War Office: Japanese Index Cards of Allied Prisoners of War and Internees, Second World War
Link to the National Archive
After making a few enquiries I managed to get most of the index card translated with the help of Diane Deards and her colleague Yoshiko in Califonia (USA not California Sands, Norfolk!) via the Facebook group FEPOW. There is also some Chinese writing on the card left to translate.
The capture date is Feb 12,1942.
The information on the back of the card reads:
additional information:
10/18/1942 left train station for Taiwan. #2 Concentration camp
1/19/44 moved to camp #4 in Taiwan
2/11/45 Moved to Fukuoka camp #17
9/15/45 Transferred to Port of Nagasaki and Colonel Griffin took custody.
Hello,
There must be a problem with the translations above. Ernest Linsell did not arrive on Taiwan until Nov. 1944. He was sent from Singapore to Manila aboard Hofuku Maru. He survived the 21 Sept 44 sinking of Hofuku Maru only to be sent out aboard Hokusen Maru on 1 Oct 1944. His name is recorded in Bilibid Prison records (see Robert Hudson roster) and on a Hokusen Maru roster obtained from the US National Archives.
Hi Jim,
Thank you for the information you’ve supplied and your interest in my grandad. I will try and have a look at it later. In the mean time I’ve just posted the contents of an email from Andrew Snow from the Thailand Burma Railway Centre that addresses the errors on the index card.
http://morethan9lives.co.uk/an-email-from-andrew-snow-thailand-burma-railway-centre-kanchanaburi-thailand/
many thanks,
Simon