The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia
|
| Previous: Aihui | Table of Contents | Next: Aikoku Maru Class, Japanese Auxiliary Cruisers |
Aikawa (138.366E 38.017N), located on the island of Sado off the west coast of Honshu, was an historically important gold mining district, though production was already past its peak in 1941.
The Japanese sent 500 British and American prisoners of war to Aikawa to work one of the mines. Some 387 of the prisoners were still there in August 1945, and on 2 August the officer in command, Major Sadakichi Masami, ordered the mine to be demolished with explosives while the prisoners were working in the mine. Charges
were set the night before, and these were detonated after the prisoners
were put to work in the deepest part of the mine and the guards quietly withdrawn.
References
The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia © 2012 by Kent G. Budge. Index
