Tokyo #10D (Dispatch) POW Camp
Tsurumi

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Location:
Tokyo-10D-Yokohama
(OSAKA ZOSEN)
YOKOHAMA-shi, TSURUMI-ku, SUYEHIRO-cho, 1-12

Timeline: Assisted by Verl Stanford
1 Apr 1943: Established; first known as OSAKA ZOSEN Dispatched Camp. Forty American enlisted men and one officer (Lt. Larkin) arrive from Shinagawa. [Shinagawa was renamed Tokyo Main and moved to Omori 20 Jul 1943]
1 Jul 1943: Ten (10) men arrive from baseball statium
Dec 1943: Camp Commander Yamaski replaced by Sgt. Tanaka
25 Dec 1943: Renamed Tokyo 10-D
8 Sep 1944: 100 Americans arrive from Manila ex Noto Maru; one British doctor from Shanghai
Dec 44 or Jan 45: Lt Owamori relieved of command by Lt. Tamoki Nakamura
8 Jan 1945: PFC Jack Holt (USAAC) dies from cardiac arrest as direct result of beri beri and malnutrition- only recorded death in this camp.
4 Jun 1945: Terminated; POWs transferred to Tokyo Main (OMORI) Camp and at Tokyo 9D-Ashio

Japanese Staff:
Upon opening, Lt. Owomori (Gunso) Yamasaki was commander
Head Guard: Riu-san
Sgt Tanaka

Labor:
Osaka Shipyard Company of Yokohama- building of warships and other vessels

Hell Ship:
Tottori Maru- departed Manila 8 Oct 1942 (loaded 6 Oct)- 1961 POWs with 30 deaths en route to Pusan then Moji.
Noto Maru - departed Manila 27 Aug 1944 (1135 men), 1 death en route.

Rosters:
Original rescue roster not (yet) located at NARA

Deceased:
see time line for 8 Jan 1945- Jack Holt

Photographs:

Tsurumi Xmas 44-1
Christmas 1944 - courtesy of Verl Stanford, nephew of Lt. Orville Stanford, captured at Tacloban on Leyte (see collection below)

Photos of Tokyo #14:
"Tokyo 14B was first established as Tokyo 11D at 1-12-4 Suehiro-cho, Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama on 25th December 1943, then was moved soon to the second camp at 1-253 Heian-cho, Tsurumi-ku in January 1944. POWs worked at Toshiba Electric factory. But the second camp was destroyed by bombing on 15th April 1945 and POWs were moved to the third camp in Toshiba Factory at 2-4 Suehiro-cho, Tsurumi-ku. But this camp was also destroyed by bombing and 30 POWs were killed on 13th July 1945. They were moved to the fourth camp at 2 Tsurumi-cho, Tsurumi-ku in the end of July 1945. POWs lived there until 30th August 1945 when they left for their home countries. There were 121 POWs (72 Dutch, 20 British, 17 Australian, 12 Americans) in the fourth camp." --Taeko Sasamoto, POW Research Network Japan


Photo courtesy of Taeko Sasamoto


Photo courtesy of Peter Somerville

Incidents forwarded for War Crime Trials:
1. From affidavits of 1st Lt Orville Stanford - mass punishment and beating of Pvt Paul Yates and 9 other men for theft of food from local store (date not specified). Other men beaten were Richards, Davis, Goss, Whitby, Smith, Loftus and Scullion - list incomplete.
2. Mass punishment in Nov 1944 for entire camp plus re-beating of first 10 suspects, noon until 1900 hours when it was learned local Japanese workmen were the thieves. No Japanese apology.

Lt. Orville Stanford collection (courtesy of nephew, Verl Stanford)
My uncle was a POW in Japan during WWI. His name was Orville Stanford. He was taken prisoner in the Philippines on May 26, 1942 and subsequently taken, via the Tattori Maru, to " #10-D Camp - Tsurumi - Station - Yokohama."

Upon his liberation from the Camp in 1945 he returned home (Manhattan Beach, California). In July of 1946 Orville received travel orders from the War Department (the Pentagon). He, along with four others listed on the orders, were to travel to Tokyo to testify in the War Crime trials. He subsequently testified at these trials.

I have much (original) information from the scrap book that he and his wife, Katy, kept for all of those years until his death in 1973. My father had it until 1992 and now I have it. The information is getting very fragile. It contains POW letters, Orville's testimony for the trials, letters from military personnel stating that Orville was identified as a POW, commission to emergency first Lt., letters from prosecuting attorneys concerning the trials, Travel orders to report to war crime trials, newspaper articles that mention several POWs, newspaper articles covering the trials, letters from many people across the world concerning radio broadcasts from Japan about POW's, etc., etc. In addition, there are four original photographs of POW's celebrating Christmas 1944 at Camp No. 10-D in Yokohama. Also, an original photograph of (I think) the outer yard of the camp showing POW's and Japanese officers. It appears to be a steel mill of some sort. I have scanned nearly all of the documents and pictures.

Attached is a sample of what is included in this information. The first attachment is a letter (2 pages) from Harold Alper to Orville concerning the war crime trials. There is a handwritten request at the bottom of this letter for Orville to include information about "the Davis beating." Also, attached is an enlarged area of one of the photos from the POW camp (#10-D, Yokohama) during a 1944 Christmas celebration.

I have already provided scanned images of some of the information to two people who were doing research on their own relatives. One is Kurt Jordan whose Grandfather (Sport Jordan) was an associate of my uncle. Also, information to Todd Campbell concerning his uncle Emmerson Loewe. Emmerson was included in those who were to testify at the war crime trials but died in a jeep accident the day before he was to testify.