Japanese Hell Ships - POW Deaths

Discussion in 'Prisoners of War' started by spidge, May 7, 2006.

  1. johnno

    johnno Junior Member

    Re hell ships, My uncle was killed on the ship Hofuku maru, it was carrying 1,289 prisoners of war enroute from singapore to japan and was attacked and sunk by US torpedo carrying bombers, from a aircraft carrier. The ship was loaded with british and dutch pow,s. It had stopped at manila to unload the sick and dying, it then sailed again in convoy (mata-27) and was attacked again and sunk 80 miles north of corregidor on 21st september 1944, the japanese had "locked" the pows in the holds, it took only minutes for the ship to go down, drowning 1,047 men who were trapped below, less than 250 survived. I am trying to find out what pow camp or camps he had been held in, if anyone has any information of pow camps and name lists of prisoners in that area, would be very grateful for the information. my uncles details....

    Private george joseph prior
    regiment...Bedfordshire and hertfordshire, 5th battalion
    Army number....5950196

    Thankyou..........
     
  2. eastsurreys

    eastsurreys Junior Member

    Hi Johnno,
    I can give you some information and point you in the direction of some more.
    The Hofuko Maru sailed out of Singapore on the 4th July 1944 as part of a convoy called SHIMI 5, It was the largest group of ships to set sail for Japan and consisted of 10 ships accompanied by the torpedo boat Sagi and two minesweepers. It held the largest number of POws - 1287. On the 8th July the convoy reached Miri where the Hofuko stayed behind. Beyond that i can't help you.
    I have just had a book published called 'No Mercy from the Japanese' where my subject sailed to Japan on the Asaka Maru and the Hakasan Maru, part of the original Hofuko covoy. It is available from Pen and Sword Books: Publishers of a Variety of Military History Books or from Amazon.
    You can get your uncles military records from the Army Records office in glasgow which should tell you which camps he was in. Also his Japanese camp records are available in the National Archives in kew. Also have a look at COFEPOW - Children of Far East Prisoners of War and join us. I know someone who specialises in this if you are interested. This is an area which I am particularly interested in so please keep in touch
    Regards
    TCL
     
  3. Stevin

    Stevin Member

    I don't know if this adds something but years ago I was in contact with an American who was on the Philippines when it fell (38th Persuit Sqn, if I remember correctly). He did not surrender and ended up with the Luzon Guerrilla Force. He wrote me that one PoW ship was dived bombed off the coast of the Philippines one day and that survivors made it to the beach, mostly Dutch and British soldiers on their way to Japan/China. They managed to wisk about 11 away before the japanese came to the scene. Three of them were Dutch, the others British. They stayed with the LGF till the end of the war.

    he asked me if I could track down the Dutch. One was a marine and he later wrote a book on his experiences, but I have not been able to find him. I did find out that one of them died in an industrial accident in the 1970's. Spoke to his wife....

    Very interesting story. Great thread as well...
     
  4. johnno

    johnno Junior Member

    Thankyou for the information eastsurreys & stevin, will see if i can get info from military records glasgow, and japanese camp records from kew online, as i live in croatia, once again thankyou for your replies, much appreciated...
     
  5. johnno

    johnno Junior Member

    eastsurreys, will also be purchasing your book "no mercy from the japanese", as i want to find out a much as i can.
     
  6. At Home Dad (Returning)

    At Home Dad (Returning) Well-Known Member

    Hallo all

    Is Arthur still posting? His kind offer
    of a lookup is too good to be true!
     
  7. eastsurreys

    eastsurreys Junior Member

  8. Arthur

    Arthur Senior Member

    Hi,

    I see that quite a number of you have asked for details relating to Pows being taken by the Japanese. I am sorry to say that I have no information on these Pows.

    My three registers relate to Pows held in Germany & German occupied territories.

    Sorry for any disappointment caused.

    Regards
    Arthur
     
  9. At Home Dad (Returning)

    At Home Dad (Returning) Well-Known Member

    Thanks anyway, Arthur :)

    Kind regards
     
  10. stenotholus

    stenotholus Junior Member

    I'm new to the forum but have studied Japanese POWs and hellships for many years. The Hofuku Maru is of particular interest to me b/c many of the survivors sailed on the subsequent ships out of the Philippines. I'm very interested in learning more about the survivors and identifying all of the men who were aboard the ship. Anything you could offer would be greatly appreciated.

    My records indicate that Filippino and American guerillas rescued 12 Hofuku Maru survivors. One man, Frederick Monk, died two months after the sinking. He and the others are listed below:

    CHRISTIE James R.A., Pte, Royal Corps of Signals, Br, 2365831,
    GAME Walter John, Pte, Royal Corps of Signals, Br, 2366349,
    GIBSON James, Capt, 122nd Field Rgt (RA), Br, 92935,
    JACKMAN Harry, soldier, Beds & Herts 5th Bn, Br, 5953092,
    MONEY Roy, Pte, Suffolk Rgt 4th Bn, Br, 5950587,
    MONK Frederick, Pte, Royal Corps of Signals 28th Indian Inf. Bde. Sig. Sec., Br, 2350496, d. 21-Nov-44
    SAYER Charles W. E., Pte, RA Ordnance Corps, Br, 7649990,
    SIZER Gordon, Pte, Royal Army Ord Corps, Br, 7637212,
    STOTT Charles, L/Cpl, Manchester Rgt 1st Bn, Br, 3527621,
    IDERNA Pieter, Sgt, Inf, Nt, 869321,
    KOOI Hendrik, Cpl, Royal Dutch Marines, Nt, 3886M,
    NILEUWENHUYS Johungeginus, Pvt, Air Force, Nt, 97163,

    Best regards,

    Jim


    I don't know if this adds something but years ago I was in contact with an American who was on the Philippines when it fell (38th Persuit Sqn, if I remember correctly). He did not surrender and ended up with the Luzon Guerrilla Force. He wrote me that one PoW ship was dived bombed off the coast of the Philippines one day and that survivors made it to the beach, mostly Dutch and British soldiers on their way to Japan/China. They managed to wisk about 11 away before the japanese came to the scene. Three of them were Dutch, the others British. They stayed with the LGF till the end of the war.

    he asked me if I could track down the Dutch. One was a marine and he later wrote a book on his experiences, but I have not been able to find him. I did find out that one of them died in an industrial accident in the 1970's. Spoke to his wife....

    Very interesting story. Great thread as well...
     
  11. johnno

    johnno Junior Member

    Thanks arthur. all the best.
     
  12. Stevin

    Stevin Member

    I'm new to the forum but have studied Japanese POWs and hellships for many years. The Hofuku Maru is of particular interest to me b/c many of the survivors sailed on the subsequent ships out of the Philippines. I'm very interested in learning more about the survivors and identifying all of the men who were aboard the ship. Anything you could offer would be greatly appreciated.

    My records indicate that Filippino and American guerillas rescued 12 Hofuku Maru survivors. One man, Frederick Monk, died two months after the sinking. He and the others are listed below:

    CHRISTIE James R.A., Pte, Royal Corps of Signals, Br, 2365831,
    GAME Walter John, Pte, Royal Corps of Signals, Br, 2366349,
    GIBSON James, Capt, 122nd Field Rgt (RA), Br, 92935,
    JACKMAN Harry, soldier, Beds & Herts 5th Bn, Br, 5953092,
    MONEY Roy, Pte, Suffolk Rgt 4th Bn, Br, 5950587,
    MONK Frederick, Pte, Royal Corps of Signals 28th Indian Inf. Bde. Sig. Sec., Br, 2350496, d. 21-Nov-44
    SAYER Charles W. E., Pte, RA Ordnance Corps, Br, 7649990,
    SIZER Gordon, Pte, Royal Army Ord Corps, Br, 7637212,
    STOTT Charles, L/Cpl, Manchester Rgt 1st Bn, Br, 3527621,
    IDERNA Pieter, Sgt, Inf, Nt, 869321,
    KOOI Hendrik, Cpl, Royal Dutch Marines, Nt, 3886M,
    NILEUWENHUYS Johungeginus, Pvt, Air Force, Nt, 97163,

    Best regards,

    Jim

    That is the list Jim!!! Marine Kooi is the one who wrote the book under the name H. Porte. The book is called "The Yellow Hell". It is in Dutch, published in 1946. When I was looking for it is was extremely rare, but now you can pick up a copy quite easily, I believe.

    If interested, I will dig up the letter(s) I got from the US serviceman.
     
  13. johnno

    johnno Junior Member

    With some sites arthur sent to me, ive found a little more about my uncle,
    I have requested the regt,s magazine mentioned below.

    The nominal rolls of the 5th Battalion here show that George J Prior was of the HQ Company and his location is given as 'T II'. This was the Thailand (Siam) number 2 Group. The men were employed building a railway from Bangkok to Moulein: they even had to clear virgin jungle for a camp nearby.

    On looking at the records of the Bedfs & Herts regiment here (X 550 catalogue) and the regt magazine, The Wasp, there are 2/3 accounts of the experiences by surviving POWs of life with the TII party and the subsequent sinking of the Hofuku Maru. I can supply copies if you wish, but there will be a charge.

    We do have the Bedfs & Herts regt enlistment books for 1919-46: judging by his number it looks as though George enlisted before the War - probably July/August 1938 - although I have not looked at the individual volume

    Does anyone know anything about the 'T II'. This was the Thailand (Siam) number 2 Group.

    Once again thankyou arthur for the contacts you gave me..much appreciated.
     
  14. Arthur

    Arthur Senior Member

  15. ian thomson

    ian thomson Junior Member

    hi,
    my wife is doing a family tree and her uncle was lost when the lisbon maru was sunk
    he was in the 2nd bt royal scots his name was alexander buchan burnett 3052803 he came from aberdeen.any info would be greatly recieved.thank you
     
  16. johnno

    johnno Junior Member

    Hi stevin,
    Do you happen to have any information on the hofuko maru survivor Hary jackman, i noticed he was in the same regiment as my uncle.
    thanks johnno
     
  17. ADM199

    ADM199 Well-Known Member

    hi,
    my wife is doing a family tree and her uncle was lost when the lisbon maru was sunk
    he was in the 2nd bt royal scots his name was alexander buchan burnett 3052803 he came from aberdeen.any info would be greatly recieved.thank you

    Hi Ian,
    I have the File concerning enquiries made into Lisbon Maru Casualties. It was only released 14 months ago.
    Various figures are given for Nos. onboard and casualties. The first given is 1816 embarked(later 1456) 977 survived.
    The File also contains lists of survivors who died later in Kokura Hospital.
    There are over 200 pages of information including what is said to be an embarkation Roll.
    Your Wifes Uncle is named.

    Brian
     
  18. martyx13

    martyx13 Junior Member

    Re hell ships, My uncle was killed on the ship Hofuku maru, it was carrying 1,289 prisoners of war enroute from singapore to japan and was attacked and sunk by US torpedo carrying bombers, from a aircraft carrier. The ship was loaded with british and dutch pow,s. It had stopped at manila to unload the sick and dying, it then sailed again in convoy (mata-27) and was attacked again and sunk 80 miles north of corregidor on 21st september 1944, the japanese had "locked" the pows in the holds, it took only minutes for the ship to go down, drowning 1,047 men who were trapped below, less than 250 survived. I am trying to find out what pow camp or camps he had been held in, if anyone has any information of pow camps and name lists of prisoners in that area, would be very grateful for the information. my uncles details....

    Private george joseph prior
    regiment...Bedfordshire and hertfordshire, 5th battalion
    Army number....5950196

    Thankyou..........

    hello

    Since May 2010 I have been researching an individual who served with 5 bn Beds and Herts, ultimately dying in a POW camp in Japan.
    This research was extended to document as much of the regiment 1942 - 1945 as possible, unfortunately restricted to casualties or more accurately, fatalaties.
    The records obtained include 5950196 private G J Prior.
    There is a little way to go for the listings to be complete; which where applicable and can be traced include: place and date of death, camp, plus whatever else is obtainable. Should you require his record or my complete listing please message or email me.
     
  19. woodsy61

    woodsy61 Junior Member

    Hi all,

    I just joined this forum today after it was very helpful to me tracking down what happened to my great great uncle during the second world war. I've just found out that he was unfortunately one of the POW's aboard the Hofuku Maru sunk on the 21/9/44 by American bombers. What I'm trying to research now is the camp he could've been kept at before boarding the ship. Does anyone know if there is any way of finding this out?
    If anyone has any information on him I would really love to hear from you, his death was a big mystery in our family until today when I found out some crucial details which allowed me to track him down. His details are:
    Herbert John Rogers (Private)
    Cambidgeshire regiment 2nd Battalion
    Service No: 5828783
    Died aboard Hofuku Maru 21/9/44 aged 27

    Many Thanks!
     
  20. Assam

    Assam Senior Member

    Got a couple of groups to "Hell Ship" people, the British group to an Ab form HMS Tamar, survived the topredoes, the machine gunning in the water, got rescued by Chinese fishermen, mgot sent to Japan & died of dysentry 6 weeks later.

    The 2nd is a Purple Heart group to a soldier lost on the Shinyo Maru.

    Hell ship losses are among the more emotive of the emotive.

    Simon
     

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