New Zealand - Featherston Prisoner of War Camp
- Japanese prisoners clearing roadside weeds and throwing them into the tray of an army truck
- 1943-1945
- Pascoe, John Dobree Photo
The incident:
Just outside the Wairarapa town of Featherston, a memorial garden marks the site of a Second World War incident that resulted in the deaths of 48 Japanese prisoners of war (POWs) and one guard.
The camp opened in 1942 to hold 800 Japanese POWs captured in the South Pacific. In early 1943, a group of recently arrived prisoners refused to work and staged a sit-down strike. A guard fired a warning shot, which may have wounded Lieutenant Adachi Toshio. The prisoners then rose to their feet and the guards opened fire. Wartime censors kept details of the tragedy quiet amid fears of Japanese reprisals against Allied POWs.
A military court of enquiry absolved the guards of blame, but acknowledged the fundamental cultural differences between captors and captives. The Japanese government did not accept the court’s decision.
After the war, the first POW to return to Featherston burned incense at the site in 1974 and a joint New Zealand–Japanese project established a memorial ground. Today, a plaque commemorates the site with a haiku:
https://nzhistory.govt.nz/49-killed-during-riot-at-featherston-pow-camp#:~:text=25%20February%201943&text=Just%20outside%20the%20Wairarapa%20town,(POWs)%20and%20one%20guard.&text=In%20early%201943%2C%20a%20group,staged%20a%20sit%2Ddown%20strike.
Featherston prisoner of war camp
- A camp for captured Japanese soldiers during World War II at Featherston, New Zealand
- Notorious for a 1943 incident in which 48 Japanese and one New Zealander were killed
- The camp had been established during World War I as a military training camp and had also been used as an internment camp from 1918 to 1920, when 14 German internees remained there
(Reference: Wikipedia)
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Image source:
Japanese prisoners clearing roadside weeds
Pascoe, John Dobree
Item from Collection: Featherston Prisoner of War Camp : Photographs (95-70)
https://masterton.spydus.co.nz/cgi-bin/spydus.exe/ENQ/WPAC/ARCENQ?SETLVL=&RNI=511407