki, the prisoners were already starved, overworked, and suffering from mining injuries. They also faced “beriberi, malaria, dysentery,” causing death counts to rise swiftly.
His expertise in tropical medicine forced him to be inventive—treating appendicitis and tonsillitis without anesthesia, sometimes cutting with a razor blade. The men affectionately called him “the man sent from God.”
Beyond Bolivia—The Hidden Story of Taiwan in the War
Taiwan was a pivotal staging ground for Japan during the war, with many locals fighting for the Japanese empire. Residents endured harrowing US aerial bombings and severe food shortages.
Decades after the surrender, the former PoWs have all passed away, and little physical evidence of their camps remains. At 77, Hurst continues to keep their narratives alive through the Taiwan POW Camps Memorial Society and private tours.
Memoirs, Reminders, and Relayed Questions
- His book Never Forgotten compiles over 500 veteran interviews, PoW diaries, and archival correspondence.
- All that remains of Kinkaseki is a gate post and a wall fragment, set amidst a residential area in Jinguashi town surrounded by lush hills.
- When a Taiwanese woman, 40, toured with Hurst, she noted she had “never” studied this part of WWII history in school.
Hurst still receives weekly emails from families seeking answers about their lost loved ones in Taiwan. He recalls that for nearly five decades, these stories were kept in hushed whispers: “They knew what they’d suffered, and knew that nobody else knew.”
