Fukuoka #1 POW Camp

Fukuoka #1-B
Pine Tree Camp (Hakozaki)

See special webpages on Fukuoka #1 by Wes Injerd for in depth information on this camp (Location, History, Layout, etc.), including stats on all Fukuoka area camps.

Note: The "B" of #1-B stands for "Branch," meaning a main camp location, as opposed to a "D" or Dispatch camp, to which POW's were dispatched for work with a company there, e.g. at a coal mine.
The designation "601 Fukuoka POW Camp Kashii (Pine Tree Camp)" often seen in search results is simply a GENERIC designation for Fukuoka camps, due to the fact that the Fukuoka Area POW Camp Headquarters was based in Fukuoka City .
Kashii was the 3rd location for Fukuoka #1, and the final location was nearby, in Hakozaki, hidden in a grove of pine trees.

NOTE re Fukuoka POW Camp Group:

Established on January 1, 1943 and initially controlled the branch camps on Kyushu Island, part of the Chugoku area (southwestern Honshu), and the Shikoku area. The branch camps in the Chugoku area and Shikoku area were later separated when the Zentsuji POW Camp and Hiroshima POW Camp Groups were established.

The first Commander was Col. Ijyu Sugasawa. The second Commander was Col. Manjiro Fukumoto.

Fukuoka Main Camp

Yawata Temporal POW Camp, the original Fukuoka POW Camp, was established on November 26, 1942.
The Fukuoka Main Camp office was established on the site of the Western District Army Hdqs. in Fukuoka City on January 1, 1943.
Renamed as Fukuoka Main Camp on March 1, 1943, it took over the duty of Yawata Temporal POW Camp. It held no POWs, being only an administrative office.
Later moved to Nagahama Youth School at Nagahama-cho, chuo-ku, Fukuoka City.
Burned down during the air raid of June 19, 1945, and was moved to Dazaifu Elementary School in Dazaifu-cho, Tsukushi-gun (now Dazaifu City), Fukuoka Prefecture.

Hirao Caves, excerpts from IMTFE - where the Japanese Western Headquarters moved after bombing raids

Short-term Camps without Separate Webpages:

Fukuoka POW Camp #13-D Saganoseki
(NIHON KOGYO SAGANOSEKI SEIREN-SHO)
OITA-ken, KITA-AMABE-gun, SAGANOSEKI-machi
Satellite map
Aerial (Apr. 1947; courtesy of Japan Map Archive)
1944 8 Sep: Established; 203 POWs arrive next day
1945 20 Jun: Terminated; POWs transferred to 17-B Omuta and 8-D Omine
Total = 200 POWs (190 Australian, 10 British; 3 deaths)
POWs were used by Nippon Mining Company and worked at Saganoseki refinery (currently PanPacific Carbide).
Management of camp and Japanese personnel
USAF Bombing Target info for Saganoseki plant

Fukuoka POW Camp #7-D Kudamatsu
(HITACHI SEISAKU-SHO KASATO KOJO)
YAMAGUCHI-ken, KUDAMATSU-shi
Satellite map
Aerial (Mar. 1947; courtesy of Japan Map Archive)
1943 13 Oct: Established
1944 4 Jun: Terminated; POWs transferred to Fukuoka #1-B (Mushiroda)
Total = 154 POWs (Dutch)
POWs were used by Hitachi Manufacturing Company and worked at the factory on Kasado Island.
Japanese personnel
NOTE: Though this camp is in Yamaguchi Pref., Honshu, it was originally under the Fukuoka POW Camp Group jurisdiction.

Primary Labor Use:
POWs were mainly used by the Western Army for airfield construction (Kengun and Mushiroda).
FUK-01_POW_Work_Duty_Records_1945 - shows POW labor during April and May 1945
Payroll Records (RG 407 Box 57) - contains a few pages from the Japanese records of payments to POWs from July 1944 to April 1945
Fukuoka Camps - Management of POW Labor - Includes companies employing POWs, type of work involved, average number of POW laborers, and physical condition of POWs

Japanese Camp Staff:
FUK-01_Japanese_affidavits
FUK-01_Honda and Katsura_photos - infamous guards at the camp

Camp Rosters at Liberation:
Total = 381 POWs (153 American, 140 British, 58 Dutch, 28 Australian, 2 other nationalities; 147 deaths)
FUK-01_Rosters_RG_407_Box_102
FUK-01_Rosters_1946-02-16

US POW transfers from the Philippines to Fukuoka (RG 389 Box 2209) - Red Cross telegram of Sept. 17, 1943, 167 Americans listed
Evacuee rosters for Kyushu camps (RG 407 Box 100) - rosters of Dutch, American, British POWs and civilians at Nagasaki Port (Dejima Docks) in Sept. 1945
Asst. rosters for Fukuoka camps #1~#7 (RG 407 Box 102) - contains also list of missing, AWOL, in local hospitals
Rosters for Fukuoka camps #1~#8 #9~#27 (RG 407 Box 104 Folder 1) - rosters for all nationalities, including next-of-kin, addresses (missing page for Dutch roster Camp #2)
Rosters for Fukuoka camps #14~#27 (RG 407 Box 104 Folders 2 and 3) - standard rosters for all nationalities, including special recovery roster (Dutch, Australian, British) for Fukuoka #17 (Omuta) dated Sept. 14, 1945
Assorted rosters (RG 407 Box 148) - includes camps #6-D Tanoura, #2 Nagasaki, #9 Miyata, #6 Orio
Rosters for POWs evacuated from Fukuoka camps by air (RG 407 Box 104 Folder 4)
Asst. death rosters and certificates (RG 407 Box 187) - Asst. nationalities at Fukuoka camps #2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 13, 14, 21, 23, 25, 27
Additional death rosters (RG 407 Box 191)

Books I, II: Recovered American & Allied personnel, Japan and Korea, compiled 9/23/1945 and 10/24/1945 (images of front covers only; each "book" is about 1-1/2" thick)
Book 6: Australian (1 British included here)
Book 7: American (includes some at Fukuoka #23, Sasebo, Makassar)
Book 8: British (includes some at Makassar), British Indians & English (1 American included here)
Book 9: Dutch (some at Makassar & Java)
Book VI: Unreported deaths - American & Allied military and civilian (includes British, Australian, Dutch)

Interviews & Reports:
Gijsbertus van Donkelaar - images courtesy of Allison van Donkelaar, granddaughter

Affidavits:
FUK-01_Metcalf_questionnaire

Photographs:
Fuk-01-hospital

Testimony at Fukuoka #6:
"...many victims of this scoundrel..."