Remains of Taipei Prison Wall

Remains of Taipei Prison Wall

The Remains of Taipei Prison Wall (Chinese: 臺北監獄圍牆遺蹟; pinyin: Táiběi Jiānyù Wéiqiáng Yíjī) are located in Zhongzheng District, Taipei, Taiwan at the end of Aiguo East Road and Jinshan South Road adjacent to the Southern Taipei operations center for Chunghwa Telecom. Approximately 100 meters of wall exist on both sides of the Chunghwa Telecom property. The walls were built during Japanese rule.

Background

Remains of old Taipei Prison gate

In response to continuous anti-Japanese uprisings throughout the early period of Japanese rule in 1895–1945, the Japanese colonial government built large-scale prisons in Taihoku and Tainan Prefecture to hold political prisoners. The remains of the Taihoku prison serve as a tangible witness to modern Taiwanese prison history.

The layout was based on a radial floor plan, a standard prison design of the 19th century. The prison walls were made with stones from the Old Taipei City Wall, built by the Qing Dynasty at the end of the 19th century. The stones were carved completely by hand from the quartzose sandstone quarries in the Dazhi (大直) and Neihu areas of Taipei.

World War II Allied prisoners

Plaques on the remains of Taipei's prison wall, one listing Allied airmen executed in the prison in 1945

During the period of 1944–1945, Allied airmen who had been shot down or crashed while on patrols over Taiwan were held in the Taipei Prison by the Japanese Army. On 29 May 1945, 14 of these allied airmen were given a mock trial and sentenced to death. The execution took place inside the prison courtyard only 58 days before the end of World War II. When the war ended, the rest of the men were released and returned home.

Name	Rank/Unit	Home
J.C. Buchanan	ARM 3c USN	Guntersville, Alabama
Delbert H. Carter	AOM 3c USN	Eureka, California
Donald K. Hathaway	AMM 3c USN	Jackson Heights, New York
John R. Parker	AMM 3c USN	Dunedin, Florida
Wayne W. Wilson	ARM 3c USN
Harry H. Aldro	PO 2c USN	San Francisco, California
James R. Langiotti	PO 1c USN	Orlando, Florida
Freddy McCreary	ARM 1c USN	Barber Hill, Kentucky
Charles E. McVay	PO 2c USN	Pine Bluff, Arkansas
Ralph R. Hartley	Lieutenant USAAC	Bridgewater, Maine
Bobby L. Lawrance	Sgt USAAC	Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Merlin W. Riggs	Sgt USAAC	Three Rivers, Michigan
Harwood S. Sharp	Lieutenant (JG) USAAC	Oakland, California
Harry U. Spivey	Sgt USAAC	Atlanta, Georgia

See also

• Taipei Prison
• Aerial Battle of Taiwan-Okinawa
• Taiwan under Japanese rule
• Raid on Taipei

External links

• Taipei Times
• POW Taiwan
• Taiwan’s darker past: Emerging histories of the World-war II prisoner of war camps