Batu Lintang in Kuching

Other name: Lintangkamp
Internees: prisoners of war
Number of internees: 400
Information: Shortly before the war, the Batu Lintang encampment was built by British-Indies troops. Beginning in July 1942, it functioned as an internment camp for prisoners of war and civilians from Western Borneo. The different groups of prisoners were kept separated. Within the camp were 193 European and approximately 200 native prisoners of war. In about October, the European troops were transferred to a labour camp at an airfield near Kuching, while their officers stayed in Batu Lintang. On 9 November, about 50 native prisoners of war were set free. The rest of the native prisoners of war were declared to be "heiho", Japanese assistant soldiers, on 30 March 1943. At the end of May approximately 70 of them were dressed in Japanese uniforms and sent to Sandakan. On August 24th Camp Commandant Colonel Suga informed the internees of the Japanese capitulation. On 31 August, Queen's Day, there was an airdrop of bread, butter, and cheese. From the beginning of September daily food drops took place. On 11 September 1945 the camp was freed by Australian soldiers. That same month the majority of the internees were evacuated via Laboean.
Commendant: kol. Suga
Literature: Watterson, N., Borneo: the Japanese P.O.W. camps. Mail of the Forces, P.O.W. and internees 1989)

Other name: Lintangkamp
Internees: men
Number of internees: 130
Information: Shortly before the war, the Batu Lintang encampment was built by British-Indies troops. Beginning in July 1942, it functioned as an internment camp for prisoners of war and civilians from Western Borneo. The different groups of prisoners were kept separated. Within the camp were several dozen civilian men and a large number of clergy. On August 24th Camp Commandant Colonel Suga informed the internees of the Japanese capitulation. On 31 August, Queen's Day, there was an airdrop of bread, butter, and cheese. From the beginning of September daily food drops took place. On 11 September 1945 the camp was freed by Australian soldiers. That same month the majority of the internees were evacuated via Laboean.
Commendant: kol. Suga
Literature: Böhm, A.H., West Borneo 1940 - Kalimantan Barat 1950 ([Tilburg] [1984])

Other name: Lintangkamp
Internees: women and children
Number of internees: 150
Information: Shortly before the war, the Batu Lintang encampment was built by British-Indies troops. Beginning in July 1942, it functioned as an internment camp for prisoners of war and civilians from Western Borneo. The different groups of prisoners were kept separated. Within the camp were several dozen women and children, and many nuns. On August 24th Camp Commandant Colonel Suga informed the internees of the Japanese capitulation. On 31 August, Queen's Day, there was an airdrop of bread, butter, and cheese. From the beginning of September daily food drops took place. On 11 September 1945 the camp was freed by Australian soldiers. That same month the majority of the internees were evacuated via Laboean.
Commendant: kol. Suga
Camp leaders: mw. D. (Dorie) Adams
Literature: Newton Keith, A., Vrouwenkamp Borneo (Naarden 1950-2)
Newton Keith, A., Three came home 1948)
Lim Shau-hua, J., From an army camp to a teachers' college. A history of Batu Lintang Teachers' College, Kuching, Sarawak (Kuching 1995)
Nieuwenhuys, R., De bevrijding in de Oost. De bevrijdingsdagen van Rob Nieuwenhuys, Agnes Newton Keith, Bep Vuyk, H.L. Leffelaar, Jenny Pisuisse, Oscar de Wit, Margaretha Ferguson, G.F. Jacobs, Eric Lomax, J. Rookmaker en Paula Gomes (Amsterdam 1995)