[quote=“Michael Hurst”]The Taiwan POW Camps Memorial Society and the Bureau of Cultural Affairs of the Taipei City Government will dedicate a plaque in honour of all the American airmen who were held in the Taihoku (Taipei) Prison by the Japanese in World War II and to the fourteen airmen - of the US Army Air Corps and the US Navy, who were executed there on June 19, 1945.
In 2005 a memorial service was conducted at the old prison wall and at that time it was suggested that some kind of memorial plaque should be erected to remember those men. Thankfully, and with the help of the Bureau of Cultural Affairs of the Taipei City Government and the support of the American Institute in Taiwan, this project has now been completed.
The ceremony will take place on Saturday June 20th at 3:00 pm at the old north wall of the former Taihoku (Taipei) Prison - located on Chinshan South Road about a block south of Hsinyi Road on the west side of the street next to the ChungHwa Telecom building.
In the fall of 1944 and throughout the spring of 1945, the Allies - principally the US Army Air Corps and US Navy, carried out many bombing and strafing missions over Taiwan in the drive to defeat the Japanese forces in the Pacific. There were many airman - some fighter pilots, and others who were members of bomber crews, who were shot down or crashed while carrying out their missions over Taiwan. They were captured by the Japanese and taken to the Taihoku Prison for interrogation and incarceration for the remainder of the war. Fourteen of these men were needlessly executed there in June 1945. The courage of these airmen must not be forgotten. Most were between the ages of 19-24. They fought for their country and the cause of freedom. They endured the dangers of war, knowing that every time they took off they might not return to their bases again. They suffered unspeakable horrors and hardships as POWs - and some a frightful and agonizing death. Their families also suffered with the loss of sons, brothers and husbands.
The Minister of Veterans Affairs of the ROC has been invited to participate as well as a representative of the Taipei City Government and the American Institute in Taiwan. We plan to have a wonderful program to honour those Americans who suffered and those who sacrificed their lives for our freedom. Following the wonderful dedication ceremony for the Toroku POW Camp memorial in Douliou on June 6th, the Taiwan POW Camps Memorial Society would like to extend an invitation to you to attend the dedication service. Being a Saturday afternoon, we hope that many will turn out to help us honour those who gave so much. We don’t need a reply to this email unless you have any questions which we would be happy to answer. Just come and join us for this memorable and historic occasion. Thank you again for your interest and your support.
Sincerely,
Michael Hurst MBE
Director, Taiwan POW Camps Memorial Society[/quote]
Democrats Abroad Taiwan will have a Memorial Day wreath-laying at the site of this memorial in honor of America’s fallen servicemen and servicewomen. If anybody is interested in attending, we will meet on May 31st at noon. Afterwards, we will go for lunch.
Yes, US aircraft bombed and strafed a lot of targets in Taiwan.[/quote]
Wu Bai sings about it in 空襲警報 - Air raid warning. he mentions how his grandfather is hit by shrapnel in an attack by American bombers. He also asks why it isn’t better known.
The clear reason is that in Taiwan it simply doesn’t pay to bring up WWII, since you have effectively one side fighting on the side of the Japanese, and the pro-American KMT later arrivals fighting against them. It’s simply too hot a taro to touch.
And for the record, the last “Japanese” soldier to surrender was in fact a Taiwanese aboriginal (Amis).
[quote]Attun Paladin, sometimes referred to as Teruo Nakamura, was the last Japanese soldier to surrender in World War II.* He wasn’t ethnically Japanese, but a Taiwanese native who was conscripted into an auxiliary unit of the Imperial Japanese Army. In 1944, his unit was sent to the island of Morotai, Indonesia. When Japan surrendered the following year, Paladin and other stragglers hid in the jungle until 1954. After a dispute with them, he struck out on his own. Paladin built a hut, planted a garden, and did not see another human being for twenty years. An airplane pilot, however, did see Paladin from the sky and reported his presence to Indonesian authorities.
On 18 December 1974, a unit of Indonesian Army troops trained for this mission surrounded his hut and began singing the Kimigayo — the Japanese national anthem. Paladin did not resist arrest and returned with the soldiers to a military base. Now the hard question: Taiwan was no longer a Japanese colony, so to what country should he be repatriated? Paladin clearly identified with Japan, but had never been to Japan itself and was certainly not ethnically Japanese. After some brief debate in Japan about what it meant to be truly Japanese, he was repatriated to Taiwan on 8 January 1975 to greet a son he had never met and a wife who had remarried twenty years previously. Bitter and confused, Paladin died of lung cancer five years later.[/quote]
There’s more on the US bombing missions in this thread. viewtopic.php?f=12&t=45238
In certain areas, old, of An Ping here, there are round brick ‘oven like’ bomb shelters out side of some old homes. These are from the WWII time frame. Unfortunately, I do not have any pics of these - need to get some.
They are open ended and just look like large brick barrels laying on their side. Usually in pairs.
People I’ve spoken to had questions as to their effectiveness. It seems they were built according to Japanese direction.
I do not know if An Ping was ever bombed by anyone.
