宵月地獄船事件 - Part 2

[可點擊放大]

上圖是一位澳洲網友 Sophie 找到的 Tatura 集中營記錄, 記載一臺灣人小孩個人資料:

地區: 荷屬東印度 [按: 太平洋戰爭爆發時,此地一部份日本人及臺灣人被送往澳洲集中營拘禁]

姓名: SAI Ho Tjioe [原名不詳]

生日: 22/7/1942
被俘地: Tatura [按: 位於維多利亞省北部]
出生地: Tatura
宗教: 儒教

國籍: 原登記為 "Aust. Born Jap Parents", 刪改為 Formosan
生母: SAI Loei Sian Twe [原名不詳]
生母住址: Tatura 集中營第四營

報告:
特徴: 黑髪棕眼 [性別不詳]
17/8/1942 入營
6/3/1946 自雪梨港乘宵月艦遣回臺灣

這位 SAI Ho Tjioe, 4 歲不到就上了地獄船, 今年應是 69 歲.

宵月地獄船事件 - Part 1

最近幾天臺灣有紀念二戰盟軍滯臺戰俘之舉. 11月11日在大直立了一個紀念碑,13日在金瓜石還有紀念儀式.這些戰俘乃太平洋戰爭在新加坡等地投降的英聯盟軍及各戰地被俘的美軍.在轉運到臺灣及日本(包括滿洲)時所搭乘的就是一些出名的"地獄船 Hell-ships",因為船上既擠且髒,欠食缺水,加上普遍遭受日軍虐待,傷病死亡者甚多.

還有另一個反方向的運俘,在龍應台教授的"大江大海一九四九"一書中也提到中國戰俘從上海被運到新幾內亜拉包爾 (Rabaul) 的地獄船慘況.

很不幸,一些臺灣人在1946年也被迫搭上了一艘"地獄船".

太平洋戰爭後,被拘留在澳洲集中營的 350臺灣人,包括大人和小孩,預定由雪梨港與日本,韓國人戰俘一起遣送,趕出澳洲.來接人的"宵月Yoizuki",僅是一2,700噸的日本驅逐艦.神靖丸也是同樣噸級,還是改裝的貨船,也只能運送 400人左右而己.但澳洲軍方悍然的拒絕臺灣人的抗議,居然強迫 1,005人上船,航行到 2,000哩外的拉包爾.這就是所謂的 "宵月地獄船事件 The Yoizuki Hell-ship Incident".

澳洲軍方很明顯是有報復的意味,但那時的臺灣人已變成中華民國國民,不再是日本籍,而且並非戰俘,不應受到這種非人道的待遇.還好澳洲輿論大譁,認為是不值行為.政府只好下令調査.但官僚式的馬後炮調查,結果可想而知.報告中提到超載乃因家人們不願分散,擁擠乃行李過多,船上衛生不佳乃乘客不聽從船長命令等等.把責任推得一乾二凈.

以下的照片就是1946年3月6日,臺灣人家庭在雪梨 Pyrmont 碼頭集合上船前的景況:

[上圖是宵月艦航入雪棃港後]

[上: 一臺灣人被迫上船]

[上: 一位年軽人拒絕登船; 下: 不得已在澳軍軍警監視之下上船]

[上: 哭泣中的幾個小女孩; 下: 領牛奶]

[上下兩圖: 大人小孩群聚碼頭等待上船]

千辛萬苦到拉包爾後才乘由豪華郵輪改裝的醫院船氷川丸[Hikawa Maru]返臺,船上有5名醫生,其中兩位是臺灣人. 此船為11,621噸,設備總算比宵月好一點. 1941年曾運猶太難民從日本到加拿大. 戰後變成引揚船,其後繼續航運日美之間,到1960年退役.現停泊於橫濱港,為一水上展覽館:


建於1945年的宵月艦,在1947年被中華民國接收,改名"汾陽"號,因為無法運作,長期擱置,於1962-3在臺灣暴殄天物式的被解體.

從1947年起,很少臺灣人知道有"宵月地獄船事件"一事.

Update 19 - 台中州林伯槐醫師/台南州鄭慶朝醫師

一位好心的網友來郵:

"你好，前陣子看台灣文學，提到了戰未的台灣醫生
讓我非常動容，沒想到可以看到如此驚人的事，歷史都竟一筆帶過，令人生氣。
所以讓我上網查的一下，就看到您的網頁。
文中提到台中州 林伯槐醫官 東京醫專 妻小演花子(上野音樂學校)子女-芳子、芳壽
陳秀梅
陳新彬 東京醫專
高煥槙 東京醫專
此三人是同學
台南州朴子 鄭慶朝

取自台灣文學 2011冬季號 鍾逸人 二戰未朝的台灣人醫生"

非常謝謝這位網友幫忙.

神靖丸名冊中有:

林伯槐醫師,居住地為北斗郡北斗街

鄭慶朝醫師列名為"春山慶朝", 居住地為"東石郡朴子街朴子"

Remembering Dr Lin and Shinsei Maru

Through the efforts of teachers and students of 霧峰學 at Asia University, perhaps this site can be converted into a memorial to honor Dr 林鵬飛 the original owner, and by extension to his medical school classmate Dr 鄭子昌and those of his colleagues who perished on Jan 12, 1945 on board of 神靖丸.

岩手醫大 and 宮古市

岩手醫大 Iwate Medical School in Morioka where Dr Cheng Tze-Chang of Danshui was accepted but did not attend. He went back to Taiwan to study at Taihoku Imperial University Medical School instead. Dr Wu Ping-Chen of Tainan, on the other hand, had graduated from Iwate and returned home to practice in Taiwan. Below: the original entrance of the medical school:
Above: Founder Dr Mita Tatsujiro and the stairway leading up to the patient wards, and below: the new university hospital entrance:
Dr Wu resumed his medical career in 宮古市Miyako City after retiring in Taiwan. Miyako is a seaside town; its bay area was hit hard by the tsunami on March 11, 2011. The center of the city itself, fortunately, did not sustain too much damage. Below is the train station, looking beyond it and about one mile is the sea. The sign to the right says: Let's go! Miyako (Kanbaro Miyako):

Above: The devastated 田老Taro area, near Miyako, by the tsunami, even though this area was protected by a 9-m tall levee system.

We hope the reconstruction starts soon.

Update 18 - 林鵬飛醫師

We are saddened to learn that the last surviving member of the class of 1941, 台北帝國大學附屬醫學專門部Imperial Taihoku University Medical School, 林鵬飛醫師Dr Lin Peng-Fei had passed away in March, 2010, at age 92. He was survived by his wife and 5 children.

In 1944/5, Dr Lin was drafted to serve as an IJN doctor海軍軍醫 until the Pacific War ended. Dr Lin then practiced as a surgeon at 台中醫院Taichung Hospital and 彰化基督教醫院Changhua Christian Hospital. He later returned to his hometown 霧峰Wu-feng and opened 民生診所Ming-Sheng Clinic specializing in general medicine. He was well-respected as an ethical physician who often provided free care to the poor. After nearly 50 years of service, Dr Lin retired in 1990 and subsequently relocated to Taichung City.

Dr Lin was a family man who had served his countrymen well.

[Source: 江鳥飛林]

護國丸事件The sinking of Gokoku Maru - Nov 11 1944

In addition to Shinsei Maru, there were other losses during the Pacific War. These are only now beginning to surface. One of the sunken ships was 護國丸 (the Gokoku Maru), and with it 212 Taiwanese youths, only 88 survived. These were high school graduates drafted in 1944 to serve in the IJN and they were sailing from Kaohsiung to training camps in mainland Japan.

護國丸 was one of the three high-speed armed transport ships, a group known as the Hōkoku Maru Type (pictured below, peace- and war-time, respectively) that included 報國丸 (Hōkoku Maru), 愛國丸 (Aikoku Maru), and 護國丸. They were funded and built based on a 1937 government directive “优秀船舶建造助成资金” and were owned and operated by Osaka Shipping Co, initially assigned to run the Japan <--> E Africa route.

The dimensions of this group of ships were as follows:

Displacement: 10,438 long tons (10,605 t) gross
Length: 160.8 m (527 ft 7 in) overall
Beam: 20.1 m (65 ft 11 in)
Draught: 12.5 m (41 ft 0 in)
Propulsion: 2 × Mitsui-B&W Model 12-62 VF-115 diesels, 2 shafts

Speed and armament:

Hōkoku Maru
21.1 knots
• 8 × 150 mm (5.9 in) L/40 naval guns
• 2 × 76.2 mm (3.00 in) L/40 AA guns
• 4 × 533 mm (21.0 in) torpedo tubes

Aikoku Maru
20.9 knots
• 8 × 140 mm L/50 naval guns
• 4 × 25 mm AA guns
• 4 × 533 mm torpedo tubes

Gokoku Maru
20.6 knots
• 2 × 120 mm (4.7 in) L/40 AA guns
• 6 × 25 mm AA guns
• 2 × 13 mm AA guns
• 2 × 7.7 mm machine guns
• 4 × 533 mm torpedo tubes

Capacity: 400 passengers (48 first class, 48 special-third class, 304 third class)
12,000 cubic meters freight

Gokoku Maru was the last of this group of special cruisers built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries starting in 1940, launched in April, 1941, and finished on July 27, 1942. It was originally named 興國丸, but was renamed 護國丸 before launching. It was also different from the other two sister ships in that it was armed during construction and two mid-ship heavy-duty cargo lifts were omitted. The ship was commissioned as an Auxiliary Cruiser under the command of the Kure Naval Defense Office “吳海軍鎮守府”.

In Oct 1942, Gokoku Maru was ordered to South Pacific to intercept and destroy enemy shipping. However, because of the expanded naval and air defense from the Allies, this mission was becoming difficult. With the Americans and Australians pushing back from Guadacanal and New Guinea, the duties of the Gokoku Maru shifted to transporting materiels to the South Pacific. In Oct 1943, it was renovated back to the original high-speed cargo ship to transport war materials as well as military personnel. On Nov 10, 1944, Gokoku Maru while sailing from Taiwan to mainland Japan, was sunk by 4 torpedoes fired from an American submarine, the USS Barb (below), near Kyushu.


Here is a detailed account on that fateful day (see http://www.combinedfleet.com/Gokoku_t.htm):

“10 November 1944:
At 0245, LtCdr (later Rear Admiral) Eugene B. Fluckey's USS BARB (SS-220) picks up GOKOKU MARU on her SJ radar.
At 0334, Fluckey fires three MK-18 electric torpedoes at GOKOKU MARU. The first hits aft of the funnel and the second hits forward of the bridge. GOKOKU MARU's port engine room is destroyed. The ship floods, her engines stop, she loses all power and takes on a 30 degree list to port.
Fluckey notices that GOKOKU MARU is not sinking, but heading very slowly towards shore. Captain Mizuno is attemping to beach his ship. Fluckey fires another electric torpedo, but it circles and misses.
Seven miles off Koshiki Jima, E Kyushu. BARB submerges. LtCdr Fluckey closes to 1,400 yards. At 0410, he fires a final torpedo and scores another hit. This time, GOKOKU MARU sinks by the stern at 33-31N, 129-19E.
The number of survivors is unknown, but 326 crew and passengers are KIA including Captain Mizuno. He is promoted Rear Admiral, posthumously.”

Among the dead, 2 were from Danshui. Two other gentlemen also from Danshui, both named 盧, survived to tell the story - possible only years later when it was recounted in a paper published in 2009 [see 陳柏棕: “臺灣海軍特別志願兵之殤--特設巡洋艦護國丸遭難始末” in 臺灣史料研究, vol 33 pp 34-60].