Source: NARA RG 331 Box 920; Mansell NARA #7
Paragraph breaks revised and paragraph headers modified for ease of reading by Center for Research

The cemetery was entirely inadequate in size for the number of deaths in the camp, and although land was plentiful, we were not granted an increase in the size of the plot.

Each day there would be a parade of the previous day's dead hoisted on hand-made litters, each carried to the cemetery on the shoulders of 4 relatively healthy prisoners. These bodies, most of whom had no marks of identification, were dumped into common graves. When the death rate ran between 30 and 40 a day, the size of the graves was always inadequate and the prisoners who were detailed to dig these graves were in such poor health that they were never dug large enough. As a result, the bodies were heaped up above the level of the ground and covered with earth which, during the rainy season, was usually washed away during the night, and the following morning when the grave detail would appear to dig the next grave evidence would be found of bones and parts of bodies that had been dragged around the vicinity by prowling dogs.

Shortly after the establishment of the camp, a camp farm was begun. The Japanese called for between 1000 and 2000 prisoners daily to work this farm. Since practically all of these prisoners were suffering from disease, many deaths resulted from this enforced labor. Periodically, I, as commanding officer, was ordered to arbitrarily return [a] certain numbers of patients, numbering as high as 500 on one occasion, to duty, to be used for farm labor. Each time I remonstrated with the Japanese, trying to impress them with the fact that sending these sick people to work would result in their death, but on not one single occasion was I ever able to alter their decision.

Contact with Underground & Guerillas
Shortly after the establishment of Camp #1 at Cabanatuan, contacts were made with outside loyal civilian agencies by our outside working parties in order to procure the necessary drugs, money and food. This underground movement continued to flourish so that almost a regular mail service was maintained between Manila and the camp. Since detection by the Japanese would have resulted in serious punishment for the participants, great care was taken. Many of us received code names from the agencies in Manila and were thereafter addressed in communications by our code names. My code name was "Avocado."

Japanese seize 23 men for questioning
On about 1 May 1944, a batch of this underground mail was discovered by the Japanese and what they considered the ring leaders were immediately apprehended. A total of 23 prisoners were picked up by the Kempai Tai and taken into the headquarters in the city of Cabanatuan. Later, all but 10 of these were released. I was included in the 10. We were kept in the Kempai Tai headquarters for one week, undergoing torture daily, crowded into tiny, filthy cells, in their effort to learn from us the civilians who were involved in the underground. After one week, we were returned to the prison camp and the 10 of us were segregated and placed under guard for about a month on the edge of the camp. We were never told what our sentence was but were led to believe that we were to be executed. During this period of one month we sat on benches under a shed during the daylight hours and lay on the ground at night, at no time being permitted to converse with one another. After a month of this we were moved into a small guardhouse where we stayed for about two months longer, suffering unbearable indignities. During this period we were permitted to bathe twice under a hose, were forced to sit at attention 14 hours a day, the remaining 10 hours we were forced to lie on the floor. Of the 10 who were forced to go through this punishment, only 4 are still alive. The deaths in many instances of the others resulting from this mistreatment. The group of 10 included: Capt. Frank Tiffany, Chaplain's Corps; Capt. Jack Le Mire, Medical Administrative Corps; Capt. Rex Aston, Medical Administrative Corps; Lt. Colonel Edward C. Mack, Inf.; Capt. Baldwin; Mr. P. D. Rogers, civilian; Mr. Fred Threatt; Capt. Robert P. Taylor, Chaplain's Corps; Lt. Colonel Alfred C. Oliver, Chaplain's Corps; and myself. Only the last 4 named are still living. Chaplain Oliver, during this period, was struck over the back of the neck with a rifle butt thereby sustaining a fractured cerebral spine for which condition he has since been retired.

First Air Raid over Manila and move to Bilibid
On 24 September 1944 occurred the first American airraid over Luzon, in the American drive to the north. The Japanese immediately showed signs of great excitement and made plans for the removal of all remaining prisoners of war, who were still in the Philippines, to be moved to Japan. On 19 October 1944, during an airraid, I was moved in convoy with a large number of other prisoners to Bilibid Prison Camp, in Manila, to await transportation to Japan. About 500 prisoners who were too ill to make the trip were left behind at Cabanatuan.

Oryoku Maru
The Japanese were unable to get any shipping into Manila during this period, and as a result we were left at Bilibid until 13 December 1944 before boarding a prison ship. On that date, 1619 prisoners, the majority officers, were marched from Bilibid to Pier 7, Manila, and forced to sit on the pier during most of the day while a large number of Japanese soldiers and civilians were loaded onto our prison ship. During this period we were given no food or water. At dusk we were marched aboard ship, divided into three groups, and forced down into three holds. This ship was the "Oryoku Maru," a passenger liner, and the holds were intended for baggage only.

The holds were very small, about 6 decks down, and the air supply insufficient. About 600 of us were crammed into the forward hold, and immediately began to experience air hunger and suffering from the intense heat which was estimated to be about 135o F. About 30 minutes after we were placed in the hold, one of the officers suffering from asthma began to show signs of serious respiratory embarrassment. This condition was brought to the attention of the Japanese guards, who ignored him, and he died within a few minutes. He was a Lieutenant Colonel Conaty of the Quartermaster Corps.

During the night, in the extreme darkness, many of the prisoners became hysterical and irrational. Dehydration was extreme and some became maniacal, going to the extremes of murdering their companions and sucking blood from them. Others were seen to drink their own urine. Constant yelling for help up the shaft to the Japanese guards on duty brought no help. Early the following morning we were subjected to bombing by American Naval bombers and the ship received several direct hits. All that day waves of bombers struck the ship and many bomb fragments entered the holds, resulting in casualties amongst the American prisoners. Later that afternoon of the 14th I was called on deck with three other American medical officers to give medical treatment to the Japanese wounded. The decks were littered with Japanese dead and wounded, but since it was almost dusk and the Japanese would not turn on the lights, we were not able to do much. After dark we were run back down into the hold; the din there was terrific. These people had received no food or water since boarding the ship and many were dying from dehydration.

Oryoku Bombed and strafed
Early in the morning of the 15th, the Japanese informed us that we were to evacuate the ship. Within a few minutes of this, however, the American bombers reappeared and began their bombing attacks again. One bomb dropped through the shaft of the rear hold, killing about 200 of the prisoners. The ship was sinking about 250 yards off shore of Olongapo, in Subic Bay. We dove overboard and swam ashore. The Japanese had themselves evacuated the ship during the night. They had machine guns set up on the shore, and were firing at those of us in the water who were not swimming straight for shore. Several who were unable to swim were caught in the drift of the wreckage which they were holding and were shot down.

Moved to Olongapo Tennis Courts
We were assembled on the shore and marched to a singles concrete tennis court on the reservation at Olongapo. There we remained for 5 days, exposed to the direct rays of the sun during the day and practically freezing at night. Only about one-third of us had shoes, and many were completely in the nude.

The first day we were given nothing to eat and on the other four days we were given a tablespoonful of uncooked rice a day. There was one spigot in the tennis court which was our water supply. The water pressure was low and the spigot only trickled. There were about 1300 of us crowded onto this tennis court, and we were forced to sleep in a semi-sitting position between the legs of the individual behind. During this period also, the airraids continued with targets in our immediate vicinity being bombed, shelling us with bomb fragments. We had many wounded in our group who had received their wounds on the ship. There was one Marine enlisted man who had a wound through his elbow which resulted in gangrene of his forearm. I pleaded with the Japanese several times daily to evacuate this man, along with a number of other wounded, to a hospital where he could receive medical attention. This was always denied. I was forced to amputate this man's arm without anesthesia, using a messkit knife and bandaging the stump in a towel which someone had brought ashore. The Japanese officer in charge of our detail was Capt. Toshino. Along with him he had a Japanese civilian interpreter known as Mr. Wada. These two men are directly responsible for all of the mistreatment we had up to this time received and all that we were to receive until our arrival in Japan. Several deaths occurred while we were on the tennis court and these bodies were buried just outside the tennis court.

Survivors moved to San Fernando Pampanga
After 5 days we were divided into two groups and taken by truck convoy, 40 men crowded into each truck, to San Fernando Pampanga. This move was made during an airraid. The group to which I was assigned was locked in the provincial jail. The other group was confined in the town cock pit. We remained here also for 5 days, faring a trifle better. We were given cooked rice twice a day, and had an adequate water supply. However, 3 or 4 deaths occurred here also, and I am not familiar with what transpired at the cock pit. While we were here, the Japanese brought in about 3 small crates of medical dressings and supplies, and we were able to dress our wounded. On about the 3rd day that we were in San Fernando, I was instructed by Mr. Wada to pick out my three sickest patients and told that they would be moved by truck to a hospital. I learned later that 12 others were similarly moved in the same truck from the cock pit. No one has heard, to the best of my knowledge, of these 15 patients since that time. [All were executed]

Moved to San Fernando La Union - arrive Christmas morning
On 24 December 1944, we joined the group who were at the cock pit, and were marched to the railroad station where we were crowded into boxcars -187 men crowded into each of the undersized metal boxcars. We boarded this train at 0900 hours and were not told our destination. We traveled until 0200 hours the following Christmas morning, and arrived at San Fernando La Union. During this period many were overcome by the heat; we received no food or water during the trip, and the one thing that saved the lives of many was the fact that these boxcars had been subjected to airraids, and had many perforations in them, through which we were able to get some ventilation. At San Fernando La Union, we debarked and were forced to lie on the station platform. After daylight we were assembled on the road and marched to the edge of town where we were herded into a school yard. There we had to dig for our water supply, but were given small amounts of cooked rice twice that day, with the declaration from the Japanese that "since it was Christmas we were being fed better." That night [25 Dec] we were again herded out onto the road and marched to the beach, about 4 kilometers over a coral road. Since most of us were barefooted, we arrived at the beach with cut and bleeding feet. There we remained for two days, exposed to the terrific heat of the sun in the day and the very cold at night. About 6 prisoners died while we were on the beach.

The Second Hell Ship
On 27 December 1944, we were placed aboard a Japanese freighter which had just unloaded a shipment of horses. Horse manure and stalls cluttered the hold; the flies were unbearable. About 20 of our most seriously wounded patients were permitted to remain on the deck. I, with another medical officer, was permitted to stay with them to care for them. About two hours out of San Fernando, we were subjected to a submarine attack, but two torpedoes fired at the ship were detonated on the shore line instead. Following this attack, the Japanese forced me and my patients into the hold. In this hold we remained until 13 January 1945. Conditions that existed during this period were indescribable. The death rate began to rise to 10 to 20 a day; we were fed rice and water and sometimes a thin soup once a day; the water was so apportioned that each man received about 4 ounces of water daily. Everyone had dysentery and hysteria began to manifest itself, especially in the nights. The horror of the nights is beyond imagination. Mass hysteria developed in the dark, and screaming and groaning was general. The hold was divided into a lower section and an upper section. The upper section consisted of a rim about 12 feet wide with a large central aperture. In the darkness, many of the prisoners in the upper section toppled over the edge onto those below. Many were killed in this manner.

Takao Harbor, Formosa
We arrived in Takao, Formosa, on 30 December 1941, and remained at anchor in the bay. Since the Japanese celebrate a long New Years holiday, practically all the Japanese except our guards evacuated the ship until about 6 January 1945. During this time there were daily American airraids over the city of Takao, and we were under constant apprehension of the expected raid of the ships in the bay. On the 9th of January, the Japanese decided that, we were overcrowded in our hold, and moved about 500 of the prisoners into a forward hold of the ship.

Hell Ship bombed
Later that morning [9 January], we were subjected to air attacks. Several small bombs hit the rear of the ship, and one large bomb hit the water opposite the forward hold, blowing the hold in. About 300 of the prisoners who had been moved into that hold earlier that morning were killed. Many more were wounded. Some of the fragments penetrated the wall of the middle hold and killed about 20 additional in that hold. We had no medical supplies or dressings, and could do nothing for the wounded. The Japanese would not permit the medical officers in the middle hold to enter the forward hold to treat the wounded there. Many sustained compound fractures of the extremities and I made a request for boards to be used as splints, which was denied.

About three days after the bombing, a group of Japanese Medical Department personnel came aboard the ship and entered the middle hold in which I was, treating our minor wounds, but they stated they could do nothing for the more seriously injured; they did not even enter the forward hold, and left us a few dressings. During this time we were unsuccessful in receiving permission to dispose of our dead, and the number who were killed in the raid, combined with those who had died of disease who were still on the ship, numbered about 500. Some of these had been dead for 4 or 5 days and the stench was terrific.

Bodies finally removed from hold; moved to 3rd Hell Ship
On 13 January 1945, a barge drew alongside the ship, and the bodies were hoisted out of the hold on a net onto the barge. These dead were taken ashore and were supposedly buried in a common grave. The ship had received several jagged holes and was shipping water, so on 13 January, we were removed and transferred to another small freighter, and again placed in a single hold. We sailed that night. For the next 17 days we remained in the hold of this ship with conditions even more adverse than on the previous ship. As we sailed north, the weather became extremely cold, and that was added to our misfortunes. Many of the prisoners died of freezing. Very little of the clothes could be salvaged from the dead because of its extremely filthy condition, and we had no access to even sea water to wash the clothes. The death rate rose to around 30 a day; we were permitted to throw our dead overboard once a day. We had several small buckets to take care of waste, but almost all the prisoners were too weak to reach these buckets, and the deck was covered with feces. During this time, there developed a barter between the prisoners who might possess any valuables and the Japanese guards. For a West Point ring could be procured an empty rice sack or a canteen of water. Anyone who possessed anything of value eventually traded it for either rice sacks, water, or occasionally Japanese cigarettes.

Arrival at Moji
We arrived in Moji, Japan, in bitter cold weather on 30 January 1945. After arrival in Moji, several officials of the Japanese quarantine service boarded the ship and I was ordered by Mr. Wada to appear before them to be questioned. As I entered the captain's cabin, I was slapped around a bit for the ungentlemanly appearance I presented. This, after seven weeks without a bath, shave, or even sufficient water for washing hands. I denied to the quarantine officials that we had any communicable disease aboard because I feared that we would be isolated aboard ship if the officials knew the conditions that existed in the hold. We were cleared for debarkation, but prior to that we were forced to march on deck in single file, stripped down to the nude in the freezing weather, and don Japanese woolen clothing which was issued us there. One man dropped dead at my feet while I was changing clothes. Lt. Colonel William D. North, Medical Corps, who was standing next to me at the time, can confirm this. We were then marched across the street to an old theater building where the roll was called and we were divided into four groups. I was previously told to select approximately 120 of the sickest patients, who would be sent to a hospital.

As near as I can remember, there were 556 prisoners disembarked at Moji. While we were in the theater building, six of these died. Ambulances soon arrived and took away the very sick group. The remainder of us were marched in three columns to the railroad station, about 1 kilometer, between jeering Japanese civilians.

Transport to Fukuoka #1
There the group to which I was assigned, consisting of 193 men, was placed in coaches and taken to Fukuoka, from where we were transported by truck to Fukuoka Prisoner of War Camp #1. There we were placed in unheated barrack buildings, aligned on wooden platforms with central gravel surfaces. These buildings were unheated and were bitter cold. We were each given a heavy woolen overcoat (all of them being of British or American manufacture) and 5 "ersatz" Japanese blankets. In the next 30 days, 53 of our group of 193 died. Although there were approximately 500 relatively healthy British, American and Dutch prisoners in the camp who were eager to nurse our sick, the Japanese refused to permit this. We were isolated and forced to take care of our own. About 75 per cent of our group on arrival were unable to get on their feet, and the remainder rendered a 24-hour nursing service in shifts, carrying buckets to take care of body waste. The food in this camp was insufficient and poorly balanced. We made a plea to the Japanese officials for nutritious food for a short period in order to give us an opportunity to regain our strength. There were a large number of Red Cross food packages at the camp, and an issue of these would have been lifesaving in many instances. Ultimately, we were able to receive one package for every three men. The Japanese refused to give us more, with the statement that "Americans made hogs of themselves" when more food was issued, and that we would "get sick" if we ate more.

On one occasion, a delegation of Japanese officers arrived to consult with our senior medical officers relative to our welfare. We made several recommendations, mostly pertaining to the diet, but all were disallowed. One of the Japanese officers stated that he felt that soup made from bone marrow would be to our benefit, and that he would daily have a shipment of bones sent in from a neighborhood slaughterhouse. The following day we did receive a shipment of bones, but that was the only occasion. There developed between some of the prisoners and some of the Japanese guards a barter system, and a few of the prisoners were able to purchase additional food from these guards. On one occasion, Major A. A. Roby, Veterinarian Corps, was able to purchase a squid, but was caught by another Japanese guard [as he was] cooking this squid. He was confined for several days in the guardhouse without blankets and when released had a severe edema of both legs, as a result of the exposure to the cold. Most of the guards were not too troublesome, but there were a few, whose names I cannot give, who beat prisoners with very little provocation. One of the Japanese interpreters, who was an enlisted man in the Japanese Army, was exceptionally brutal and was reputed to have beaten two or three prisoners to death before our arrival in this camp. (Katsura)

Death of FDR
Sometime in April 1945 we were herded out of our barracks in the middle of the night and assembled in the assembly area. Altogether, there were approximately 700 prisoners in this group. This interpreter then mounted a platform and informed us that President Roosevelt had died, and that we had been assembled there to celebrate his death. We were forced to sing songs for about two hours in the bitter cold weather. Japanese guards wandered through our midst, beating those who would not sing.

There were four doctors in the camp when we arrived; two Dutch, one British, and one American. The American medical officer was Capt. Walter A. Kostecki, who had been in the camp for some time, and who was well aware of the many brutalities. There were a number of Dutch prisoners in the camp, and one of the Dutch doctors, Lt. Fritz De Wijn, who was especially helpful to us when we arrived because of his interest and professional ability, also had a number of Dutch patients. One of these had sometime previously frozen both feet while working in a mine at another camp. For many months he had lain in this camp with all of the flesh off both feet, sloughed away. There were no surgical facilities in the camp and none of the doctors on duty there were qualified as surgeons. Dr. De Wijn asked me to amputate the feet of this patient, and I did so, using carpenter tools.

Moved to Fukuoka then steamer to Fusan Korea
On 23 April 1945 we were told that we were being moved to another camp in Korea, and on that day we were marched about 6 kilometers into the town of Fukuoka and placed aboard an inter-island steamer, along with a large group of other prisoners from other camps, who were destined for other camps in Korea and Manchuria. In our group there were 140 of our original group, plus 10 British officers. We boarded the inter-island steamer after dark and had been aboard only a short time when an airraid signal was sounded. We were immediately herded off the boat and forced to lie down on the dock, where we remained the remainder of the night with the rays of a large search light directed on us. For most of this period we could hear the roar of distant planes. In the morning [24 April]we were again placed aboard ship, fed, and got under way, arriving in Fusan, Korea, that afternoon. [Major Smothers, father of the noted Smothers Brothers comedy team of the 1960's and 1970's, died on this steamer during tranist to Korea.]

Train from Fusan [Pusan] to Jinsen [Inchon; Chosan POW Camp #1]
Our group was then placed aboard a train in coaches and for the next 36 hours were under way, well treated and well fed, until we arrived [26 April] at Chosen Prisoner of War Camp #1 at Jinsen, Korea. In that camp there were only 20 British enlisted men who had remained behind as a caretaking detachment when a larger group of British prisoners had shortly before been moved from that camp to another. We were placed in a large, well constructed frame barrack building and were there fed better than at any of our previous camps. The Japanese camp officials, on the whole, were more friendly than any we had previously encountered.

One Japanese officer, the medical officer, I knew him as Dr. Yamaguchi or Miraguchi, was an extreme sadist and on many occasions severely beat American prisoners. Lt. Colonel Carl Engelhart, Coast Artillery Corps, was once apprehended trying to read a Japanese newspaper. The following morning at roll call he was called out of ranks by the Japanese doctor, and for about 30 minutes was severely beaten and kicked, sustaining a ruptured eardrum and many lacerations about the head and neck. As medical officer, I was assigned to look after the prisoners, and had to work under this Japanese doctor. Although there were a large number of American Red Cross medical supplies in the camp, he gave me practically none. Each day I was issued a piece of gauze about 1 foot square with which to do approximately 50 dressings. Two officers died while we were in this camp, both of amoebic dysentery, and I made many requests before their death for amoebecides, but was always refused. About three weeks before the Japanese surrender, this officer disappeared from camp and was not seen again.

There were a number of older officers in our midst. They had all lost their glasses, and I made several written and oral requests to the Japanese camp commander that they be given an opportunity to procure new glasses. I was told that all lens were being used only by the Japanese army, and that there were no facilities for procuring new glasses. However, about a week after the surrender, an optical shop was discovered only a block from the camp, and all those who desired glasses got them immediately. Also, when several of our prisoners were seriously ill, I made the request that they be moved to a hospital but was told that the nearest hospital was in Keijo [Seoul] and that it was for Japanese patients only. However, following the surrender, American B-29s dropped food supplies into the camp, and one of the drums of food struck one of our prisoners and broke his leg. The Japanese showed great concern then and immediately had him moved to a large, fairly well equipped hospital in the city of Jinsen.

In all camps in which I was a prisoner the Japanese followed a policy of permitting an American organizational setup to administer the camp under their supervision. At Cabanatuan, after the camp was well organized, Lt. Colonel Curtis T. Beecher, Marine Corps, was the camp commander because of his seniority. He accompanied our group to Japan and to Korea, and was likewise the American camp commander in Jinsen. At Fukuoka Camp #1, there was a slightly different arrangement, the prisoner control being exercised by a British Sergeant, James by name, although there were a number of British officers in the camp.

Liberation
We were liberated by American Occupational Forces who arrived in Jinsen on 9 September 1945. At that time we were questioned by a representative officer regarding atrocities in that camp. I gave testimony at that time regarding only the Japanese doctor. When I arrived in Manila I was questioned again at the Replacement Depot #29 on or about 18 September 1945, at which time I gave testimony relative only to the trip from Manila to Japan.

Summary of Japanese Camp Commanders
The first Japanese camp commander at Cabanatuan whom I can recall was Lt. Colonel Mori. He remained there until about November 1942, and was replaced by Major Iwanaka, who was commanding officer of the camp until about July 1944, when he was replaced by a Major Takasaki. For most of the duration of the camp at Cabanatuan, Capt. Toshino was the executive officer. The Japanese medical officers at one time or another who were at the camp were: Lt. Tamura; Lt. Konishi, who relieved him about September 1942; and Lt. Suehira, who in turn relieved Lt. Konishi in about November 1942, and remained there thereafter. One other medical officer who frequently made visits to the camp, who was very unsympathetic and denied us many essential request was a Capt. Nogi, whose headquarters were at Bilibid in Manila.

The officers at Fukuoka Camp #1, I cannot recall by name. The commanding officer who was most brutal was a lieutenant who had risen from the ranks because of bravery in the China War. He had been wounded, so we were informed, and was then relieved from active duty and placed in command of this prison camp. The interpreter, previously referred to, was reputed to have spent a number of years in the United States, and was heard to make the statement on several occasions that he had been a chauffeur for the president of one of the larger American corporations, which I think was either U.S. Steel Corporation or General Motors Corporation. The commanding officer of the camp in Jinsen was Lt. Colonel Okazaki, and his executive officer was a Capt. Isobe, both of whom treated us well.

Lt. Tamura was about 32 years of age, weighed about 125 pounds, height 5 feet 4 inches, wore glasses, spoke English fairly well, was a morphine addict, easily excited and quite nervous. Lt. Konishi was about 28 years old, approximate weight 135 pounds, about 5 feet 3 inches in height, stocky, spoke English very well, interested in orthopedics and was reputed to have a clinic in Kobe, Japan, with his father who was also a doctor; he also wore glasses. Lt. Suihira was about 30 years old, weight 150 pounds, 5 feet 3 inches, moderately obese, wore heavy myopic lens, spoke English fairly well, was of low mental caliber with a very poor medical education. Capt. Nogi was about 33 years of age, weighed about 120 pounds, was tall for a Japanese, about 5 feet 7 inches, and slender, having the appearance of being consumptive, wore glasses, spoke English fluently, had an excellent medical training, with a very disarming personality who appeared quite intelligent and friendly when he so desired. Lt. Colonel Mori was about 5 feet 5 inches tall, 140 pounds, broad-chested, wore glasses and was an old-time regular army officer, about 55 years of age. Major Iwanaka was a shriveled up, old regular army officer, age about 62 years, height 5 feet, weight about 100 pounds, very poor teeth, wore glasses, spoke in a high-pitched voice but could not speak English. Capt. Toshino was a Prussian-type individual, with close cropped hair, wore glasses, was larger than the average Japanese, with erect bearing, carried a swagger stick, dressed neatly, age about 45 years, height about 5 feet 7 inches, weight about 155 pounds, spoke English poorly, and was very military. Mr. Wada spoke English very poorly for an interpreter in a high-pitched, excitable voice, wore glasses, age about 45 years, weight about 115 pounds, height about 5 feet 2 inches, hunchbacked and round-faced. Dr. Miraguchi was about 32 years old, 5 feet 6 inches tall, weight about 145 pounds, very military, always wore highly polished boots, did not wear glasses, had a long face with an evil glint in his eyes. General Morimoto, the inspecting officer out of Manila who visited the camp at Cabanatuan about once a month, and whom we believed to be the Department Quartermaster, was about 55 years of age, well nourished, wore glasses, weighed about 160 pounds, about 5 feet 5 inches tall, and moon-faced. Major Saguguchi was a regular army Japanese medical officer, about 47 years old, weight about 145 pounds, about 5 feet 6 inches tall, wore glasses, had a moustache, spoke English fairly well, and was very military in bearing.

The foregoing constitutes all my present, knowledge of the above described incidents and conditions.

(signed) Jack W.Schwartz
JACK WILLIAM SCHWARTZ, Lt. Col. USA
0-17823

Subscribed and sworn to before me this 21st day of November 1946, at Presidio of San Francisco, Calif.

(signed)
Fred Gustaff?, Major, MI., Summary Court

Interviewed by: James H. Hutchison, Spec/Agt, CIC, 6th Army.

---------------------------------

CHECK LIST for Col. Schwartz
April 9, 1946

1. Date of your arrival at:
Fukuoka #1 30 Jan. 1945.

2. Please state its exact location if possible, or if this cannot be done, please describe its location with reference to other cities or prominent land marks.
On the East coast of Northern Kyushu about 3 miles north of the city of Fukuoka. The camp was on the sea coast.

3. When was camp first occupied by prisoners of war? Were the first occupants Americans, British, Dutch or Australians?
Unknown.

4. Number of Americans in your group and name of senior American officers.
There were 193 Americans in the group with me. 53 of these died in the next three mos. There were approx. 250 Americans already in the camp when we arrived.
Col. Curtis L. Beecher, USMC.
Col. Arthur Shreve, GSC.
Col. Irvin Alexander, Inf.

5. Please give figures on personnel in this camp to the best of your knowledge. Your own group should be included in these figures.
Americans: Approx. 450
Army: Approx. 250
Navy: Approx. 30
Marines: Approx. 20
Civilians: Approx. 150
British: Approx. 200
Dutch: Approx. 50
Australians: Unknown
Chinese: None
Any other nationality: Unknown
Total: Approx. 700

6. Names and titles of Japanese camp officials.
Camp Commander. Camp doctor. Civilian Camp interpreter. Names unknown.

7. Please describe the condition of the following facilities:
a. Housing
1. Number of barracks:
14
2. Size of barracks:
Approx. 80 ft. by 30 ft.
3. Type of construction:
Wooden low slung.
4. Type of roof:
Grass
5. Type of floor:
Sand
6. Type of interior construction:
Central sand walkway with elevated mat covered wooden platforms on either side for sleeping. No heating arrangement.

b. Latrines
1. Location:
About 4 large latrines within 50 ft. of barracks.
2. Type:
Septic tank. About 12 cubicles in each latrine with a straddle aperture in the wooden floor. Urinal trough in each latrine.

c. Bathing
1. Location:
One bath house situated about the middle of the camp.
2. Type:
Japanese type large wooden, metal floored tubs. Water heated under the tubs. Common bathing. 6 men squeezed into each tub in relays. Water extremely filthy after the first few relays had bathed.
3. Size:
4 tubs. Each tub about 300 gal. capacity.

d. Mess
1. Type:
Once central wooden kitchen from which each barracks drew its food at meal time in wooden buckets, the amount varying with the barracks census. Brick wood-heated stoves. Cooking done in flat iron cauldrons.
2. Amount of food:
Very insufficient. Approx. 1500 calories.
3. Preparation:
Prepared by British POW cooks. Very unpalatably prepared.
4. Quality:
Rice and "Daikon" (a radish-like Jap vegetable) were the staples of diet. Occasionally some other vegetable and possibly once a week a small amount of dried fish or meat was added to the soup. The last month I was there small bread buns were issued the sick in lieu of rice.

e. Medical attention and type of hospital:
A dispensary operated by a British doctor, 2 Dutch doctors and one American doctor under the supervision of the Camp Jap Medical Officer was present. A small barrack building with a capacity of about 15 was used as a hospital. ARC drugs and surgical supplies were issued in very limited amounts. No operating room was available.

f. Size of compound and type of fence:
Approx. 1000 ft. x 300 ft. Barbed wire fence.

8. Type of work performed by prisoners of war.

a. Officers:
The British officers (about 30) worked on the camp farm. The only American officers were in our group who were too ill to work.

b. Enlisted men:
The civilians (captured on Wake Island) worked on a Jap air field. The enlisted men worked on camp police and various projects outside camp (all menial labor).

9. What were the working conditions?
Fair. Outside details took their lunch rice with them and hot soup was delivered at noon. The work was not too strenuous.

10. Describe the conditions and restrictions on the sending and receiving of mail.
No mail was received by us while at the Fukuoka camp. We were permitted to send a ten word message about once a month.

11. How much were the prisoners of war paid?
a. Officers:
50 yen a month.
b. Enlisted men:
Varied with rank -- approx. 10 sen a day.

12. Number of Red Cross parcels received and dates received.
One Red Cross parcel issued our group a few days after arrival for each three men.

13. Clothing situation
a. What was issued by the Japanese and dates?
Overcoat -- night of arrival. 6 blankets -- night of arrival. Japanese army woolen uniform and underwear -- day of arrival.

14. How was your treatment?
This is the worst camp in which I was imprisoned. The Jap camp commander and a Jap soldier interpreter were sadists. There were many instances of brutality and unwarranted beatings and confinements in the unheated guard house in zero weather. The guards were very strict.

15. How was morale?
Fair.

16. What were the religious facilities?
A Church of England POW was the only chaplain in camp. He was permitted to hold periodic services.

17. Date of departure from this camp?
About 25 April 1945.

18. Number of Americans in this group?
140

19. Conditions en route and names of towns through which you passed.
Hiked from camp to dock in Fukuoka in bitterly cold weather and spent the night thru and air raid huddled on the pier. By boat from Fukuoka to Fusan, Korea, under fair traveling conditions. From Fusan to Jinsen by train -- traveled in chair cars and were fed well during the trip.

20. Destination.
Chosen POW Camp #1, Jinsen, Korea.

21. A rough sketch of the camp's layout showing the approximate size of the buildings. Please make sketch on reverse side of check list.

22. Name, rank and address of other officers or enlisted men who can furnish information concerning this prisoner of war camp.
Col. Curtis L. Beecher, USMC -- Address unknown.
Lt. Col. N.D.S. Saunders, British Army, c/o Westminster Bank, Ltd., 6 Tothill St., London, S.W. 1
Major Gerald Moxon, British Army, Openwood, Tilford, Farnham, Surrey, England.

23. Your name, rank, serial number, organization and home address.
Jack W. Schwartz, 0-17823, Colonel, Medical Corps
1700 6th Ave., Ft. Worth, TX
on duty at Walter Reed General Hospital, Washington, D.C.

NOTE: Any other information which in your opinion will be of interest to this office should be placed on the reverse side of the check list.

[reverse side]

The group with which I arrived at the Fukuoka Camp were part of the survivors of a trip from Manila which had consumed 7 horrible weeks. We left Manila 13 Dec. 1944 with 1619 American POWs and arrived in Japan (Moji) 30 Jan. 1945 with 556, about 300 of these survivors subsequently dying. En route we were bombed and sunk by American planes at Olongopo, Luzon and again bombed at Takao, Formosa, finally arriving in Japan aboard a third ship. About 500 of the deaths en route were due to starvation, dehydration, dysentery, exhaustion and freezing due to the horrible conditions under which we were forced to travel. All responsibility for these deaths can be placed on the Jap officers who were in charge; a Capt. Toshino and a civilian Jap interpreter, a Mr. Wada. [See the trial proceedings for these men (67Mb PDF).] After arrival in Moji we were divided into 4 groups; the group to which I was assigned consisting of 193 men, was taken by train to Fukuoka Camp #1. All of this group was in terrible physical condition and 53 died in the next three months, due to improper medical facilities and poor diet.

[map of Fukuoka Camp #1 (not in file)]