Puak Prisoner Of War Camp Memorial
This Memorial commemorates the 250 Prisoners of War of the Japanese who were captive here at Puak Prisoner of War Camp from April 1943 to April 1944, and worked on repairing the access road to the Tegora Mine. They were part of a group of 1000 prisoners composed of 500 British Prisoners of War and the Australian ‘E Force’ of 500 Prisoners of War. They were transferred from Singapore's Changi POW Camp to Batu Lintang. They travelled on the ‘hell- ship’ SS De Klerk for Kuching. It arrived on 1 April 1943.
The 250 Prisoners of War arrived at Puak Prisoner of War Camp on the 9 April 1943. They took over the accommodation at this location vacated by the workers (mainly Javanese) on the Dahan Rubber Estate. There remains a Javanese cemetery opposite this memorial.
The purpose of the POW camp at Puak was to house the prisoners while they were repairing the access road to the Tegora Mine where the Japanese believed they could mine Cinnabar ore to manufacture mercury. The camp was abandoned when they realised there was inadequate ore available and they were losing the war in the Pacific.
During the time that the POWs worked at Puak there was only one known death, a Pte Douglas Wickett of the Federated Malay States Volunteer Force. After the war his body was exhumed and reburied at the Labuan War Cemetery. Also, a number of prisoners including Pte. Leonard Hygate of the Straits Settlements Volunteer Force and Pte. Arthur Bates of the Leicestershire Regiment, became ill and were transferred back to Batu Lintang for medical treatment.
The camp was closed on 10th April 1944 and the remaining prisoners under the command of Captain CF Campbell of the Royal Army Medical Corps. were returned to Batu Lintang, Kuching.
Then, in August 1944, a party of 200 of these ex-Puak POWs, including Capt. Campbell, was were transferred to Labuan, and later to Brunei and then Miri. All of the party subsequently died of illness or were killed by the Japanese in Labuan, Brunei and Miri. Of the 250 prisoners who worked at Puak, only Pte Hygate and Pte Bates, who both remained at Kuching, are known to have survived the war.
The 250 Prisoners of War arrived at Puak Prisoner of War Camp on the 9 April 1943. They took over the accommodation at this location vacated by the workers (mainly Javanese) on the Dahan Rubber Estate. There remains a Javanese cemetery opposite this memorial.
The purpose of the POW camp at Puak was to house the prisoners while they were repairing the access road to the Tegora Mine where the Japanese believed they could mine Cinnabar ore to manufacture mercury. The camp was abandoned when they realised there was inadequate ore available and they were losing the war in the Pacific.
During the time that the POWs worked at Puak there was only one known death, a Pte Douglas Wickett of the Federated Malay States Volunteer Force. After the war his body was exhumed and reburied at the Labuan War Cemetery. Also, a number of prisoners including Pte. Leonard Hygate of the Straits Settlements Volunteer Force and Pte. Arthur Bates of the Leicestershire Regiment, became ill and were transferred back to Batu Lintang for medical treatment.
The camp was closed on 10th April 1944 and the remaining prisoners under the command of Captain CF Campbell of the Royal Army Medical Corps. were returned to Batu Lintang, Kuching.
Then, in August 1944, a party of 200 of these ex-Puak POWs, including Capt. Campbell, was were transferred to Labuan, and later to Brunei and then Miri. All of the party subsequently died of illness or were killed by the Japanese in Labuan, Brunei and Miri. Of the 250 prisoners who worked at Puak, only Pte Hygate and Pte Bates, who both remained at Kuching, are known to have survived the war.