Between Survival and Suffering: Life in the Mukden POW Camp During WWII

by John Mikhailik

The Hoten-Mukden Camp (Mukden POW Camp) was located near Mukden, present-day Shenyang. It was situated on the city’s outskirts, specifically at Di Tan Street in the Dadong district, approximately 12 miles from Shenyang along Tungling Road. Today, the site is home to the Shenyang WWII Allied Prisoners Camp Museum–one of the best-preserved examples of an Allied POW camp from World War II. 
 The Hoten-Mukden POW Camp was strategically situated near industrial facilities like Mitsubishi factories involved in manufacturing airplane parts, coal and iron mines, and the South Manchurian Railway connecting Mukden to Harbin, which facilitated the transport of materials and goods. Established in October 1942 during World War II, it housed over 2,000 Allied prisoners, primarily Americans, along with smaller contingents of British, Australian, New Zealand, and Dutch soldiers captured during campaigns in Southeast Asia and the Pacific.[1]
Some notable prisoners were former British Governor of Hong Kong Sir Mark Aitchison Young, U.S. General who surrendered U.S. forces in the Philippines, General Jonathan Wainwright, and the Lieutenant General who surrendered Singapore to Japan, Lieutenant General Arthur Percival. These high-profile prisoners were kept separately from the other prisoners and often received better treatment.[2] The POWs arrived at the camp in poor condition due to being transported from Malaysia or the Philippines to Manchuria. 

Most POWs arrived at the camp after grueling journeys on the infamous hellships. Hellships were unmarked Japanese transport vessels notorious for overcrowding, poor sanitation, and frequent attacks by Allied forces. Many of the prisoners were captured in the Philippines and Malaya after enduring brutal conditions during their transfer across the Pacific and into Manchuria. The prisoners arrived in Mukden on November 11, 1942, but were held in a temporary camp near Fengtai until July 29, 1943, when the main camp was completed. In the first winter at the temporary camp, hundreds of POWs died due to weakness and exposure to the cold, which averaged around twenty to thirty degrees below zero.[3]

     The main camp consisted of three two-story brick barracks with tile roofs similar to the industrial buildings nearby.[4] There were other structures, including:
A hospital staffed by Australian POW doctors and Japanese medical personnel. It had wards for tuberculosis, isolation, X-rays, and a morgue. 
A bathhouse with 22 showers and three concrete pools (two cold and one hot), supplied by piped water from a nearby heating plant. 
Latrines with basic pit toilets attached to the barracks, cleaned weekly.
Mess hall for food preparation. Meals were carried to the barracks in buckets. 
Workshops employed around 950 POWs and Chinese laborers and produced airplane parts, tools, and carpentry goods. 
Additionally, water tower, storage rooms, guard towers, and electrified fencing were also included. The camp was surrounded by four brick walls about eight feet high, with electrified wire coiled on the top. In each corner of the walls, there were guard towers which were staffed with soldiers 24 hours a day.[5]


 The barracks had wooden floors as well as bunks and straw mattresses that 6 to 7 shared. The officers were separated from the enlisted men and generally received better treatment. The barracks had a series of ovens that were used for both cooking and heating, but the ovens often struggled to keep the rooms warm. Coal and fuel were strictly rationed at around one bucket of coal per day. The barracks contained electrical lighting, but to conserve power, the wattage was maintained at around 10 watts per bulb, leaving the area just bright enough to walk around in, yet dark enough to make reading and writing impossible.[6] 


All the rations given and food cooked in the camp were also consumed in the barracks.  The mess hall was used for the preparation of food and had little in the way of dining space; all food was delivered in buckets by teams of POWs. The cooking was directed by Japanese supervisors and was done by teams of POWs. The daily ration consisted of cornmeal porridge and a bun for dinner. During the warmer months, vegetables were grown in the camp garden. Once a month, an allotment of meat was given. In the winter, rice replaced vegetables, but quantities were insufficient to maintain health. Pvt. Wayne Miller recalled: "We couldn't eat the food so some of the fellas took these ropes, made a loop out of them…  so they took the food and put it in the loop and the dogs came along and they pulled on the other end, caught the dogs under the collar, in the neck, most of the time and they pulled them to the door and beat them to death and then that meat was eaten."[7] Water was supplied from wells, but it was of poor quality and had to be boiled before consumption. A water tower was constructed in 1943 to improve access. Any excess foodstuffs were stored in a warehouse, but the Japanese were very careful not to let Allied POWs store food. Red Cross parcels were occasionally delivered but were often delayed, tampered with, or pilfered. Canned goods were pierced upon arrival to prevent storage, forcing immediate consumption. 

     The bathhouse was widely considered to be the POW’s favorite building. It was connected to the local sewage system with running cold and hot water, piped from a nearby heating plant. This amenity contained 22 showers and 3 large concrete pools–2 cold and one hot. The bathhouse itself was not heated, and thus was extremely cold in the winters. In contrast, the latrines and washrooms were located in a small building attached to the end barracks and contained holes in the ground. The condition of these holes was exceedingly unsanitary; the work teams only cleaned them once a week. Near the barracks was the hospital, which contained various wards for tuberculosis, isolation, x-rays, a morgue, and recreation. The hospital was staffed by a combined team of Australian POWs and Japanese nurses and doctors, with the ability to cater to 150 patients at any given time.[8]  Contingents of doctors from the infamous Unit 731 also briefly served here in a medical capacity, although it is unclear if their role went beyond medical care.[9] Inoculations against certain diseases were also provided to the POWs here, and the quality was comparable to a Japanese Army regional hospital.

     Contact with the outside world was somewhat sparse, and mail was seldom sent or accepted by the camp officials. Three letters were permitted to be sent per year, but any mail received back was thrown in the storehouse to rot. The red cross was at times permitted to visit, and certain Swiss officials were allowed into the camp to examine the premises, at the behest of the United States.[10] Parcels were rarely delivered, and prisoners had to purchase goods from the Japanese at the canteen–which restricted only the wealthy POWs to luxury items, like mosquito nets or tobacco. [11] A single set of clothes was provided to each POW, and any replacements had to be bought; the clothing for sale was often captured British military dress.
     
     There was a workshop on the campground that was staffed by about 950 POWs, as well as Chinese laborers from outside the camp. These Chinese laborers would fraternize with the POWs and give them their precious pieces of outside information on the state of the war. The workshop manufactured airplane parts, tools, and general carpentry. The POWs who worked here were also given more rations and were permitted to take a break on Sundays. The workday would last for 8 hours, and lunch was brought from the mess hall. Officers were not made to work, and instead helped with the administration of the camp. The workshop was fairly mild by Japanese standards, and it could be said that prisoners here were treated better than in camps across the empire.

     The Hoten-Mukden camp was regarded as a model facility and had better conditions than many other camps by Japanese standards. At this camp, there were many violations of the Geneva Convention, and hundreds still died within its walls. Physical punishment was endemic, but slapping and beating occurred daily. Those who did not show proper deference to the rules (such as bowing to Japanese who passed by) were brutally beaten.[12] Three American escapees were executed publicly. 

President Truman announced Japan’s surrender on August 16th, 1945. A team of five OSS operators and a Chinese interpreter parachuted into Mukden the next day, later known as Operation Cardinal. After collecting statements and documents from the camp, they tended to the POWs and handed the camp over to the advancing Soviet Army on the 20th of August, 1945. [13] At the time of the camp’s capture, the storehouse had 3 months worth of food and mail up to 2 years old, all undelivered to the POWs. The POWs were given weapons and minted as guards for the former garrison of the camp, reversing their roles. Today, the site is a tourist attraction, a reminder of tragedy from a bygone era. To those who were held here, a look at the old brick walls and guard towers serves as a painful memory of their captivity.

Source: 

1. https://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201711/21/WS5a31d270a3108bc8c6732d75.html
   
2. Streifer, Bill. “Operation Cardinal: ‘…So You Must Be a Spy.’” American Intelligence Journal, vol. 29, no. 2, 2011, pp. 76. JSTOR, https://www.jstor.org/stable/26201953.
   
3. Mansell, Roger. China, Indochina, and Korea: Prisoner-of-War Camp Reports, RG389Bx2201. National Archives and Records Administration, www.mansell.com/pow_resources/camplists/CHINA_INDOCHINA_KOREA_Camp_Reports_RG389Bx2201.pdf.
   
4. Mansell, Roger. China, Indochina, and Korea: Prisoner-of-War Camp Reports, RG389Bx2201. National Archives and Records Administration, www.mansell.com/pow_resources/camplists/CHINA_INDOCHINA_KOREA_Camp_Reports_RG389Bx2201.pdf.
   
5. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-pows-idUSPEK37053320070525/
   
6. Mansell, Roger. China, Indochina, and Korea: Prisoner-of-War Camp Reports, RG389Bx2201. National Archives and Records Administration, www.mansell.com/pow_resources/camplists/CHINA_INDOCHINA_KOREA_Camp_Reports_RG389Bx2201.pdf.
   
7. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-pows-idUSPEK37053320070525/
   
8. Major Peaty, “Major Peaty Diary,” Pacific Asia War Archive, accessed April 30, 2025, https://pacificatrocitiesedu.reclaim.hosting/admin/items/show/1006.
   
9. Drea, Edward J., et al. Researching Japanese War Crimes Records: Introductory Essays. Nazi War Crimes and Japanese Imperial Government Records Interagency Working Group, National Archives and Records Administration, 2006.https://www.archives.gov/files/iwg/japanese-war-crimes/introductory-essays.pdf
   
10. Drea, Edward J., et al. Researching Japanese War Crimes Records: Introductory Essays. Nazi War Crimes and Japanese Imperial Government Records Interagency Working Group, National Archives and Records Administration, 2006.https://www.archives.gov/files/iwg/japanese-war-crimes/introductory-essays.pdf
    
11. Strategic Services Unit, War Department, “Report on Hoten Prison Camp #1 in Mukden, Manchuria,” Pacific Asia War Archive, accessed April 30, 2025, https://pacificatrocitiesedu.reclaim.hosting/admin/items/show/654.
    
12. Major Peaty, “Major Peaty Diary,” Pacific Asia War Archive, accessed April 30, 2025, https://pacificatrocitiesedu.reclaim.hosting/admin/items/show/1006.
    
13. Mansell, Roger. Mukden POW Camp Timeline. Mansell.com, http://www.mansell.com/pow_resources/camplists/china_hk/mukden/mukden_timeline.html.