FEPOW Memorial - Camden High Street, London, UK
N 51° 32.070 W 000° 08.335
30U E 698427 N 5713146
As of yesterday, Friday, 21st September, 2012, this memorial to Japanese Prisoners-of-War, became London's newest war memorial. It is located on a traffic island close to the north of Mornington Crescent underground station in Camden High Street.
Waymark Code: WMFAXX
Location: London, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 09/22/2012
Views: 16
This memorial is dedicated to those that lost their lives in
the Far East during the Second World War. The memorial sits on top of a low,
circular, white plinth. On top of the plinth are two railway sleepers, in the
shape of a St Andrew's cross, and on top of each sleeper is a section of rail on
which trains run. The inscription is mounted on a lectern type configuration
with two granite legs extending up from the plinth and a tilted slab of granite,
of the same type of the legs, sat on top. On top of the lectern is a further
piece of black granite that carries a picture and the inscription. The
inscription reads:
In memory of the tens of thousands
of
British Civilian and Military personnel
who suffered incarceration, many
dying,
in the Far East during the
Second World War 1939-45
including
those forced to labour
on the Burma railway.
They ask for nothing but
remembrance
of their lives and a promise of
peace for future
generations.
Image by Ronald Searle, artist and
prisoner of war who laboured on the Burma railway
The local TV station carried an article about the memorial,
including video [visit
link] on their evening news programme. The text of the article
reads:
"A permanent monument has been unveiled in memory of
Japanese prisoners of war. This is a long-awaited tribute to them. The capital's
newest war memorial was unveiled in north London. It commemorates the suffering
of British prisoners held by the Japanese during the Second World
War.
Many died as they were forced to build a railway across
Burma. Former POWs were on hand to see new the memorial on Camden High Street.
Julie MacDonald went to meet the stars."
The Camden New Journal [visit
link] who were active in the memorial being created, also carried an article
with photos:
"THE Last Post sounded over Mornington Crescent today
(Friday) as war veterans and three generations of their families remembered
their comrades and friends who fell beside them in the Far East during the
Second World War.
They were among hundreds of onlookers there to see
Viscount Slim unveil a memorial to Far East prisoners of war, erected thanks to
the generosity of New Journal readers.
Also helping to unveil the memorial - which features a
drawing by the renowned artist Ronald Searle who was himself a prisoner - was
Toni Garizio, 93, of Highbury. He is one of the last surviving members of the
forced labour camps to which thousands of military personnel and civilians,
including women and children, were sent by the Japanese following the fall of
Singapore in 1941.
The Duke of Edinburgh sent a message of
support.
'I congratulate everyone in Camden for their efforts,'
said Viscount Slim. 'The prisoners were held under the most appalling
conditions. Those that survived are very special, as are those who didn't come
back. They never gave up, they didn't just give up the ghost. There was no
medicine, they were treated cruelly and subjected to just about every disease
you can think of - cholera, dysentery, malaria. They deserve not to be forgotten
and always remembered.'"
Of the several wreaths that were placed at the unveiling
ceremony there was one from the Burma Star Association (see
photos).