An annual service to remember the suffering of more than 4,350 Allied prisoners who were imprisoned in Taiwan by the Japanese during World War II is to be held at Jinguashi (金瓜石) in New Taipei City on Nov. 12, the event’s organizers said.
The event, which is to be held at the site of the former Kinkaseki prisoner of war (POW) camp, is being cohosted by the Australian Office in Taipei and the Taiwan POW Camps Memorial Society.
According to the memorial society’s Web site, more than 1,100 Allied prisoners of war were kept captive at Kinkaseki between December 1942 and March 1945.
In total, Taiwan had 14 prisoner of war camps. Conditions were inhumane, with more than 10 percent of the prisoners dying due to disease, starvation and beatings.
Representatives from the Australian Office in Taipei are expected to attend, while past ceremonies have seen former prisoners return from their home nations to pay their respects to their fallen comrades.
Those wishing to attend the event can preregister to take a bus which is to depart from the east side of the Grand Hyatt hotel in Taipei at 9:15am on Nov. 12.
The service is to be followed by a picnic lunch and the bus returns to Taipei at about 2pm.
The cost of the bus service and lunch is NT$500, while the deadline for reservations is 5pm on Wednesday.
Those interested can contact the Australian Office in Taipei for more details on (02) 8725-4137.
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