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SYDNEY J. TAVENDER, Vice Chairman of the Japanese Labour Camp Survivors of Great Bri- tain, says of this book: "Here is a story of both suffe- ring and ingenuity. For nearly four years these civi- lian prisoners were forgotten and left to struggle on amid malnutrition and disease. But they faced their ordeals courageously, and after the Allied victory came they returned to their home countries to restart their lives, having lost all their possessions." ABOUT THE BOOK This is a unique book, in that for the first time a description has been given of all the Japanese civilian internment camps in China and Hong Kong. Here the story is told of the major events affecting Allied per- sonnel in China following the raid on Pearl Harbor. A brief history is given of each of the internment camps ― the food, the accommodation and experiences of the inmates. Certain conclusions are formed about the failure of the Japanese government to make adequate provisions for the 11,000 prisoners, half of whom were women and children. The defeat of the Japanese could have ended in the wholesale killing of priso- ners, but providentially they were released after the Japanese surrender without any such incidents. ABOUT THE AUTHOR By the same Author: Dr. Norman Cliff was interned in his late teens, first in Temple Hill, Chefoo, and then in Weixian Courtyard of the Happy Way Camp. He has written of his experiences in these two Hijacked on the Huangpu camps in his widely read Courtyard of the Happy Way. Captive in Formosa His new book, Prisoners of the Samurai, is the fruit of A Flame of Sacred Love further research which he has carried out on all the Ja- panese civilian camps in China and Hong Kong. In it he tells a fascinating story of how 11,000 Allied prisoners N. H. Cliff, 1998 bravely survived the long years of the war. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. The reader will form a picture of squalor, malnu- trition and cramped ac- N. II. Cliff 1925 - commodation, but will also be surprised to meet individual Japanese, who ISBN 0 9533295 0 X acted with humanity and kindness amid the ten- Printed by sions of war. Kall Kwik Printing, 8 Station Parade, Vic- Norman Cliff now toria Road, Romford, Essex RM 1 2JA lives in retirement in Ha- rold Wood, Essex. Published by Courtyard Publishers, P.O. Box 26, Rain- ham, Essex RM13 9EN ISBN 0 9533295 0 X PRISONERS OF THE SAMURAI INTRODUCTION This is an important story which needs to be re- counted, and which to date has only been told in frag- ments. PRISONERS OE THE SAMURAI It is an overview of the sequence of events in Chi- na and Hong Kong in World War II relating to the arrest, FOREWORD imprisonment and release of some 13,000 Allied civilian prisoners; of their experiences good and bad, their forti- It gives me great pleasure to write this Fore- tude and resourcefulness in a sordid environment and word to Prisoners of the Samurai. harsh conditions during the three long years leading up to the Japanese surrender in August, 1945. The story de- Here is a most informative book dealing with scribes events in some thirteen camps (officially called the Japanese camps of civilian internees in China. "Civil Assembly Centres") and five Informal Centres (of It is a unique record of the hardships and brave en- priests, nuns and missionaries). durance of the men, women and children who suf- fered in World War II at the hands of an enemy, Some statistics will serve to put the events into which was ill prepared for the custody of some perspective. From Table I (p.13) it will be seen that 11,000 people in the dozen camps scattered in va- some 200,000' men, women and children were prisoners rious parts of China. in Japanese Camps in the Far East during World War II, Their accommodation, food and general li- of which some 126,000 were civilians. From Table 4 ving conditions fell far short of their basic needs as (p.27) it will be observed that of the 126,000 civilian civilian prisoners, but they bravely improvised and prisoners 11,550 or 9% were in China and Hong Kong. stretched what little they had to keep themselves Outside of China the prisoners were predominantly Dutch ― 128,000 military and civilian, or 65% (Table 1, alive. The young people studied with little in the p.13) ― whilst in China and Hong Kong 9,326 or 81% way of books, paper, pens and equipment; and they were British (Table 2, p.14). Most significant of all are took examinations in their cramped conditions the statistics in Table 3, (p.14) which show that of the which subsequently gained high marks in British 11,550 civilian prisoners 5,864 (4,081 plus 1,783) or institutions of learning. The adults learned new lan- 51% were women and children. guages and skills in Adult Education classes. Here is a story of both suffering and ingenui- In my earlier book, Courtyard of the Happy Way, I ty. For nearly four years these people were forgot- described my experiences in Temple Hill Camp, Chefoo ten and left to struggle on amid malnutrition and (1942 - 1943) and in Weixian (1943 - 1945). The latter disease. But they faced their ordeals courageously, was the main internment camp in north China. In the and after the Allied victory came they returned to present book Weixian is seen as part of a larger story. their home countries to restart their lives, having The majority of the camps were in and around Shanghai. lost all their possessions. Having been a military prisoner myself and also having survived harsh conditions, I have no- I am aware that the Chinese as a nation underwent thing but admiration for these civilian prisoners. indescribable suffering in this prolonged war. I have omitted to describe this, not because it is unimportant, I wish this informative book much success. but because it is outside the scope of this research. May it tell its story to the children and grandchil- dren of the camp survivors, who must tell it to their When General James H. Doolittle was asked if the children, so that this story of tragedy turned to full story of the Japanese War should be told, he replied, triumph may be passed on to future generations. "I think it deserves to be told, not to open old wounds nor to condemn the Japanese. Rather, so that we will all remember what evils an uncontrolled militaristic govern- Sydney J. Tavender, ment can bring to its people, and to point up what the Vice Chairman, consequences can be of our unpreparedness to meet ag- gression." C.V. Clines The Doolittle Raid - America's daring first strike against Japanese Labour Camp Survivors of Great Bri- Japan, Orion Books, New York, ― 1988, p.220 With that reason for writing such a story as this I am in agreement. PRISONERS OF THE SAMURAI In the Bibliography I have acknowledged the many books, diaries and unpublished memoirs which I CONTENTS have consulted, as well as the interviews which I had with former internees. For all this assistance I am deeply grateful. I am especially to the Department of Docu- CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS ments at the Imperial War Museum in London for plac- ing at my disposal the archives and manuscripts availa- ble there on this subject. CHAPTER 1 THE RAID WHICH STARTED IT ALL Mitsuo Mr. Keith Martin has kindly suggested some cor- Fuchida and the Pearl Harbor Raid. The Fall of Hong rections regarding camp statistics as well as the question Kong Internment in Stanley Camp, January 1942 Impris- of international conventions. Mr. Peter Honour of the onment in Shamshuipo, January 1942 Pocket Testament League has supplied me with photos of Mitsuo Fuchida and Jacob De Shazer. Any errors and inaccuracies in this book remain my responsibility. CHAPTER 2 ALLIED PERSONNEL IN THE NORTH CON- My wife, Joyce, has supported me in this project, VERGE ON WEIXIAN and shown infinite patience and encouragement as I After Pearl Harbor - Qingdao, Weihai, Jinan, Tian have toiled on in the research involved. My son James Peking, Chefoo. has helped me with the intricacies of the computer in the final stages. The production of this book has been car- Internment in Temple Hill, Chefoo, November 19 In- ried out with much competence by Jeff Thomson & ternment in Weixian, March 1943 Carole Holland. Temple Hill Camp moves to Weixian Camp, Sept Catholic priests and nuns move from Weixian Cal Infor- mal Centres in Peking, August 1943. It is my hope that the information set out in this book will give a clear picture of the camps in China and Hong Kong, including both the good and the bad as- CHAPTER 3 pects. THE END OF THE GOOD LIFE IN SHANGHAI Bridge House Prison, December 1941 Haifong Road Camp, November 1942 From the Cathedral to Pudong Camp, January 1943 and to Yangzhou Camps A, B & C, February 1943 CHAPTER 4 THE COMPLETION OF INTERNMENT IN SHANGHAI Columbia Country Club Camp - March, 1943 From the Columbia Country Club assembly point Longhua, Yu Yuen Road, Ash and Zhabei Camps, CHAPTER 5 PRIESTS, NUNS & MIS- SIONARIES, AND THE "INFORMAL CEN- TRES" Missionary and Merchant in China The influence of Protestants and Catholics in the camps "Informal Centres" - Shenyang, Harbin, Siping, Xiujiahui, CHAPTER 10 Canton, Peking THE DOOLITTLE RAID AND ITS PRISONERS Kiyoshi Watanabe, the knight in shining armour The Raid, April 1942 Three captured from 6th plane Five captured from 16th plane CHAPTER 6 Executions.

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