As early as the spring of 1942, only a few months after the fall of the Allied territories in the Far East, the Japanese began moving POWs by sea out of all the areas they had conquered - Singapore, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Java, and other places, and sending them to Japan, Taiwan, Burma, the Dutch East Indies and other areas to be used as slave labor.
POWs were crammed with little or no water or food into stinking holds, filthy with coal dust, congealed sugar syrup or horse manure left over from previous voyages.
Thousands of prisoners were transported on dozens of Japanese "Hell Ships", and many thousands of those perished from murder, starvation, sickness and neglect - or were killed when the unmarked ships were attacked unknowingly by friendly forces. Some of the cruelty they experienced was extraordinary even for prisoners of the Japanese.
The Hell Ships Memorial is a permanent tribute to the many who died and the few who survived the unparalleled atrocity of the Hell Ships. A visit to the memorial will be a powerful, emotional experience for everyone, no matter what nationality.
