The Canadian Society in Taiwan and Taiwan Historical Society present:
A War Story: A docudrama about life and death in Taiwan’s prisoner of war camps
WHEN: Friday, November 15, 7
Hey cranky, thanks for putting this out! this topic is fascinating and I’m going to try to attend.
There is also a remembrance day service at the site of the former Prisoner of War camp at Kinkaseki/Jīnguāsh
I would love to be there - my father was also a “guest” of the Japanese from the Fall of Singapore - in Thailand -Burma Railway “project” - Unfortunately I am a little far away to get there.
The bus going to the remembrance day service at Kinkaseki/Jinguashi on Sunday is booked up. There is a web page explaining how to get there yourself. Click over to http://163.25.6.222/~tung/hometown/traffic.html. It’s in Chinese, folks. English explanation coming up here tomorrow if I have time. Basically, you need to find your way to Ruifang by train or bus and then take a bus to Jinguashi.
Alternatively, if anybody can drive there and can offer lifts, please post here, and let the organisers know, too.
Juba, I was wondering if you have the address’ of the former prison camps in Taipei. Is it true that the site of the WTC and the Hyatt was once a POW camp?
There were several camps in Taipei, so that’s a possibility. I’ll try to remember to ask someone tomorrow evening.
What a pity! I only saw the post about the PoW film evening Thursday afternoon; which is too late for me to reschedule work commitments (notice how that sounds more professional than “reschedule bushiban classes.”)
This is one of the rare times I wished I lived in Taipei.
Anyway, thanks for the post, and I’ll have a few drinks in rememberance of the old diggers.
There is a map showing the location of POW camps around Taiwān at www.powtaiwan.org/camps.html. It shows that there were three camps in Taiběi City. I think one of them was in Muzha. The person most likely to be able to answer your question is Michael Hurst of the Taiwan POW Camps Memorial Society. Note: The place names the prisoners heard in the camps were all Japanese, e.g. Taihoku for Taiběi, which makes the places a bit harder to find.
There’s a former POW camp outside Hsintien that I was taken to several years ago by an old man who told me he used to slip vegetables to the men, but there’s really nothing to see anymore – I suppose the buildings were made of wood & bamboo and have long since mouldered away.
Its still very unnerving to wander around there, though.
On another note, what ON EARTH are you doing to that sheep, Chung? I didn’t know you had New Zealand blood in you.
[quote=“sandman”]
On another note, what ON EARTH are you doing to that sheep, Chung? I didn’t know you had Australian blood in you.[/quote]
I had to “edit” your quote a little to make it more correct.
[quote=“sandman”]
On another note, what ON EARTH are you doing to that sheep, Chung? I didn’t know you had Australian blood in you. I see we share a common interest.[/quote]
Wow :shock: :shock: :shock: You really can do ANYTHING to the quotes. 
This is going to make discussions much easier, I can now misquote and it all looks official because of the little white box and the (someone) says blurb. 
I hope more people DON’T catch on
Aussie, NZ, whatever. All’s I know is that there’s no wedding band on that sheep’s trotter, so the fox is definitely not Scottish.
And sorry for taking this thread off topic.
I believe that the Xindian camp I saw is one that is mentioned in Jack Edwards’ “Banzai You Bastards,” but unfortunately, I was there long before I lived in the area, and when I tried to find it again last year, I got totally lost. I suppose its been swallowed up by urban sprawl by now, but if I’m wrong and anyone knows where it is, I’d be grateful for directions.
I feel that all of these places should have at least some kind of marker or memorial.
Ok, back to the topic. Can’t make the film but I am curious about some things regarding the POW camps in Taiwan. What nationalities were kept here? Can you point me in the direction of where to get the info?
Thanks. oh and sorry about getting off topic.
Look at some of the links in the preceding posts, Bassman, or click http://www.powtaiwan.org/kinkaseki/lifeprisoner.html for a comprehensive site.
I would love to know if anyone knows anyway of getting hold of a copy of the film, A War Story, that was mentioned in the first post…
I would love to see it…
Daryl
Here’s a photo I shot over the weekend at Jinguashi.
[quote=“daryl_ks”]I would love to know if anyone knows anyway of getting hold of a copy of the film, A War Story, that was mentioned in the first post…
I would love to see it…
Daryl[/quote]
Since it’s a Canadian movie, I’m guessing the Canadian Trade and Cultura Office would stand a good chance of having it or knowing where to get it.
Not been there yet. Nice shot. What exactly are we looking at there blueface?
Blueface, did you walk through the old ore processing plants in that area?