Yongsan-gu, Discovery of Prisoner List from Gyeongseong Allied Forces POW Camp

158 Personnel Including 2 US Soldiers, 141 British Soldiers, 15 Australian Soldiers... Organized by Serial Number, Name, Rank, Service Number, Nationality... 4 Pages... Document Found in the Electronic Archives of the National Institute of Korean History

British prisoners of war enjoying the joy of liberation after being released from the POW camp, along with Korean boy Kim Gu-chun (September 9, 1945) * Source: NARA (The boy Kim Gu-chun, who is on the shoulder of a British POW, is known to have secretly delivered newspapers to the prisoners at the Gyeongseong camp for about two years)

List of Allied Prisoners of War

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] British Lieutenant Colonel Elrington, American Lieutenant Daniel, Australian Private Snell...

Although they differ in nationality and rank, they share the commonality of being Allied Prisoners of War (Allied POW) who regained their freedom following Korea’s liberation on August 15, 1945.

Yongsan District Office (Mayor Seong Jang-hyun) has uncovered a roster of Allied POWs who were imprisoned at the Keijo Allied POW Camp (KEIJO CAMP).

Among the total 158 Allied prisoners, there were 2 American officers, 141 British personnel (91 officers, 2 warrant officers, 48 enlisted soldiers), and 15 Australians (6 officers, 9 enlisted soldiers).

The document is organized by serial number, name, rank, military serial number (ASN), and nationality, spanning a total of four pages.

The original source is the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), and Kim Cheon-su, head of the History and Culture Research Office at Yongsan Cultural Center, discovered the document on the National Institute of Korean History’s website ‘Electronic Archives’.

The Keijo Allied POW Camp (hereafter referred to as the camp) was a facility established by the Japanese during the Asia-Pacific War (1941?1945) to detain some Allied forces captured during the Battle of Malaya (1942).

The camp was established on September 25, 1942, located at 100 Cheongyeopjeong 3-chome, Yongsan (currently the site of Shinkwang Girls’ Middle and High School in Cheongpa-dong). The building was a remodeled warehouse formerly used by the Iwamura (岩村) Sacrificial Factory.

According to data from the Headquarters, United States Army Forces in Korea (HUSAFIK) and others, about 1,000 Allied prisoners departed from Singapore, arrived in Busan on September 22, and on September 25, some were split off at Yeongdeungpo and sent to the Incheon POW camp, while 158 British personnel led by Lieutenant Colonel Elrington arrived in Yongsan.

British officers and non-commissioned officers, as well as Australian officers and non-commissioned officers, were organized into separate barracks (a total of 12), with the camp’s overall commander being Japanese Lieutenant Colonel (equivalent to Colonel) Noguchi (野口讓).

The Japanese appear to have established the white prisoner camp right next to the Yongsan Japanese Military Headquarters to protect their military and railway bases and Japanese residents from Allied bombings, effectively using the prisoners as a ‘human shield.’

They also aimed for political propaganda effects. At the time, the Japanese established camps in three locations on the Korean Peninsula?Keijo, Incheon, and Hungnam?to eliminate Koreans’ respect for white people and to demonstrate their own superiority to the Korean population.

The prisoners in Keijo were mainly forced to perform labor at Japanese Army warehouses (currently the site of Camp Kim), Keijo Station (now Seoul Station), and Han River bridges, enduring various hardships from their guards. However, even if injured or ill, they did not receive proper medical treatment, and some ultimately could not avoid death.

With Japan’s defeat in 1945, the process of releasing prisoners began. The U.S. 24th Army Corps, which landed on the Korean Peninsula, assigned a prisoner recovery team to liberate the Allied POWs.

Captain George J. Stengel, head of the prisoner recovery team, departed Okinawa on September 3, arrived at Gimpo Airport on the 6th, and met Lieutenant Colonel Noguchi at the Joseon Railroad Hotel to receive the camp’s prisoner lists and rosters. It took an additional three days for all prisoners to be released.

After the prisoners were freed, the camp was repurposed as a school, and in 1946, Shinkwang Elementary and Middle School was established there. It is now Shinkwang Girls’ Middle and High School. The remaining camp buildings were demolished in 2011, disappearing into history.

Kim Cheon-su said, “The 2014 publication ‘Searching for the History of Yongsan’ detailed the background of the camp’s establishment and the liberation process,” adding, “The newly uncovered materials will be included in the expanded edition of the book to be published in April.” He also expressed regret, saying, “It would have been better if even a single brick had been preserved during demolition to serve as a site for historical education, but there is not even a single plaque.”

Seong Jang-hyun, Mayor of Yongsan District, stated, “Hundreds of Allied POWs endured truly difficult lives at the Keijo camp here,” and emphasized, “Everyone must remain vigilant to ensure that such painful history never repeats.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.