G. Kostecki Affidavit

Commonwealth of Massachusetts
County of Suffolk
SS.:

I, Walter A. KOSTECKI, Major, 0-357259, MC, now residing at 839 East 5th Street, South Boston, Massachusetts, having had explained to me my rights under the 24th Article of War and being duly sworn, do depose and say:

1. a. I was born in Boston, Massachusetts, 6 March 1911. I am a member of the Officers' Reserve Corps in the United States Army, having been commissioned a First Lieutenant in the Medical Corps on or about 10 June 1937. I was called to active duty 1 November 1939 and was assigned to Fort Ontario, Oswego, New York, where I served as assistant surgeon until 4 July 1940 when I was sent on detached service to Fort Dix, New Jersey. While in New Jersey, I was chief of the Processing Center, examining inductees. This duty continued until 1 January 1941 when I received orders transferring me to the Philippine Department. I went overseas 24 January 1941, arriving at Manila, Philippine Islands, 20 February 1941. I was then attached to Sternberg General Hospital, Manila, from 20 February 1941 to 6 March 1941, as ward surgeon; then from 6 March 1941 to 1 August 1941 I was assistant flight surgeon at Nichols Field, just outside of Manila; from 1 August 1941 until captured two days before the capitulation of Bataan, 7 April 1942, I served as surgeon with the 46th Infantry Regiment, Philippine Scouts.

b. I graduated from Tufts College in June 1933 with a Bachelor of Science degree, having majored in chemistry; received an M.D. degree from George Washington University School of Medicine, Washington, D.C., in June 1937; then for one year interned at Long Island Hospital, Boston Harbor, in a rotating internship; from July 1938, for one year, interned at Union Hospital, Fall River, Massachusetts, likewise in a rotating internship; then from July 1939 served as resident physician at Long Island Hospital, Boston Harbor, in a rotating residency. In November 1939 I went on active duty in the United States Army. During my service in the Medical Corps of the United States Army, I performed a large amount of surgery during my one year at Fort Ontario Station Hospital, Oswego, New York, as assistant post surgeon, which work included performance of many major operations, obstetrics and gynecology, in addition to the regular work of medicine. While serving as assistant flight surgeon at Nichols Field, Philippine Islands, and as surgeon with the 45th Infantry Regiment, Philippine Scouts, I performed the duties of assistant regimental surgeon and battalion surgeon, which included the treatment of medical illnesses, diagnoses of surgical conditions, in peacetime; and included frontline treatment of emergency surgical cases and medical cases during the Battle of Bataan. During my medical school training at George Washington University School of Medicine, I studied nutritional diseases, which course was part of my general medical course, and also had experience in nutritional diseases at Gallinger Hospital, Washington, D.C.; Emergency Hospital, Washington, D.C.; and Children's Hospital, Washington, D.C., I had additional experience in nutritional diseases while serving with the 45th Infantry Regiment, Philippine Scouts, in Bataan.

c. Upon being captured two days before the capitulation of Bataan, 7 April 1942, by a Japanese Infantry unit, the name of which I do not know but which was situated at the junction of Trails 8 and 6, Second Corps of frontline, Bataan, I was forced to serve as a cargador with the Japanese Infantry for five days. I then was ordered on "The Death March" from Bataan to San Fernando. I was held at a San Fernando schoolyard for two days and three nights; I was left there with about 50 of the most seriously wounded and ill Americans who were awaiting death or new strength to continue their journey. From 19 April 1942 to 23 January 1945, I was held at Camp O'Donnell from 24 January 1943 to 23 February 1943, I was held at Cabanatuan, in the Province of Nueva Ecija. I was then taken with a 200-man medical group to Japan. From 17 March 1944 to 17 April 1944, I was held at Camp No. 1, Fukuoka, Island of Kyushu, Japan. This camp moved twice during my incarceration there. It was first at Kashi, suburban Fukuoka, where it consisted of a warehouse camp of about 300 English, 10 to 12 Dutch and 4 Americans. About 17 April 1944 I moved with the camp to an airport about two miles from the city limits of Fukuoka and five miles from Kashi. On or about the 25th of April 1944, we were joined by about 100 American civilian prisoners of war who were taken at Wake Island by the Japanese. In May of the same year, we were later joined by approximately an additional 200 Malayan and Dutch prisoners of war who were taken in the Netherlands East Indies. We moved to a camp, the name of which we did not know but which was named by us the Pine Tree Camp since it was situated in a pine tree grove, on or about the 19th of January 1945. This latter camp was about four miles from the airfield, two miles from Kashi and about a mile from Fukuoka city limits. The Japanese organization of these camps was the same and the camp always called Fukuoka Camp No. 1.

2. a. The commanding officer of Fukuoka Camp No. 1 from March of 1944 to the latter part of April 1945 was Yuhichi SAKAMOTO whose rank at that time was First Lieutenant in the Japanese Imperial Army. He is between 35 and 40 years of age now; about 5' 5" tall; weighing approximately 150 pounds; probably a little more swarthy than the average Jap; close-cropped black hair; he wore no glasses that I knew of; his actions were very peasant-like and took a great deal of pleasure getting into peasants' clothing and ambling around the camp.

b. During my incarceration at Fukuoka Camp No. 1, which includes these three camps above described, I had approximately l00 English, Australian, Dutch and American deaths. At no time was I permitted to keep clinical records. Upon the death of an individual, the Japanese made up their own clinical records without any knowledge of the patient's illness and insisted that I sign these records to which was attached a death certificate. I signed these death certificates under duress. Since these records were in Japanese script and since I was not able to read them, I informed the Japanese, through Masato HATA whose position was that of Japanese medical corpsman and compiler of Japanese medical records at Fukuoka Camp No. 1, that I was signing under duress. The Japanese had posted in the camp rules and regulations for the camp which included absolute obedience to Japanese orders regardless of what the orders were. If any order was not carried out, it constituted "failure to co-operate" with the Japanese which was regarded by the Japanese as actions verging on sabotage and therefore punishable by death. Thus, when I was ordered to sign the death certificates, I could do nothing else but sign them--practically on threat of death.

c. In almost all instances of my signing death certificates, I examined the bodies prior to signature. I was permitted to keep no records whatsoever of my medical findings at the time of these examinations. As a matter of fact, no prisoner held by the Japanese was permitted to keep any pencils, paper, pen or ink as such things were called playthings by the Japanese, and we were told by the Japanese that only children played with pencils and paper. Upon my arrival at Fukuoka Camp No. 1, the few personal articles I did have were searched thoroughly and all papers, books and pencils--I had no pen--were confiscated. From recollection, however, I do know the main cause of death was malnutrition and secondary to the malnutrition was pneumonia, diarrhea or dysentery, and, in a number of cases, beatings.

3. Yuhichi SAKAMOTO, the commanding officer of the camp, was definitely responsible for the death of prisoners at Fukuoka Camp No. 1 as follows:

a. Officer prisoners who reported atrocities committed by Japanese personnel to SAKAMOTO were immediately confronted in SAKAMOTO's presence with the Japanese individual regarding whom the complaint was made. In substance, the questioning and conversation were as follows: SAKAMOTO would ask the Japanese individual, who had been reported, about the incident. The Japanese concerned would deny the atrocity charged. SAKAMOTO would then turn to the reporting officer prisoner and say, "Japanese soldier says that he did not do this. Why are you lying? Why are you trying to get Japanese soldier in trouble?" The officer prisoner would answer that his charge was true and SAKAMOTO would answer, "Japanese soldier never lies." SAKAMOTO would then turn the officer prisoner into the custody of the Japanese soldier for disciplining. The Japanese soldier would then take the officer prisoner outside and administer a thorough beating. Under this system, it was impossible in most instances to report the atrocities or non-co-operation on the part of Japanese personnel to the commanding officer, SAKAMOTO, and thus Japanese personnel were allowed to commit atrocities and administer beatings to the prisoners at will with little fear of punishment by their commanding officer. This, in my opinion, amounted to direct co-operation by SAKAMOTO with his personnel in allowing atrocities, mistreatment and starvation of the prisoners, all of which were major contributing factors to death in many instances.

b. To Fukuoka Camp No. 1, nonperishable foodstuffs were sent approximately once a month. These supplies consisted of rice, dried fish and dried seaweed. Perishables, such as meat, fresh fish and vegetables, were sent in periodically; for example, once in two weeks, once a month and sometimes not until two or even three months had elapsed. These always came in small quantities. As soon as nonperishables arrived in camp as specified above, the Japanese organization of the camp began systematically to cut rations of the prisoners, and, before the month had finished, a number of bags of rice, dried fish and seaweed would be left over. These leftovers, which amounted many times to approximately 50% of the prisoners' food rations, were then placed upon a truck by Japanese personnel in full view of Yuhichi SAKAMOTO and taken away from the camp to an unknown destination. Whenever the Japanese commanding officer of all the prison camps at Kyushu arrived for an inspection, all surplus stores were hidden from view. These were taken from the camp by the Japanese and later returned after the high Japanese inspecting officer had gone. SAKAMOTO witnessed these activities. About two or three days after surplus goods were taken by truck away from the camp as described above, a load of food of inferior quality, such as bean flakes, rice sweepings and mildewed wheat would arrive at the camp. These inferior articles were then mixed with rice and we were given then a diet consisting of a mixture of rice and the above-mentioned inferior foods. It was common knowledge among prisoners at the camp that the Japanese in charge of the camp, including the commanding officer, Yuhichi SAKAMOTO, were profiteering by transactions in surplus food as suggested above. By exchanging a few bags of surplus rice, for example, at some unknown place in some unknown way, for a comparatively larger amount of cheaper foodstuffs than rice, a worthwhile profit on the transaction was made available to the Japanese.

c. Perishable foods were received at the camp at periods of time ranging from three weeks to two to three months. Upon receipt of meat into the camp, which never amounted to more than 50 kilograms for approximately 600 men, the Japanese garrison would help themselves to more than half of the meat and then turn the balance over to the camp for the feeding of prisoners, which never amounted to more than 30 kilograms for the whole camp. The same may be said for vegetables and fish. Vegetables in particular were a sore point because in the case of such items as tuber vegetables, turnips, carrots, onions, etc., the root itself would be taken by the Japanese and the tops would be fed to the prisoners. We were issued the rotten bottoms and the tops of all vegetables and the Japanese helped themselves to the carrots, turnips, onions, etc. The Japanese rations were not included in our ration strength and anything that had been taken from the prisoners' warehouse was, in addition to their own Army ration. I wish to state at this point that the Japanese garrison at Fukuoka Camp No. 1 at all times--and I know because I and other prisoners were forced to wait on tables in Japanese messes--had an overabundance of foods both perishable and nonperishable, for their own use. At no time during my incarceration at Fukuoka Camp No. 1 did I observe a shortage of any food items in the Japanese garrison.

d. I wish to point out that the preparation of food which the prisoners were permitted to make under Japanese supervision was a definite contributing factor to the death of many of the prisoners. The Japs would issue us a daily ration of fuel for the purpose of preparing the food. This fuel never amounted to more than enough to keep the fires in the prison galley going for more than an hour at the most. As the result of this, food was undercooked and could not be prepared in a form which the prisoners could digest, particularly in their weakened, starved and, in many cases, diseased condition. Thus, the diet which was given to the prisoners and which was so low in calorific value that it would barely sustain resting metabolism in anyone was rendered by improper preparation to even lower value as food. I and other doctor prisoners reported to Yuhichi SAKAMOTO, the commanding officer, through the interpreter, KATSURA, that the majority of the camp, probably 70 to 80%, had developed a severe acute dysentery or diarrhea and were passing undigested uncooked rice and bean kernels and vegetables. The answer to the protest was usually the same, briefly as follows: "Japan is a very poor country, has very little wood and coal." Meanwhile, I and other prisoners, from personal observation of the stoves in the Japanese galleys and wood piles, knew that the Japanese had adequate fuel available for the preparation of their own food.

e. Red Cross food, which was sent to us in the form of prisoner of war food parcels, was kept in the Japanese storeroom in the camp and issued to us at the pleasure of SAKAMOTO. During the entire time I was in Fukuoka Camp No. 1, the prisoners received only two issues of Red Cross foodstuffs. One issue of Red Cross foodstuffs was made about Christmas of 1944 and the other issue of Red Cross foodstuffs was made in February of 1945. At the time of each of these issues, we were not given full, complete Red Cross parcels. Rather, at the time of each issue, Red Cross food parcels were broken open by the Japanese at SAKAMOTO's direct order and individual food items parceled out to the prisoners. SAKAMOTO, who had apparently set himself up as a medical authority and who would not take the medical advice or suggestions of Allied doctor prisoners who advised that meat and milk from the Red Cross parcels were exactly what the prisoners needed in their diet to cure their malnutrition and improve their physical condition, took the milk and meat articles from the Red Cross food parcels and stored them separately in a warehouse. These items SAKAMOTO stated would, if fed to the prisoners, cause serious diarrhea, and, for that reason, he would not issue them to the prisoners. Actually, however, these meat and milk items of Red Cross foodstuffs were stored under conditions which permitted ready access by both SAKAMOTO and Japanese personnel working at the camp. I have personally observed Japanese personnel take these Red Cross items for their own use, and I know that at least the canned milk was taken by Japanese personnel to the city of Fukuoka and sold for barter on the black market. In one instance that I recall very well, I acted as the carrier of cans of milk for Masato HATA, a Japanese medical corpsman, in transporting the milk to Fukuoka. At another time, I saw Masato HATA gorging himself on Red Cross food items in plain view of the prisoners at the camp.

f. During the time I was at Fukuoka Camp No. 1, an accurate day-by-day food record was kept which was entrusted to the care of 1st Lt. Fritz DuWyn of the Royal Netherlands Army in Java. He can be reached at this address and I believe can make these food records available.

g. During my incarceration by the Japanese at Fukuoka Camp No. 1, at no time were sufficient facilities provided for the washing of prisoners' clothes or of their persons. The prisoners were not issued any soap except on very rare occasions. During one period of eleven months no soap at all was issued and then the Japanese gave out one small cake of soap for the use of four men. During all this period there was plenty of soap available in the camp. The Japanese had sufficient soap of their own and, in addition, they had large quantities of soap which they took from Red Cross packages and set aside.

4. a. During my imprisonment at Fukuoka Camp No. 1, I worked as a doctor in the prison camp hospital. Upon my arrival at Fukuoka Camp No. 1, Kyushu, Japan, I noticed the following medical setup or organization for the care and treatment of the Allied prisoners of war held by the Japanese. There was a Japanese medical administrative building which was made up of about five very small rooms. One room was used as a medical dispensary and first-aid room, and the other rooms were used by the Japanese for preparation of medical records as mentioned above and for the storing of Japanese and American Red Cross medical supplies. Another building was set aside and was called a hospital. This hospital did not contain beds; patients were allotted floor space. The space allotted to each patient was about two feet wide and the length of his body in length. This resulted in overcrowding. Each patient was forced to lie on the floor using an issue of four Japanese army blankets and using as a pillow a bag filled with rice husks. Ventilation was extremely poor and consisted of two windows at either end of the building and no roof vent. The Japanese permitted no electric lights during the daytime, so that the inside of the hospital room was in semidarkness. Sanitation was poor or lacking. Latrines consisted of pits, ten or fifteen feet from the building. There were no urinals or bedpans in the hospital. There were no separate bathing facilities for the so-called hospital. The patients were required to use the only bathing facilities supplied to all the prisoners, which consisted of three wooden tubs, four feet by six feet, by four feet deep. These tubs were filled with water, sometimes hot, sometimes cold, but which was not changed except at the end of a bathing period, usually about a week. During the bathing period, six hundred men, including patients at the hospital, had the use of these three wooden tubs. I would like to say here that the prisoners in the ten barracks including the hospital alternated in priority in taking a bath first. This permitted rotation of clean water to each barrack about once every two months. Men in those barracks whose turn was not first, therefore, had to bathe, if at all, in tubs of dirty water used by many men before them, since the prisoners worked at hard manual labor at airfields, in warehouses and lumberyards, the water in the tubs became very dirty. Many men who were last to bathe took no bath at all.

b. Within two weeks after I arrived at Fukuoka Camp No. 1, I was called by Masato HATA to identify for the Japanese by name certain specific items of medical supplies made up wholly of Red Cross medical supplies. At that time I was under the impression that my identifications were for the purpose of enabling the Japanese to issue these Red Cross medical supplies to prisoners of war at Camp No. 1 and other subcamps. While making these identifications I saw that there were available large supplies of Red Cross medical, dental, and surgical equipment and medicines. However, these Red Cross medical supplies were at no time issued to me or to other prisoners. In other words, although large quantities of Red Cross supplies were available they were not issued for medical care of the prisoners who were required to get along with little or no medicines. The medical supplies which were issued by the Japanese to me as a doctor in the so-called prisoner hospital of Fukuoka Camp No. 1 consisted almost entirely of Japanese proprietary quack medicines. When the Japanese issued these quack medicines to me they would check off a similar quantity to that issued of American Red Cross medicines; for example, when the Japanese issued a pound or kilo of Japanese dysentery powder they would check off a kilo of Red Cross sulfanilamide medication as having been used. The doctor prisoners at the camp meanwhile had a fund which they set up out of their own money for the purchase of medicines for the prisoner patients. This fund was secret and was used in a secret arrangement with Masato HATA, the Japanese two-star private, medical orderly. When a particular medicine was needed in a serious case, money was taken from the above-described fund and given to HATA with the understanding that he would provide the required medicine. The medicine obtained by HATA under this arrangement was always Japanese proprietary medicines and was not Red Cross medicine. In addition to the above fund, I had a personal and secret arrangement with Masato HATA whereby I paid him out of my own personal money anywhere from ten to thirty yen per month merely to insure that he would fill my prescriptions more quickly than he would have done otherwise. Even under this arrangement, Masato HATA ordinarily took twenty-four to forty-eight hours to fill any prescription, but I made the arrangement, to insure as best I could some medical supplies for the most seriously ill of my patients. Before I made this arrangement, and in a number of instances after the arrangement, Masato HATA made it a practice to tear up a number of prescriptions daily. In June and July of 1944 Masato HATA went through my pile of prescriptions and tore them up at will, many times acting the part of a medical authority who felt that certain items were not necessary.

c. As for medical instruments, I saw medical, surgical, and dental equipment among the Red Cross items stored by the Japanese. When I requested a stethoscope, thermometers and certain dental instruments which I knew the Japanese had on hand among the Red Cross items, I was refused. My request for these items went through Masato HATA.

d. I would like to explain here the system used by the Japanese in hospitalizing prisoner patients. Each day at five o'clock, in the afternoon sick call was held. There was no other time that a prisoner could see a doctor. Emergencies were not permitted. When a sick patient reported to sick call at the five o'clock in the afternoon the Allied prisoner doctor would take the man's temperature, make his medical diagnosis and write his findings on a slip of paper provided by the Japanese for that express purpose. If the Allied doctor so ordered, the ill prisoner did not work the following day. However, before a sick prisoner could be relieved from working the following day, the slips of paper with the Allied doctor's diagnosis were reviewed by Masato HATA prior to the sick men being examined by the Japanese doctor. If the Japanese doctor decided that the man was sick enough, in his opinion, then the sick patient did not have to work that day, and was admitted to the hospital. If, however, a man was considered well enough to work by the Japanese doctor, even though this finding was directly contrary to the finding of the Allied doctor, then the sick patient had to work regardless. Under this system many injustices prevailed, to the great detriment of the patients; and in many cases there resulted a beating for the Allied doctor concerned. In malaria cases, for example, when a sick patient came to sick call at five o'clock in the afternoon his temperature might have been taken and recorded on the slip by the Allied doctor as anywhere from 101 to 104 degrees. Masato HATA took the temperature of the malarial patient the following morning, which obviously would be normal since it is a well-known medical fact that malarial patients do not have a long protracted temperature and are usually normal after a period. Masato HATA then would accuse the prisoner doctor of having falsified Japanese medical records and then the officer in question would be subjected to questioning and sometimes a beating from HATA.

e. Masato HATA, each day while I was at Fukuoka Camp No. 1, directed calisthenics which were held early in the morning outside the barracks, both winter and summer, rain or shine. Prisoners of war, including patients in the hospital that were able to get up, were required to go outside, strip to their underwear, and do the calisthenics under Masato HATA's direction. In each case regarding prisoner patients at the hospital, Masato HATA made the decision as to which patients were able to get up from their beds and engage in the exercises. If a prisoner doctor stated that in his opinion a patient was not medically fit to take these exercises as, for example, if the patient had serious boils, high temperature, or otherwise was disabled, then Masato HATA looked the patient over and in most cases decided that the prisoner doctor was wrong and that the patient could do the exercises. The calisthenics were conducted each morning as follows: the officer prisoners and the enlisted prisoners were lined up and directed in their calisthenics by Masato HATA. After a series of calisthenics the officer prisoners were dismissed, but the enlisted prisoners were required, to continue the calisthenics until they were exhausted. After the officers were dismissed, I made it a practice to stand around and watch the calisthenics which were required by Masato HATA of the enlisted men. Each day Masato HATA, who carried a long bamboo replica of a samurai sword, beat the prisoners about the head, body, arms and legs with the wooden sword to urge them on to greater effort in their exercises. Those prisoners who were too weak, or who had weakened to the point where they could net raise their arms or legs or otherwise do the exercises, were especially beaten to make them carry on further. I have witnessed serious beatings administered many times to weak and seriously ill prisoners under the circumstances as above described. I should like to add that practically every day those prisoners who were weakest were singled out to remain after the group taking calisthenics was dismissed. These weaker prisoners were then required by Masato HATA to run around the compound until they fell from sheer exhaustion; most of them fell unconscious. I would also like to point out that the commanding officer of Fukuoka Camp No. 1, Yuhichi SAKAMOTO often witnessed the calisthenics by the prisoners as conducted and directed by Masato HATA. SAKAMOTO during these exercises witnessed and condoned the brutal and inhuman treatment, including the beatings administered to the prisoners, by Masato HATA as above described.

f. In my opinion these calisthenics required of the prisoners, directed by Masata HATA and sometimes witnessed by the commanding officer, Yuhichi SAKAMOTO, were a contributing factor in the death of some of the prisoners. The weaker prisoners who were subjected to these brutal calisthenics and who later died included the following Americans: G. W. Lohman, U. S. Navy, Fernandina, Florida; Hank Gottlieb and Peter W. Hansen, both civilians, prisoners taken by the Japanese at Wake Island. All of these men after a series of these daily calisthenics became so sick that it was impossible for them to stand it any longer; they were held in the hospital a short period of time, in some cases a week, and then died. Some Englishmen who died under the same circumstances were as follows: Trooper T. Hustwick, 7877969, Wallingford, England, who died 2 August 1945; Gunner J. Dickens, 1700325, of Rushden, Northampton, England, who died February 9, 1945; Gunner A. T. Lyalle, 18333000, of Bristol, England, who died January 22, 1945; and also one Australian, S Sgt. P. A. Sims, NX-50743 of New South Wales, Australia, who died July 28, 1945. The above-named men and others who died after May of 1945 when SAKAMOTO left Fukuoka Camp No. 1 died as a result, although delayed, of beatings and deficiencies which occurred during or prior to May of 1945 while Yuhichi SAKAMOTO was in charge as commanding officer of the camp.

g. Trooper Hustwick, 7877969, English, Wallingford, England, was admitted to the hospital under my supervision approximately in May of 1945. At that time his chief complaint was dizziness, extreme weakness and fainting spells. He remained in the hospital until about the middle of July 1945 when he was discharged by Masato HATA against my advice. The man was returned to duty and worked as best he could carrying lumber, each day coming to sick call complaining of dizziness, weakness, and fainting. He was brought into the hospital in a semi-comatose condition on the evening of the first of August 1945, for readmittance, and died the morning of the second. About three days before he died I saw him as he was forced to engage in the calisthenic exercises under the direction of Masato HATA as above described. In his condition, with symptoms of dizziness and fainting, he was certainly in no condition to do calisthenics, and, in my opinion, although I do not recall whether or not he was beaten that day by Masato HATA, his condition was so aggravated by the calisthenics, especially when taken with consideration at the cumulative effect of calisthenics and beatings over a previous period of time, that these calisthenics were a definite factor in causing his death three days later.

5. Corporal William Ivarson, a prisoner of war whom I knew well at Fukuoka Prison Camp No. 1, was a man who was on a working party continually. He reported to sick call occasionally, but not too frequently. His physical condition was fair. By that I mean that he showed evidence of starvation and malnutrition, but was otherwise in fair condition. At about two o'clock in the morning one day in February 1945 I was called in to give medical treatment to Ivarson. When I found him he was unconscious; and although I knew the man I did not at first recognize him from his appearance. As soon as I was told who he was, I recognised him immediately. I then took his pulse which I found to be very rapid; and he looked as though he were going to die. I might say at this point that I always had to plead with the Japanese for their permission to have men hospitalized. In this instance, by the time I had made arrangements with the Japanese for hospitalization of Ivarson he was dead. At this time I heard from fellow prisoners whom I knew well and whom I know to be reliable that Ivarson received a serious beating from a guard named HONDA, nicknamed "The Slob." HONDA, I know from personal experience and observation, particularly well because of beatings which he gave me personally, frequently and regularly came into the hospital and gave severe beatings to patient under my care. I, therefore, have no doubt but what HONDA administered the beating to Ivarson as stated above. When I reported the death of Ivarson to Masato HATA his answer was, "Yoroshi, yoroshi mina shinda tihen yoroshi" (phonetic) (Very good, very good all men die).

6. I recall Tom Holland as a civilian prisoner of war of the Japanese who was taken prisoner by them at Wake Island. I believe that I treated him for malnutrition but I do not at this time recall treating him for a beating. However, I treated so many patients for beatings that I may have forgotten specific treatment I may have given to him.

7. I knew a William Hansen at Fukuoka Prison Camp No. 1, Japan, from approximately April 1944 until time of Japanese capitulation. I do not recall having treated him for any particularly serious illness or beatings.

8. I met Lt. Colonel Alva Fitch of the Royal Artillery, British Army, after our liberation and sometime in September 1945. I know nothing, therefore, of medical treatment afforded to Lt. Colonel Fitch in 1945 prior to the time I met him.

9. The commanding officer of Fukuoka Camp No. 1 was named Yuhichi SAKAMOTO (phonetic) or Yuhichi SAKOMOTO (phonetic). The two-star private, medical orderly, was Masato HATA (phonetic) or Masato HADA (phonetic).

10. I have no further information to add regarding conditions or personnel at Fukuoka Camp No. 1, Kyushu, Japan.

(signed)

Walter A. Kostecki
Major, Medical Corps

WITNESS:

(signed)
T. Howard
Special Agent, SIC

Subscribed and sworn to before me this 21st day of FEBRUARY 1946. (signed)
Edward A. Frome
(Notary Public)
My commission expires 17 March 1947

Taken at: Hq First Service Command, Boston 15, Massachusetts
Date: 21 February 1946
In the Presence of: Edward T. Howard
Special Agent, SIC

H. Cooper Report

Office of the Surgeon General
23 APR 1946

1. INTRODUCTION

As the head of the U.S. Army Medical Department in the Philippines at the outbreak of the War with Japan, I feel it is my duty and responsibility to make a report to higher authority on the activities of the Medical Department during the period of my responsibility.

This is necessarily a narrative report, largely from memory, assisted by medical officers who held key positions in the Medical organization during the brief initial campaign in the Philippines.

Several other officers who held important positions and who would have been selected to assist in this report died either during the War or during captivity and their records were captured or destroyed. Some records were recovered on the recapture of the Philippines, and I feel confident that a prolonged study and evaluation of the data from these sources should and will eventually be made. I believe a record of achievement was made by our group to which we can all look back with pride and confidence that our contribution to the war effort under the most trying circumstances measured up to the best traditions of the Medical Department.

I wish to give a balanced credit of achievement to the entire Medical Department both during the Philippine Campaign and including the prisoner of war phase. The Japanese authorities selected certain medical personnel for medical work at the various camps arbitrarily at times. It was a matter then entirely out of the hands of the senior Medical officers present and just as in other matters of camp administration, the senior line officers had no rank and found themselves doing farm work assigned to them by squad leaders, their juniors in rank, just so the senior Medical officers were given no prerogatives or authority in accordance with their rank.

I know of no group of Medical officers who ever lived through such a trying experience as that capable group of medical prisoners of war trying to practice medicine under the supervision of ignorant Japanese soldiers in most cases, with practically no medical supplies and equipment -- and they themselves often suffering from the same debilitating ailments they were attempting, often unsuccessfully, to treat in their fellow prisoners of war.

I feel confident that very soon there should be available for publication in our various medical journals articles by these Medical officers filled with firsthand knowledge obtained from the real "crucible of experience." These doctors practiced medicine under the most difficult circumstances possible and observations made, especially in deficiency diseases, should be of permanent value. Malaria, the dysentaries, and deficiency diseases were our main problems, both during and following the siege of Bataan and Corregidor.

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H. Fukuoka Camp #1 [Hakozaki].

The survivors of the death cruise [Oryoku-maru], having arrived at Moji, Japan, January 30th [1945], remained aboard the ship until the morning of January 31st, at which time they were taken on deck and given an issue of clothing consisting of a suit of cotton underwear, a pair of woolen Jap Army breeches, a heavy canvas jacket and a pair of tennis shoes. After the clothing issue was made, they were taken ashore to an old theater building. The seriously ill were the last to be moved and with customary Japanese efficiency the cargo net was lowered. This time boards were furnished to make a floor in the bottom of the net. A patient was loaded and the attendants stood by waiting for him to be lifted out, but soon a Jap sentry appeared with the usual "hurry up" and made them load the net with three or four other patients before they would raise it. In this manner the hold was cleared of sick and the few remaining wounded in short order.

All were taken to the theater building, which was not heated. Here most of that day was spent, while the Japanese busied themselves dividing the prisoners into three groups, viz., a hospital group, and two groups of what they classed as well men. The writer in the meantime was kept busy signing his name to death certificates in blank form to enable the Japanese officer in charge of this move to account for his prisoners. Such was the physical state of these prisoners upon arrival at Moji that several others died during the time that was spent in this theater while the Japanese made up their rosters. Finally, when everything was in order, the ambulances came to take the hospital group away and while this was in progress the other "well" group was marched away, and then the group to which I was attached was marched to the station, where it entrained for Fukuoka Camp #1. We were met at the station in the town of Kashii by some American prisoners from Wake Island who took us by truck to Camp #1. An American, British or Australian Red Cross overcoat was issued to each man before entrucking. We arrived in camp well after dark and were served a meal of cooked rice, soup, and a warm drink of Japanese tea.

The camp at Fukuoka was new and some buildings were still under construction. The framework of these buildings was of native lumber and bamboo with tar-paper roofs. The outer walls were of 1/4-inch lumber and were about three feet high from the ground to the eaves. The ends were plastered with a red mud stuck on a lathing of split bamboo. The floors were sand and only an open passageway down the center from one end to the other separated the sleeping bays that extended down each side of the building. There was no heat and no furniture in the buildings but each man was issued six ersatz blankets to use in making his bed and for cover, which was inadequate, but a better break than had been expected.

Everyone was allowed to stay in bed for the first week or ten days after our arrival at this camp until one day the Japanese doctor came through and made a separate classification of those who were able to be up and those who were not. From that time on the "well" men were required to get up at 6:30 AM and as soon as morning rice was served and the roll call taken, had to clear the building and remain outside, except for thirty minutes at 10:00 AM and one hour at noon, until 4:30 PM. It was a strange sight to see these ghosts of men out walking to avoid freezing to death. All were so weak they could hardly creep and many could only huddle together against the side of the building to keep warm. The unconscious and dying and those who could not get up under their own power were allowed to remain in their bunks.

After a few days, a representative from headquarters in Fukuoka came out to inspect and inquire into our needs and I personally gave him a list of the medical supplies that were needed and laid great stress upon the needs for additional food, emphasizing that if any Red Cross parcels were available they would do us the greatest good now in this our most critical time. As a result, this inspection eventually netted us one small Red Cross package for each three men, and a smattering of medical supplies, which were left under the control of the Japanese doctor and which we were never able to get in sufficient quantity even to approach meeting our needs.

After a few more days a Japanese colonel came in to inspect the camp, and after his tour was over word was sent for all Medical officers to report to him outside, in the front of the building. This was done, and after making a short introductory speech he asked each Medical officer for his opinion on what we needed most. The answers were unanimously food and medicines. Specific types of food were requested, such as meats, milk, and butter, and again Red Cross parcels were requested. His reply was typically Japanese. He agreed that we needed everything that was requested, but stated that these things were scarce and very difficult to obtain. Replying specifically to our request for Red Cross parcels he said, "You are very hungry now and I am afraid if we give you these parcels now, you will eat them too quickly and waste them and they will do you no good." In reply to a request for more blankets he countered with the statement that Japanese soldiers were given only five blankets and that we were issued six. It was useless to point out that these men had lost all their fatty tissues and were sick men and therefore needed more bedding.

There were some cases of Red Cross medicines seen in camp by men working in the Japanese warehouses, but to get any drugs of either Japanese or American origin, prescriptions had to be made out and turned in to the Japanese doctor for approval. he made these decisions arbitrarily without seeing the patients and without so much as consulting the American doctor who submitted them. They were usually disapproved or some worthless preparation substituted. Even when a prescription was approved, the dose was always reduced to a noneffective amount. To get around this latter handicap, we tried putting in for two patients when only one required the drug, but this proved to be of little help. We could not seem to beat the system.

The food ration at this camp consisted of a mixture of rice and "koreon" (a small grain which looked much like milo maize or a cross between milo maize and broom corn). The rice was of a type that seemed to be particularly hard to digest and the "broom corn seed" seemed to pass through the human intestinal tract almost unaltered in its appearance. The soup usually consisted of boiled "dikon" (a large white radish) and at the evening meal frequently contained a few grams of dried fish. On several occasions a small squid was served for each two men. The amount of food received at this camp might have been sufficient to maintain weight at its present level had it been a digestible type of grain, but certainly no one showed any appreciable gain in weight. I was still holding my own at 117 pounds when we left the camp on April 25th and that weight included considerable edema of the lower extremities. Some men at this camp had weights recorded as low as eighty-seven pounds and survived. (Example of severe weight loss at Changi Camp, China, after liberation.)

The diet here was a salt-free diet except for the natural salts contained in the food elements and the craving for salt became almost unbearable, but the weather was cold and no disaster resulted. The Japanese realizing this salt shortage asked the Americans to submit plans for extracting salt from sea water but nothing ever came of it. The following story is cited to illustrate the extreme craving for salt: While working on a manure-carrying detail, some salt was discovered along the picket line where it had been spilled while salting the animals. It was a coarse granular type of salt and was picked up with as little manure as possible, taken back to camp where the crystals of salt were separated from the manure and dissolved in boiling water. This was allowed to stand until the dirt settled out and the salt water was decanted off and sterilized by boiling and then used as a liquid to season the rice.

Some time in March the Japanese started issuing flour to bake bread for the dysentery patients and this was issued in lieu of the rice and maize ration, and although it was too late to benefit most of the serious cases, who had already died, it did aid considerably in helping our remaining dysentery patients to recover. Bone-marrow broth was served to this group on three or four occasions, not frequently enough however to be of any real value.

Water was plentiful but had to be boiled before it was potable. This fact alone made it impossible to get an adequate supply, because of the fuel shortage. Consequently, men drank the water directly from the well. It was an open shallow well about eight feet to the water level, and not twenty feet away was an open sump where feces and urine were mixed in preparation for putting it on the vegetable garden. Warning was given not to use this water unboiled but little attention was ever paid to that warning.

The death rate at this camp was fairly high. The exact figures I do not recall but it was something like fifty-two deaths out of the group of 192 men that came originally to Camp Number 1. These figures may not be exact but I am sure they are approximately correct.

On April 25th the groups from the other two camps were brought to Fukuoka and joined us in another cruise from Fukuoka, Japan, to Fusan in Korea. The American officer who was with the hospital group has stated that of the 110 men who were sent to the hospital in Moji only thirty had survived. No information on deaths was obtained from the other group and the first group was separated from them upon arrival in Fusan. They were sent to Manchuria and the first group was sent on to Jinsen in Korea. At the docks in Fukuoka an American Medical officer was called upon to see an officer who was in a dying condition from pneumonia. The Japanese doctor there gave the Medical officer medicine for him and some morphine to ease his pain. Before the officer died that night he was asked whether he had been forced to come on this move or had come by choice. His reply was that the Japs would not authorize him to remain in Fukuoka. This is a typical instance of how men were moved from place to place when it was evident that they were in no condition to survive the move. I do not recall ever making an overnight move from Bataan to Korea when some dead were not left somewhere along the route.

The Japanese doctor who gave the medicine at the docks in Fukuoka turned out to be the one from Mukden of whom so many good things have been reported. Ironically enough he was not taken prisoner by the American forces but was in the zone occupied by our Allies.

• Read also Cooper tell about the Oryoku-maru Death Cruise.

I. Lee Affidavits

British Bombardier Lee has a very good description of what it was like at the first location of Camp #1 in Kumamoto. Lee later worked at the Red Cross supply warehouse in Fukuoka and gives a first-hand account of what happened to the medical supplies: "A very small percentage was issued to the various camps. The remainder was destroyed when the Americans bombed Hakata in June 1945." He also tells of the hard working conditions during runway construction at the airport, and the sad fate of some 40 men who died of pneumonia, mainly because of the harsh conditions in which they lived -- the state of constantly being wet in their huts during the rainy season.

Lee Affidavits

J. Goodpasture Check List

Captain Goodpasture's Check List was used as one of the primary sources for the Gibbs Report. Goodpasture relates how his life was saved by a Red Cross parcel, how they sometimes slept between the coffins of their dead camp mates, and that "the Fukuokan camp was without question, excepting the hell ships, the worst experience of all."

Goodpasture Check List

K. Memorandum re Photos of Hakozaki Camp

MEMORANDUM: 7 January 1946

SUBJECT: Captions for pictures taken in and around POW Camp 1, of the Fukuoka POW Hqs., at Hakozaki

TO: Lt. Col. Richard E. Rudisill, Chief, Investigation Division

Herewith submitted, is a list of the captions of the pictures taken at POW Camp 1, Hakozaki, of the Fukuoka POW Base Camp Hqs. during the course of our investigation of war crimes committed at that camp:

Pack Number 1

Picture No.
1) Solitary confinement cell in which HARRISON was kept. Four similar cells.
2) Officers' Quarters (POW)
3) Interior of the POW barracks
4) Interior of the dispensary
5) Interior of the kitchen
6) Bathhouse. Four tubs for the entire camp
7) Camp latrines, adjacent to the garden.
8) Garden cesspool, and background of the camp
9) Well in back of the kitchen
10) Washroom
11) Mosquito bar, one to each barracks
12) Pig pen within the camp site

Pack Number 2

Picture No.
1) Lumber yard (Job site of most POW)
2) Saw mill (In lumber yard)
3) Fukuoka city crematory
4) Exterior view of the crematory
5) Grave of 100 POW at Fujisaki Cemetery
6) Kyushu Imperial Univ. Hosp. Exterior view.
7) Interior view of the hosp. ward where POW were kept after the cessation of hostilities.
8) Chicken coop in the camp site
9) General view of the camp interior
10) Exterior view of Camp Number 1.

CHARLES V. RAMEY, 1st. Lt. CE
Investigating Officer
Legal Section GHQ, SCAP

IV. Rosters

A. POW

The TIFF images below have not been through OCR (optical character recognition) and completely put into text files yet due to the poor image and page format. The rosters were compiled at the end of the war and therefore list the names of POWs who were present at the camp at the time of liberation. There are a total of 379 names:

American: 152
British: 139
Dutch: 58
Australian: 28
Canadian: 1
Norwegian: 1

See here for a partially completed listing showing NAME, NATIONALITY and RANK for Camp #1.

See here for a Master Roster listing POWs in Kyushu camps (delimited text file)

American A-F (57K)

American F-K (64K)

American K-S (64K)

American S-Y (61K)

British A-D (75K)

British E-L (93K)

British L-S (65K)

British S-W (68K)

Dutch A-M (53K)

Dutch M-Z (34K)

Australian (46K)

Canadian & Norwegian (7K)

B. Japanese

The first roster lists the names, ranks and terms of employment for personnel at the Main Office of POW Camp Headquarters (located within the Western Army HQ in Jonai, next to Maizuru Park; responsible for all POW camps in Kyushu). The second roster lists the names, ranks and terms of employment for personnel at all Camp #1 locations.

MEMBERS OF THE FORMER PRISONER OF WAR
CAMP NO. 1, MAIN OFFICE, FUKUOKA

MEMBERS OF THE FORMER PRISONER OF WAR
CAMP NO. 1, FUKUOKA

For a list of B- and C-class war criminals who were at Kyushu camps, see Summary of Japanese War Crime Tribunal sentencing of Japanese personnel in Fukuoka Camp Group. (Japanese chart)

C. POW Statistics

The chart below, compiled from a variety of sources, compares POW death rates among all nationalities in both German and Japanese POW camps. It is interesting to note the differences in figures and percentages. I found the statement by Linda Holmes in her book, Unjust Enrichment, quite surprising:

To compare the fates of American prisoners held in the two major theaters of war from 1941 to 1945, nearly 40 percent of U.S. military prisoners died in Japanese captivity, while just over 1 percent of American POWs died in Nazi hands. Nine out of ten prisoners who died in World War II perished while in Japanese custody.

Here's a piece from the Australian War Memorial home page:

Over 22,000 members of the Australian armed services and more than 500 Australian civilians spent over three and a half years in Japanese prisoner-of-war or internment camps in locations throughout Japanese-controlled Asia and the East Indies.

In all, some 13,872 Australian prisoners of war were recovered from Japanese captivity at the end of the war. Of those taken prisoner in 1941 and 1942, approximately 7,777 died in captivity - 35 per cent. As the Australian official history notes, this represented nearly three times the number killed in battle in, for example, the 9th Australian Division during its four campaigns. The prisoner-of-war deaths represented half of all those Australians who died in the war against Japan. By comparison, 7,116 Australians became prisoners of the Germans or Italians, of whom 582 - eight per cent - died in captivity.

"It was 17.5% more deadly to be a prisoner of the Japanese than to fight against them in battle."

Statistics on POWs of the Japanese American POWs Held in WWII Military There were 130,201 US military personnel captured and interned in WWII. As of January 1, 2000, 38,114 were still alive (29.2%). Of the total count of US POWs in WWII, 36,260 were captured and interned by the Japanese. On January 1, 2000, 5,745 were still alive (15.8%). Here is the grim news -- the comparison of those military held by Germany and Japan. By Nazis % By Japanese % Captured and Interned: 93,941 --- 36,260 --- Died While POW: 1,121 1.1% 13,851 38.2% Alive on Jan. 1, 2000: 44,773 47.6% 5,745 15.8% Civilian There were 18,745 US civilians captured and interned in WWII. As of January 1, 2000, 3,018 were still alive (16.1%). Of the total civilian POWs in WWII, 13,996 were captured and interned by the Japanese. On January 1, 1999, only 1,497 were still alive (10.7%). Again, here are the grim statistics -- the comparison of US civilians interned by Germany versus those held by Japan. By Nazis % By Japanese % Captured and Interned: 4,746 --- 13,996 --- Died While POW: 168 3.5% 1,536 11% Alive on Jan. 1, 2000: 1,521 32% 1,497 10.7% Source: AXPOW Association, March 15, 2000 "The Veterans Administration reports that 46,417 ex-prisoners-of-war were alive as of January 1, 2001. The numbers of living Ex-POWs is dwindling rapidly. The number living as of January 1, 1998, was 55,999. Clearly our numbers are decreasing at well over 3000 per year and this rate is accelerating." -- Wally Nelson, EX-POW Bulletin, June 2001 Behind Bamboo: American POWs in the Pacific Estimated number captured, died and returned to U.S. control. Captured by Country Philippines: 22,000 Wake Island :1,555 Java (Indonesia): 890 Guam: 400 Japan & elsewhere :300 Celebes (Indonesia): 255 China: 200 Total :25,600 Killed or Died in Captivity by Country Philippines: 5,135 On prison ships: 3,840 Japan: 1,200 Manchuria (China): 175 Burma: 130 Wake Island: 100 Korea: 70 Total :10,650 POWs Liberated by Country Japan: 11,400 Philippines: 1,500 Manchuria (China): 1,200 Burma-Thailand: 480 Celebes (Indonesia): 200 Korea: 150 China: 20 Total: 14,950 Source: Surrender and Survival: The Experience of American POWs in the Pacific by E. Bartlett Kerr, 1985 From Japanese Statistics POWs Held by the Japanese Military (as of June 7, 1942) American Forces 15,000 British Forces 64,000 (includes 1,600 Canadians and 17,000 Australians) Dutch East Indies Forces 24,000 Chungking Army 44,000 Other 185,000 (includes Chungking Army Burmese POWs and unknown nationalities; most of the ~100,000 Indonesian soldiers were released) Total 242,000 (through 5/31) Source: Documents Relating to Treatment of Prisoners of War, Research Institute of Ministry of Health & Welfare, June 10, 1942 NOTES: Total is obviously not correct. Totals for POWs on Chinese mainland rose from 50,100 in 1940 to 104,700 in 1941. Country White POWs Total Notes Officer Other Ranks Britain 4,809 41,518 46,327   Holland (European) 2,357 21,211 23,568   Australia 987 15,814 16,801   United States 456 5,184 5,640 10,633(1) Canada 73 1,611 1,684   New Zealand 22 52 74   South Africa 17 15 32   Other 5 216 221 1,706(2) +591(3) 3,890(4) Total 8,726 85,621 94,347 11,167(5) (1) US soldiers captured in the Philippines (2) Captured in Burma; believed to include British and Chinese soldiers, and Burmese (3) POWs in New Guinea; believed to include British soldiers and natives (4) POWs in Borneo; believed to include British and Dutch soldiers, and natives (5) This figure increased to a total of 125,309 white POWs per August 1942 edition of Horyo Geppo (POW Monthly Bulletin), (pub. 9/10/1942) Country Non-White POWs Nationality Previously Released Release Date (through 8/1942) Philippines 42,539 (as of 7/20) Filipino 4,167(1) 6/9~7/20 Malaya 71,319 2,700 0 Indian Indonesian Malayan --- 1,080 11 (2) 5/11~6/22 Java 15,962 (as of 8/10) Indonesian 18,151 --- Burma 1,730 0 Indian Burmese --- 1,000 --- British Borneo 561 369 Indian Indonesian --- Scheduled release not implemented Hong Kong 1,856 110 5 Indian Chinese Other --- --- Shanghai 25 Chinese --- Interned w/o release (1) Nearly 6,000 family members, patients and nurses connected with the Philippine military operation were to be released (2) 36,200 not released; some utilized for quarry? work, others dispersed among military Source: August 1942 edition of Horyo Geppo (POW Monthly Bulletin), POW Bureau Nationality Total POWs POW Deaths Death Rate (%) British 50,016 {52,000} 12,433 {14,500} 24.8% {28%} Dutch (European) 37,000 8,500 22.9% Australian 21,726 [22,376] 7,412 [8,031] 34.1% [35.9%] American 21,580 7,107 32.9% Canadian 1,691 273 16.1% New Zealander 121 31 25.6% Total 132,134 35,756 27.1% Source: Horyo Saishu Ronkoku Fuzoku-sho B, Feb. 19, 1948 Figures in braces are estimates; in brackets from Australian War Memorial Comparative statistic for Japanese prisoners of war held in the Soviet Union: Out of 575,000 internees, 55,000 died in captivity, a death rate of 9.6%. For a statistical comparison, see POW STRENGTH FIGURES AS REPORTED BY MID, which show the numbers of POWs our military intelligence estimated were in camps in late 1944. The IMTFE War Crimes Trials produced some statistics on deaths in the Pacific area: War Crimes Death Victims (Doc. 2885 Exhibit 1358). The Naval History and Heritage Command has some very good basic information on POW and internee numbers: U.S. Prisoners of War and Civilian American Citizens Captured and Interned by Japan in World War II: The Issue of Compensation by Japan by Gary K. Reynolds, Information Research Specialist (2002) Straight from the National Archives and Japan Archives: See this PDF showing statistics on American POWs of the Japanese (same as Behind Bamboo list above), and also tables showing Strength and Composition of US Army Troops in the Philippines, incl. the Philippine Division. 8818122_Prisoners_Report_on_Japanese_national_prisoners (PDF) 8818123_Prisoners_Report_re_Allied_POWs_42a-18b (PDF) Utilization of POWs for Work - USSBS Report (JPG) Korean, Chinese, and POW workers in factories and mines 1944-06-30 - USSBS Report (JPG) Coal Mining Employment, Koreans, POWs, Chinese - USSBS Report (JPG) In an effort to find finality on POWs statistics, I refer the reader to Chapter 9 in Van Waterford's excellent work of research, Prisoners of the Japanese in World War II -- "Out of about 1 million captives, well over one-third died -- a needlessly and tragically high figure." For further research into this matter of statistics, I recommend R.J. Rummel's most imformative work, Statistics Of Japanese Democide -- Estimates, Calculations, And Sources. Of special note is the Table dealing with POW figures. Regarding POW numbers, Rummel writes: The overall number of POWs and internees killed was about 138,000 (line 93). Since this is largely based on official figures released shortly after the war, I give no high and low. For nations releasing figures on both the total number of POWs captured and the number dying in Japanese captivity, the POW death rate averaged nearly 29 percent. Japanese Camps for War Prisoners (From Our War Correspondent, James O'Connor) MANILA, Sunday. Of more than 200,000 persons captured by the Japanese, half are British, a third American and the remainder Dutch. It is estimated that a quarter died in Internment and that 10,000 have been either repatriated or liberated. During last Spring some 75,000 prisoners of war and 60,000 civilian internees were held in Japan, up to 40,000 being located in 100 camps, Including 14,000 British, 10,000 Americans, nearly 8,000 Australians, 5,000 Dutch and 1,000 Canadians. Held in a camp near Tokyo are about 80 women, mainly Catholic Sisters from America. The representative of the American Red Cross stated that while no reliable information was to hand in recent months it could be presumed that conditions had deteriorated owing to the Allied blockade, but those in Japan proper appeared to be better off, as far as food is concerned, than those in the outer periphery. Military and civilian internees were also held in Korea, Manchuria, and Formosa, while there were camps at Shanghai, Peking, Hong-kong, Thailand, Indo-China, Malaya and the N.E.I. About 1,000 English and Australians were Interned at Kaigo in Japan. The few thousands still remaining in Malaya are mostly British and Dutch. The Canberra Times, Monday 20 August 1945