Early days still, but I have the list of deceased from the Tacoma Maru. The 350 POW's are listed by surname with date of birth, date of death, place of death and place of remembrance. The vast majority are down as dying in Rangoon, with most of these being remembered at Menteng Pulo Cemetery in Jakarta. I have still to establish whether or not the actual remains are buried in Menteng Pulo and were exhumed from Rangoon English Cantonment Cemetery after the war? Like all such lists, it makes very sad reading. I am hoping to still find the 150 or so men who survived all POW life had to throw at them back then and lived to go home!! Thanks again chaps, as I never thought I could move so quickly in regard to finding these prisoners. Bamboo.
Hi All, I have made contact with the Dutch War Graves Foundation and they have promised me a conclusive listing of all the confirmed deceased from the Tacoma Maru that perished in Rangoon Jail. They have been incredible helpful with my request and quick in their responses. Numbers wise, 170 of the deceased were moved to Menteng Pulo, Indonesia, after the war, while sadly 50 or so graves were unidentifiable and were lost forever. So that gives me 220 confirmed POW's of Rangoon Jail. My other sources have also furnished me with another 100 names of the Tacoma Maru, these must have passed through Rangoon and went on to work on the Burma Railway. Update over chaps!
Thanks Andy, They are excellent people, I sent them a few documents with my enquiry which explained the POW's I was looking for, also a map of the original cemetery, which I think this was new to their files. I'm in the middle of one of those info overload periods and need to take a deep breath and process it slowly and calmly. I will explain soon. Steve.
Hi Phil, Still waiting on NIMH. I am pinning my hopes of finding some of the POW's who survived the whole war and went home, this is where they might come into their own for me. I have to say that the Dutch organisations are incredibly kind and helpful and very speedy with their replies. I have waited less than a week for replies to all my enquiries. I will let you know what I find out. Steve.
Here is a little show and tell as my youngest daughter used to say when she presented a project at her junior school!! Attached is one of the pages from the list of deceased of the Tacoma Maru. It shows POW number (not sure for which camp or possibly even the ship?), then surname, date of birth, date of death, place of death, place of burial and finally christian names. I am still waiting for confirmed rolls from the Dutch War Graves website, but will begin to collate these names onto an Excel spreadsheet, that is, when I get a minute. Thanks everyone for your help with this one. Steve.
A long overdue update on this thread. With the help of the excellent Dutch National Archive website, I now have the POW index cards, with English translation of Japanese script for over 300 of the 347 Dutch prisoners once held at Rangoon Jail. The website is an excellent resource should you ever find yourself in this research area: Japanse interneringskaarten
Steve, I hereby award you a YDITC with Oak Leaf Cluster for ten years' service in this aspect of your numerous searches after the truth. ( YDITC = Your Dinner's In The Cat ) John
Here is an example of the search results for each POW: Japanse interneringskaarten, Surname: Heerde (フオンホルテイ) Period: 1942 1945 Surname Heerde (フオンホルテイ) Given names Arnoldus Kristiaan (アルノテイス クルステイアン) Infix van Date of birth 1892-01-25 Nationality Netherlands (蘭) Rank (陸軍 砲兵 少佐) Stamboeknr n/a Place of capture バンドン 爪哇; Bandung Java; Bandung - Mulo Date of capture 17/03/08; 1942/03/08 Occupation n/a (n/a) Place of origin ZWOLLE (Ned.) (n/a) Destination report (n/a) Remarks P 84197 Camp and transfer date 1 爪哇 [17/05/31]17/08/15; Java POW Camp [1942/05/31]1942/08/15 Camp and transfer date 2 泰; Thai POW Camp Camp Branch Name and Reg No. 1 爪I (ジャワ俘虜収容所第1分所) 15706; No.1 Branch Camp of Java POW Camp 15706 Other info 1 Departed to be transferred to Thai POW Camp on October 1942; Died on 26 November 1942 (JA71; P.298); Died of dysentery at 18:00 on 26 November 1942 (Cremation); Fell ill on (no date); Place of death: Rangoon POW Camp; Disposal of body: Cremation; (昭和17年10月29日 泰俘虜収容所へ移管の為出発す; 昭和17年11月26日 死亡 (JA.71 P.298); 17.11.26 赤痢にて死亡す(火)18時; 昭和 年 月 日 発病; 死亡場所 蘭貢俘虜収容所; 屍体処理 火葬
And here is the one from my grandfather (sorry, not Rangoon). He survived the Burma railroad and was later re-united with his wife and two sons, one of them being my father, who had been interned in Java. His brother and brother in law had also been made POW in 1942. The latter went down with the Junyo Maru in September 1944. Some 5,600 were killed. Is there anyone who can translate this card, especially the "camp" and "other information"?
8RB, it is a shame the card is one of those without a general translation. I have used the forum linked below for short translations. They are usually very good and quite quick too. Japanese culture, language, history, and travel
Hello Mate, A few years ago while visiting my family in law in Jakarta her whom I must obey took me to Menteng Polo What you see on the pictures are the very peaceful corner were if I remember correct the ashes of 700 Dutchmen brought back from the Death Railway is put to rest Today it is laying inside Jakarta but back in the days it was far outside town meaning an RAF contingent was actually sniped during a funeral in the Bersiap period.
Hi Tom, Good to hear from you again. Thanks for the images of Menteng Pulo. They are very relevant to the story of the Dutch POW's who perished in Rangoon. They were mostly suffering from severe dysentery which had spread through their number whilst they were aboard the Tacoma Maru. Around 190 Dutch died in Rangoon and were mostly cremated and the remains place in the old Cantonment Cemetery in the city. After the war the remains were exhumed and taken to Menteng Polo for re-burial. Cheers now Steve