Featherston Military Camp: Signature book art humanises an untold tragedy
Felix Woodruffe
To the vast majority of New Zealanders, Featherston is a drive through town. To Wellingtonians, it is a turn towards the wineries of Martinborough or a pass-through further North on State Highway 2. The area, from the road at least, bears no marks of what once stood on a 110-acre plot on the northern side of State Highway 2 next to Greens Road, the main Featherston Camp. The complex was also once comprised of several other paddocks. At its peak in World War 1, the area totalled just over 198 ha. This comprised of Barracks, a hospital, a Prisoner of war camp, an Artillery training ground, shops, infantry training as well as a mounted training ground. The camp remained in service following the end of the first World War for a few years as a military hospital and prisoner of war camp, until all Germans were returned. The facilities were subsequently turned into storage for ordnance storage until the structures were demolished in 1927. During this first iteration of the camp, it served primarily as a training ground for New Zealand servicemen, during this time over 60,000 men passed through on their way to service in Europe or the Middle East.
The camp was officially shut down in 1927 and the land remained empty for many years. Following New Zealand's entry into the Second World War, there arose a need for more military infrastructure. In September 1942, the American government asked the New Zealand government to establish a Prisoner of war camp to house Japanese prisoners captured during battles in the Soloman Islands. Initially, the camp consisted of tents and temporary cookhouses, surrounded by rudimentary barbed wire fences. This new camp was constructed on the concrete bases of the original barracks (in the yellow zone in the featured map). The first lot consisted of approximately 450 Japanese civilian labourers, who built their own huts and many other amenities to make the camp fully functional. The prisoners wore dark blue uniforms which were surplus WW1 uniforms that were dyed. It was the first camp of its kind in the British Commonwealth, that is, a large Japanese POW camp. As a result of this, there were no official regulations on how to manage Japanese prisoners and their different cultures, beliefs and values. Despite this, there were good relations between guards and this first group of prisoners. They were well behaved and were happy to establish their lodgings. There was a cigarette trade that ran between the guards and the prisoners, who would trade handmade carvings for the guards' cigarettes. There was also a guard who, at one time, handed his signature book around the prisoners. The prisoners adorned the pages of this book with designs of home, Japanese culture and scenes from around the camp. The artwork helps to humanise those who were imprisoned in the camp. These images are significant, as for many Japanese at the time, it was seen as a great shame to be captured by the enemy. For one to write their name in a signature book and accompany this with a piece of significantly intricate art stands out. These interactions between guards and prisoners, although common, would have been officially frowned upon and discouraged.
Below are some of these images.
Below are some of these images.
The story of Featherstone is not a well-known one. A story that is even less known is what occurred at the camp on 25th February 1943. While relations between guards and prisoners were good to begin, that changed when the second load of prisoners arrived in November of 1942. This was a smaller group but consisted predominantly of Japanese naval members who were captured in the battle at Guadalcanal. Unlike the earlier prisoners, these prisoners were members of the Japanese military, who, at the time, followed the traditional Senjinkun code. This considered being taken prisoner a great dishonour and some saw it as a fate worse than death. These prisoners were held separately from the first lot of civilian prisoners in compound number 2. The situation at the camp again changed when in December of 1942, the commanding officer was replaced. The camp's new commander, Lt Colonel Donald Hamish William Hawken Donaldson, encouraged the enforcement of rules set out under the Geneva convention which required all able-bodied and physically fit Prisoners of War to work. This caused tensions to rise further in the camp. Japan had signed the convention but did not ratify or even inform its Military of its existence. As a result of these misunderstandings, the POWs were reluctant to cooperate with work orders and frequently saw themselves as above the more menial tasks such as fence building. There was also a diehard group of Prisoners who were rumoured to be planning suicide in an attempt to redeem themselves from the disgrace of surrender. On the 24th of February, Lt Colonel Donaldson ordered that 105 men from Compound 2 were to join work parties the following morning. The next morning, 240 members of No 2 compound staged a sit-in and refused to parade for work until they had an audience with the commander to discuss this far larger than normal number of workers. Donaldson was not present, instead, it was Lt James Malcolm who would attempt to maintain order. Negotiations soon broke down, and demands turned to threats. Lt Malcolm fired a warning shot towards the crowd of 240 prisoners. It is debated whether this shot hit a prisoner or not. A second shot was fired at the intermediary between the groups in an attempt to wound him. Lieutenant Toshio Adachi was hit in the shoulder. It is believed that the prisoners, angered at this, charged the guards with rocks and sticks. 47 guards shot dead 31 Prisoners in 30 seconds and fatally wounded another 17. One guard, Private Waler Pelvin, died of ricochet wounds three days later. A court of enquiry in March of 1943 found that neither side had acted with malice and instead the incident was drawn up to miscommunication between guards and prisoners.
On the site today there stands a cherry blossom garden. A memorial. There are 48 cherry blossoms, each planted in honour of a lost friend, family member or comrade. The trees were planted in 2002 as part of a peace effort. A plaque was erected in 1979 in an attempt to ease the spirits of the men lost at the site, whose ashes are believed to be lost forever. The garden stands as a sombre reminder of a tragic and untold chapter of New Zealand. It is hoped that the display of their fellow prisoners' artwork will help humanise those who were lost and to raise awareness of this tragic event.
These are the names of those lost on the 25th of February 1943.
Mutsuo Araki
Hiro Hi Fukuzumi
Noboru Furukawa
Bunsuke Hamaguchi
Katsuo Hamauchi
Hideharu Hatasaku
Shigekichi Inaba
Motoki Inone
Kiyoshi Ishikawa (Died in Wellington hospital)
Ko Ishimaru
Yugi Kabuki
Sasato Kashiwa
Nakaichi Kato
Yukiya Kawa Guchi
Susumu Kawahara
Hisao Kimata
Kanisaku Kimura
Kenkichi Kondo
Hiromu Masui
Shui Matsuhiro
Yoshitaro Motoyama
Motoski Murakami
Yoso Myata
Jiro Nakagawa
Shigeo Nakajima
Tadao Nakayama
Zingo Niori
Kazushi Ogawa
Yoshitake Ogawa
Mikiji Okado
Yasuo Okamoto
Todomu Shigemasa
Ryozo Shimatsuka
Haruo Shiotani
Kazu Takamoto
Toshio Takanashi
Kenji Tanaka
Kaoru Tanizaki
Yoshizazu Tatsumi
Kazuhiko Ueda
Masayuki Umakoshi
Masaji Uno
Kokichi Watanabe
Toshio Yamanaka
Kaniji Yamane
Tadayoshi Yokoyama
Shinichi Yoneyama
Suechi Yoshida
Mutsuo Araki
Hiro Hi Fukuzumi
Noboru Furukawa
Bunsuke Hamaguchi
Katsuo Hamauchi
Hideharu Hatasaku
Shigekichi Inaba
Motoki Inone
Kiyoshi Ishikawa (Died in Wellington hospital)
Ko Ishimaru
Yugi Kabuki
Sasato Kashiwa
Nakaichi Kato
Yukiya Kawa Guchi
Susumu Kawahara
Hisao Kimata
Kanisaku Kimura
Kenkichi Kondo
Hiromu Masui
Shui Matsuhiro
Yoshitaro Motoyama
Motoski Murakami
Yoso Myata
Jiro Nakagawa
Shigeo Nakajima
Tadao Nakayama
Zingo Niori
Kazushi Ogawa
Yoshitake Ogawa
Mikiji Okado
Yasuo Okamoto
Todomu Shigemasa
Ryozo Shimatsuka
Haruo Shiotani
Kazu Takamoto
Toshio Takanashi
Kenji Tanaka
Kaoru Tanizaki
Yoshizazu Tatsumi
Kazuhiko Ueda
Masayuki Umakoshi
Masaji Uno
Kokichi Watanabe
Toshio Yamanaka
Kaniji Yamane
Tadayoshi Yokoyama
Shinichi Yoneyama
Suechi Yoshida
Sources used:
- Carr-Gregg, Charlotte (1978). Japanese Prisoners of War in Revolt. University of Queensland Press
- Cooke, Peter D F, and Nz Study. Roll of New Zealand’s Second World War Dead. Wellington New Zealand, Defence Of Nz Study Group, 2019.
- Mason, W. Wynne (1954). The Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War 1939-1945. Historical Publications Branch, Wellington
- Shinya, Michiharu (2001). Beyond Death and Dishonour. Castle Publishing New Zealand