Australian prisoners of war: Second World War - Prisoners of the Japanese, Senior Officer's Party, Korea (Chosen or Jinsen), Manchuria and Taiwan (Formosa)

The Senior Officers' Party, made up of officers, engineers and technicians, left Singapore on 16 August 1942. The party included Major General C. A. Callaghan and 13 Australian senior officers. They were taken to Takao, Karenko, and other prison camps on Formosa, where they stayed until November 1944 when they were taken to Mukden, in Manchuria, via Japan. The engineers and technicians stayed at Takao until November 1942, when they were shipped to Moji and imprisoned at Yokohama.

The second group, a working party including 6 Australian officers and 90 men, was taken first to Takao, and then to Fusan and Seoul in Korea. In September 1943 one Australian officer and 50 men were transferred to Konan, also in Korea.

Official Records

Official records held by the Memorial include:

• [8th Division in Captivity - Senior Officer's Group (Formosa and Manchuria)] Memorandum to Lieutenant-General J. Northcott, from Major-General C.A. Callaghan, written from Chungking 31-8-45, Brief notes on Mukden Camp, Armistice and Release, Mukden to Chungking. AWM54 554/14/2
• [8th Division in Captivity - Senior Officer's Group (Formosa and Manchuria)] The Story of No 1 Camp, Kankaseki Taiwan, (Formosa) by Major J.F. Crossley. AWM54 554/14/1
• [War Crimes and Trials - Affidavits and Sworn Statements:] NX34723 Maj-Gen CA Callaghan. AWM54 1010/4/27
• Records of Australian Military Forces prisoners of war and missing, Far East and South West Pacific Islands . Contains nominal rolls and paybook photographs arranged by name, theatre of war and unit, location of POW camp. AWM232. The nominal rolls are available online.

Private Records

Private records held by the Memorial include:

• Sir Wilfred Kent-Hughes (Colonel), Administrative papers relating to appointments and promotions of AIF while prisoners of the Japanese. Includes nominal rolls, correspondence, routine orders, appeals. PR00017

• Horace Hayden Drexel (Private). Papers from Hoten Camp Manchuria and Chosen POW Camp Korea, including POW letter cards, nominal roll and hand-drawn illustrations. PR00188
• Peter Healey (Driver) and Timothy Healey (Private). Includes nominal roll of officers and ORs in Jinsen Camp 1942-45. 3DRL/6318
• Alex R.C. Johnstone (Corporal). Typed transcript of diary including his POW experiences in Changi, Jinsen camp in Chosen and Keijo camp, Korea. PR01044

Books

Books held in the Research Centre include:

• Sir W.S. Kent Hughes, Slaves of the Samurai : an Australian odyssey  (Melbourne : Geoffrey Cumberlege, Oxford University Press, ( Melbourne :Ramsay Ware Publishing), c1946) Gives an account of the life and thoughts of a slave of the Samurai, during his three years and seven months as a prisoner of war in the hands of the Japanese.
• Allan S. Walker, Middle East and Far East, Australia in the War of 1939-1945, Series 5 (Medical), vol. II (Canberra: Australian War Memorial, 1953)
• Lionel Wigmore, The Japanese thrust, Australia in the War of 1939-1945, Series 1 (Army), vol. IV (Canberra: Australian War Memorial, 1957) : Chapter 24 and 25 : maps of railway on pages 542 and 563