Thread: Tribute to victims of Taiwan PoW camps

Tribute to victims of Taiwan PoW camps - Shields Gazette

VETERANS of Japanese prisoner of war camps gathered in South Tyneside to remember fallen comrades.
A remembrance service for victims of Japan's Second World War prison camps in Taiwan was held at Carr Ellison Park in Hebburn at the weekend.

About 100 people, including former soldiers, civic dignitaries and military cadets, attended the service.

Organised by the Taiwan POW Camps Memorial Society, the event is usually staged elsewhere in the country.

But the response to the weekend's service was so positive it may return to South Tyneside in the future.

Among the guests were society director Michael Hurst, Andrew Blake, county field officer for the Royal British Legion, and the Deputy Mayor and Mayoress of South Tyneside, Coun John Anglin and his wife Chris.

Stephen Dods, of Woodvale Drive, Hebburn, whose son, Kristopher, 14, was one of the Durham Army Cadet Force members taking part in the remembrance service, said: "This was one of the most humbling experiences seen in Hebburn for a long time.

"The remembrance service was for Japanese POWs who were held in horrendous conditions at camps in Taiwan during the Second World War.

"It was attended by people from as far afield as Canada and was well supported by the general public. It was a most moving ceremony."

Coun Anglin led the opening prayer, and members of the Hebburn detachment of the Durham Army Cadet Force helped lay wreaths and also formed a guard of honour.

Music was provided by the North East Concert Band.

Tribute to the POWs . . .

Your story must be told because your courage -- and your heroism -- was what led us on to victory.
Your victory was measured in your survival; and in maintaining your faith and your loyalty to your country, when the reward for maintaining that loyalty was continued starvation -- and death.
Your strong heart, great spirit and unyielding faith served as an inspiration to the rest of us. You placed honour before everything, even before having a whole self.
You absorbed with your own bodies the blows that were intended by our enemies for our nation and its people, and you sacrificed your own freedom for the freedom of the world.
And finally, you returned from your service, regained your rightful place in our society, and strengthened your families, your communities, and our nation through your example of courage, and loyalty and continued good citizenship.
We owe you a debt that can never be repaid -what you did must not, and will not, ever be forgotten!

Courtesy American Defenders of Bataan & Corregidor - Adapted

Never Forgotten - The Story of the Taiwan POW's