New Zealand - Featherston - Featherston School - Room 9 - 1991 Photo Courtesy of Maa Tairakena Do you have more information about the school or the people in this photo? Please use the comment section below to share. To search for other photos from this school, please type the schools name in to our search engine. Featherston - A town in the South Wairarapa District - At the eastern foothills of Remutaka Range - The town of Featherston was first known as Burlings, after Henry Burling, who opened an accommodation house near the Māori settlement 1847. - In 1856 the provincial government surveyed the spot for a town, naming it after its superintendent, Isaac Featherston. - The Featherston Military Camp was a major training camp in World War I - Established in 1916 and housing up to 8000 men - The camp was larger than the town and included 16 dining halls, six cookhouses, 17 shops, a picture theatre, hospital, and post office. - During World War II, in 1942 it became the Featherston prisoner of war camp, holding 800 Japanese POWs captured in the South Pacific. - On February 25, 1943 an incident occurred where 122 Japanese Prisoners of War in the camp were shot (48 dead, 74 wounded). - Tension had been building for weeks before a group of recently arrived prisoners staged a sit-down strike and refused to work. - Guards fired a warning shot, wounding Lieutenant Adachi Toshio. - The prisoners then rose and the guards opened fire. Wartime censors kept details of the incident quiet to prevent Japanese reprisals against Allied POWs. - 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.