prisoners of war

1.900 (approximately)

34

In the fall of 1943, prisoners of war and romushas from Java were put to work laying two new airfields in remote, partially forested locations in the Palembang area: Betoeng/Ketiau and Pangkalanbalei. These airfields would be replacements for the Palembang I (Talangbetoetoe or Kenten) and II (Peraboemoelih), which were known to the Allies. The prisoners of war in Pangkalanbalei were housed in a temporary camp near the airfield, in barracks made of bamboo and atap, encircled by barbed wire. Some of them had worked earlier laying the airfield at Betoeng/Ketiau. The circumstances - very heavy work, many beatings, little to eat and inadequate medical care - were extreme and led to a great deal of illness. Camp leadership was in the hands of, among others, major A.P. de Vries, commander of the 10th Battalion Infantry (Batavia). The airfield near Pangkalanbalei was completed in August 1944. Some of the prisoners of war were then sent to be put to work at the existing Talangbetoetoe airfield. The rest were taken in May 1945 to Singapore via Camp Soengeigeroeng in Palembang.

kpt. Hojo Kanemitsu

Hirayama; Iwamoto; Matoyama; Matsumoto; Ohara; Tokuyama Shutoku; Naokichi; Kinko

Japanese military personnel, Koreans

lt. Gelpke; maj. A.P. de Vries; lt.-col. Holmes

Kampen-Bronkhorst, D. van, De oorlog duurt voort. Over de problematiek van oorlogsgetroffenen in het kader van maatschappelijk werk ('s-Gravenhage 1979)

• Inventory 400, Inv.nr. 447
• Inventory 400, Inv.nr. 451
• Inventory 400, Inv.nr. 454
• Inventory 400, Inv.nr. 2612