Kokura Military Hospital / Shimonoseki Quarantine Station / Fukuoka 4B POW camp  On several occasions during the war, the Japanese opened three different “hospitals” in the Moji area to house POWs who had been so debilitated after transport aboard hellships that they could not be sent to their intended POW camps. The three facilities were the Kokura Military Hospital in Kokura, the Quarantine Station on Hakoshima Island in Shimonoseki, and the POW camp, Fukuoka 4B, in Moji. Each of these facilities has come to be known as “Moji Hospital”, leading to considerable confusion about where many Allied POWs were sent upon arrival in Japan. The purposes of this page are to make clear the geographical and historical distinctions between the three facilities, to provide a brief historical overview of each, and to provide links to web sites with additional information. The stories of these three "Moji hospitals" are central to understanding the true toll of the hellships. Nearly all of the 350 American, British, and Dutch POWs who perished at these three facilities died within days or weeks of their arrivals in Japan. They were every bit as much victims of the hellships as those that died aboard. Hospital -- a Misnomer Japanese medicine was at a primitive stage during WWII. The training and skills of medical Japanese personnel were many decades behind the standards of Europe or the United States. Most of the medicines that were available came from Allied Red Cross packages. While these were intended for POWs, the Japanese kept most for themselves, leaving only small amounts to treat POWs. As a consequence these “hospital” facilities were little more than aid stations, holding places really, where ill POWs could be isolated and shielded from the elements. Typically, Allied doctors and corpsmen were brought into the facilities when large numbers of sick and dying POWs were held there, and it was these American, British, Australian, and Dutch physicians and medics who delivered most of the real medical care at these facilities. Kokura Military Hospital Located in Kokura, this was the only actual "hospital" among the three Moji-area medical facilities, and the one most commonly referred to as "Moji Hospital." It was used after several disastrous hellship voyages that left many scores of POWs too sick to be transported to labor camps. POWs from Shinsei Maru (carrying survivors of Lisbon Maru), Nagato Maru, Tofuku Maru, Hawaii Maru, and Brazil Maru were brought here. Reflecting the minimal treatments offered and the terrible physical condition of the POWs, more than 160 American, Dutch, and British POWs perished at Kokura Military Hospital. (Note: no POWs from Singapore Maru or Dainichi Maru were sent to Kokura Hospital.) (Link to a dedicated page on Kokura Military Hospital--not yet active) Shimonoseki Quarantine Station The Quarantine Station was located on Hakoshima Island, in the Enoura district of Shimonoseki, on the main Japanese Island of Honshu (Location map). It was built in 1894, at the end of the Sino-Japanese war, as place to isolate returning soldiers to prevent them from carrying infectious diseases to Japan. In late Nov. 1942, the Japanese found themselves overwhelmed with the nearly simultaneous arrivals of Nagato Maru, Tofuku Maru, Dainichi Maru, and Singapore Maru, each carrying several hundred terribly ill POWs. British officers performed triage on more than 100 POWs who lay awash in the filthy holds and bilges of Singapore Maru, sending those who they viewed as having the best chance of survival to the medical facility at Fukuoka Camp 4B in Moji. Eighty others were left aboard the ship awaiting the arrival of a medical party sent from Zentsuji POW camp. The medical team, under Lt. Cmdr. T.I. Moe (USN Hospital, Guam), and including Lt. Cmdr. S.E.L. Stening (HMAS Perth), accompanied the patients aboard a junk across the Shimonseki straight to the Quarantine Station. Tragically, the men were in such terrible condition that 35 died before the survivors were transferred to the Yawata and Omine Machi POW camps in Feb. 1943. To my knowledge, this was the only time that Shimonoseki Quarantine Station was used as a POW "hospital". Fukuoka 4B POW Camp In Nov. 1942, the Moji YMCA building was converted into a temporary aid station to house more than 250 of the sickest British POWs from Dainichi Maru and Singapore Maru. Despite the arrival of medical assistance from Zentsuji POW camp, 120 men perished in the first two months. The Japanese made the YMCA building and its surrounding yard a permanent prisoner of war work camp. The survivors of the original group were joined by Dutch, American, and additional British POWs and labored for shipping, railroad, and other companies in the Moji area. (Link to history of Fukuoka Camp #4B including photographs, and complete POW rosters.) References and Acknowledgments The information on this page is the result of many years of personal research on hellships and POW camps. Statistics and conclusions are my own. Reference materials included numerous Hellship rosters, POW and Japanese affidavits, POW camp death records, written accounts, web pages, and correspondence with former POWs or their families. POW death records from the POW Research Network Japan were invaluable in my research, as were records and rosters of Dutch POWs available at Henk Beekuis's website. Electronic copies of Dutch POW record cards from the Netherlands National Archives provided important confirmatory information. They can be accessed by following the "Japanse interneringskaarten" link on the Dutch Archives website. A short online biography of Australian doctor Samuel E.L. Stening, who worked at Shimonoseki Quarantine Station was also very informative. The late Roger Mansell graciously provided numerous useful documents. Particularly important were files on Fukuoka 4B and the Dainichi and Singapore Marus from Record Group 331 Box 921. Rosters of Singapore Maru victims and survivors from the British Imperial War Museum (WO 208/4282), via Mr. Keith Andrews, were also generously provided by Mr. Mansell. The rosters can be viewed at Mr. Ron Taylor's Singapore Maru Roll of Honor, as well as at Roger's "Moji Military Hospital Camp" page. Please note that the current (Sept 2011) version of Roger Mansell's website illustrates the continuing confusion about the identify of "Moji Hospital." The Rosters, affidavits, photographs, and links represent an intermingled mishmash of materials covering Fukuoka 4B, Kokura Military Hospital, and Shimonoseki Quarantine Station. I hope that the present website will help clarify what happened to the POWs who had the misfortune to be assigned to one of those facilities. Copyright 2011 by James W. Erickson |
Hellships |
Three "Moji Hospitals" |