Internees & Others

This database is currently under development. Each person has their own story. It is the aim of this site to identify all those who suffered during the war. Special “thanks” to Maurice Francis for his contributions.

Internees by Nationality

  • Americans
  • Australians
  • British
  • Canadians
  • Chinese
  • Dutch
  • Egyptians
  • French
  • Germans
  • Italians
  • Mexicans
  • Norwegians
  • Polish
  • Slovaks
  • Spanish
  • Swiss
Internees by Topic

Non-Internees

  • Non-Internees by Nationality
  • Non-Internees who died during Japanese occupation
  • Non-Internees who escaped the Philippines

42 thoughts on “Internees & Others

  1. What a wonderful surprise to discover your website thanks to an email for Maurice. My father was in STIC; he survived because the Kempetai grabbed the wrong Larsen when they took, Grinnell, Dugglby, Johnson and Larsen to Bilibid; tortured them and executed them in early January.
    My mother, who was Russian (Russia and Japan had a non aggression pact during the early part of WWII) and I were allowed to spend most of the occupation in our home in Manila under house arrest.
    My mother and I (age 4 1/2) and my baby sister with our Filipina amah, ran through the battle of Manila to get to the safety of STIC which had been liberated the previous day. I will send you the story of that terrible day. Chris

  2. I am excited to see this website and hopefully will make connections. I was born in Baguio soon after internment. My parents, Ed and Helen Angeny were Church of the Brethren missionaries. Mom wrote a book, “Behind Barbed Wire and High Fences” ( published by Sunbury, Camp Hill, PA and also available in paperback and on Kindle through Amazon). We were in Camp John Hay, Camp Holmes and finally Bilibid.
    I am interested in finding all the information I can about the internment and people involved. Particularly, I’m trying to find the name of the ship that brought us to San Francisco from Leyte. It was a Dutch Freighter and arrived in May. I have been on Ancestry and found nothing. I was informed that all those records have been destroyed.
    Carol (Angeny) Wion

  3. This is an excellent website even now as it is “still under development” as you say. I started researching the life of Ernest Stanley, STIC interpreter, back in 1995 and since then things have taken off and I am now involved very much with all aspects of the camps having a circulation email list of over 70 people, as I am sure you are aware. You might perhaps like to mention on your site that I am happy to add anyone on to this list but of course others on it will be aware of their email address. My Kindest Regards. Maurice Francis : 11 Gilmour Crescent, Claines, Worcester WR3 7PH, England – Tel: 01905 454127 – Mobile : 07752533956 – Email: mauricefrancis1@hotmail.com

  4. As the only member of my immediate family who was not interned in STIC, I read these stories with a sense of profound gratitude and humility.
    But for the grace of God… — Bill Boni
    (interned family members were Ovidio, Albina, Ovid, David and Robert)

  5. I’m trying to find information on great grandfather who was interned and passed away in one of the internment camps. Can’t be too sure which one because information about him from my elders are vague. All I know is James Howard Nelson was half white and half African American. My grandfather down to myself are of Filipino descent. From my own research I’ve gathered that at around the time of his death he would’ve been around 65 or 66 years old and he may have been a hold over from the Spanish/American or Philippines/American War. Is there any way to find a list of internees at each camp?

    • I, too am trying to find the camp my American grandmother, Edna Clyne Brown, was in. She had been the supervisor of the telephone company in Manila.

  6. This web site is amazing! I just found my great grandfather’s name listed as one of the internees that passed away at San Tomas Internment Camp. Now I have a few facts to go on. I was told he died of a heart attack because he was so happy when he heard of news that Americans were going back to the Philippines. Cause of death was coronary embolism on February 2, 1945.

    • Hi, PJ, thanks for your questions and comments. From what I’ve found so far, it looks like your great-grandfather, James Howard Nelson, was born in Virginia in April, 1876, and was stationed with the U.S. 24th Infantry Regiment in Tayug, Luzon, in June 1900. The 24th was an “all black” unit and served in the Philippines a couple of times.

      There is a history of the regiment which you may be able to obtain through a library or bookstore: Last of the Black regulars : A history of the 24th Infantry Regiment (1869-1951). Later, James is listed in the Santo Tomas July 1944 census as being retired, married and residing in room 114 of the campus .

      When the full internee database is released, you will be able to view additional information that I find.

      Thanks again and best regards,

      Cliff

      References:
      https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M316-6FZ
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/24th_Infantry_Regiment_%28United_States%29
      http://www.worldcat.org/title/last-of-the-black-regulars-a-history-of-the-24th-infantry-regiment-1869-1951/oclc/9360493&referer=brief_results

      • not sure if can help me and my younger sister .our father albert buzzell Lowell was a prisoner at santé tomas .not sure exactly when but thinking 44-45 maybe 43 .he had been a pharmisist mate second class on uss relief and possibly civilian heavy equipment .maybe at prison hospital working .I cant seem to find anything about him can anyone you know help us we never met him nor have we seen picture .

        • Thanks for your message. Your father is in my database of internees, but I only have basic information on him, so far. I will look thru my books and articles to see if there is anything that I can send you. Best regards, Cliff

          • Can you find my grandmother in your data base? Her name was Edna Clyne Brown. She was a supervisor at the telephone company in Manila & was on house arrest while she was forced to teach the Japanese how to operate the phone system. After that she was interned at one of the camps.

          • Hi, Jacque, thanks for your question. I have a few notes and links for your grandmother, Edna Clyne Brown, which I will e-mail to you. Included in that, is an article from “The Japanese Occupation of the Philippines,” by A.V.H. Hartendorp, which mentions her and the situation at the Manila telephone company. Hopefully, these will be useful to you. Regards, Cliff

  7. This is an amazing site. Congratulations! This must be a lot of work. I’m looking for information about my grand-parents Helen and James Glen who were from Glasgow, Scotland. I know that they had been in Manila since the 1920’s and were evacuated on MS Pennant. The only information that I have is that Helen had been a “Royal Matron” and had worked at the Malabon Sugar Company. James had been a merchant seaman during his life, mostly for P&O, and had crewed on ships in the Pacific up to 1941. Any information about them would be appreciated.

  8. Fascinating website! I’m looking forward to its further development. My father, Colonel Arthur Philip Murphy, never surrendered, was never captured and never interned, but he was stationed at Camp John Hay (Baguio) on December 8, 1941, when the Japanese attacked. He served as a guerrilla from March 1942 until September 1945 with United States Armed Forces in the Philippines, North Luzon (USAFIP-NL). My book detailing his experiences (The Luckiest Guerrilla) will be published later this year (2018).

    • Hi, Patricia, thanks for your comments. This site is primarily for civilian internees, but it will have links to books and publications about guerrilla activities in the Philippines. As such, I’m looking forward to reading your upcoming book. Please let me know when it is released. Best regards, Cliff

  9. My husband’s uncle Henry Hezekiah and his two daughters ( Mary Louise, Frances Flora Holzer and her husband, Charles Clifford Holzer) were interned in Santo Tomas. Hezekiah’s wife was Japanese (Mary L. aka Fanny or Tannje) and apparently was not interned.

    Frances Holzer and Henry Hezekiah both died in the camp. I would be interested if anyone knows anything about the Hezekiah’s in the camp or anything about his Japanese wife. We believe she survived the war but know nothing more about her.

    Thank you for all your work to keep these memories alive. You are doing a great job.

  10. Is there any information in the data base on my uncle, George Kallman and Delilah Endicott. They were interned at Santo Tomas.

    • Hi, Sharon, thanks for your message. I will send you the records I have in my database for George Kallman and Delilah Endicott. I also have a listing for them on my “Love and Marriage” page, but I do not know where or when they were married. If you could supply this information, I can add it to that listing. Thanks and regards, Cliff
      Update: I just found the date and place of their marriage.

    • Hi, Daniel, thanks for your message. I think that the siblings that you are referring to are the Fernandez sisters, Carmen Mary, Juanina Mary and Mary Louise. They appear in the YouTube video Interviewing Philippine Internees 1945, at the 60 minute, 10 second mark. They were born in New Jersey and New York. If this is not the family you are referring to, please let me know. Regards, Cliff

  11. Hello Cliff,
    This site is such a boon for folks trying to put the pieces together. Do you have any information about Harbaugh’s being internerned in Los Baños or Santo Tomas. Eliza Harbaugh was my wife’s grandmother. My wife’s mother may have been interned as well but would not be recorded as a Harbaugh but rather as Joanne Cantillo and would have been about 5 or 6 years old in 1942. Thank you!

    • Hi, Stephen, thanks for your message. I don’t have either Eliza Harbaugh or Joanne Cantillo in my database of civilian internees. I am going to check some other rosters to see if I can find entries for them. I will certainly forward you anything that I find. Best regards, Cliff

      • Hi Cliff, my mother was Eliza Harbaugh who was interred at Los Banos along with her sister Antoinette. Just found out my relation to Stephen through Jo Ann Cantillo, a child who’s been a secret to my family all this time. Her father was Apolinar Calvo, captain of the ill-fated SS Corregidor which sank in Manila Bay in 1941. (My mom then married an American GI after her liberation.) Anyway, she may be on record as Eliza Calvo, and her sister would probably be listed as Antoinette (or some derivative) Montgomery, and American GI she married in the P.I. So maybe that would help your search. Thanks!

        • Hi, Tony, thanks for your comments. I had been looking for more information on Eliza for some time and somehow missed your message til now. I now want to find out more about the people who perished on the S.S. Corregidor. Thanks again and regards, Cliff

  12. My mother and her parents were part of the small group of Italian prisoners in Los Banos. I do not know when they entered the camp, but they were surely rescued in feb 1945, when my mother was 9. I wonder if there is an official list of the internees sorted out by nationality. Their names were Lorenzo Circognini – father – Germana (aka Manella) Petrosemolo/Circognini – mother – and Marialisa Circognini – doughter – but their names/surnames are often written in a wrong way. Unfortunately in Italy it is impossible to try and rebuild what happened, cause all the attention is focused – with good reasons – on nazi camps and no one seems to be interested in what happened outside of Europe, so you are our last chance to put togheter a part o her past. My mother would be very happy about it. Thank you so much for your help

    • Lorenza, thank you for your message. In my database, I have 26 Italians, three of whom are entered as “Gircognini.” I will email you a list of all 26, together with what notes I might have on your family. I should be sending this information to you by tomorrow. I want to make sure I don’t miss anyone. Best regards, Cliff

  13. Hi,

    I am following a lead for my paternal Grandmother Betsy Doris Taylor and of US heritage, born in the Shanghai International Settlement and evacuated to Manila then interned in STIC for the duration of the war. We believe she was released and traveled to Brisbane Australia by Ship then Rail to Sydney 1945. Hoping you can share any information. Thank you!

    • Hi, Jason, thanks for your comment. The largest contingent of repatriated Australians sailed on the S.S. David C. Shanks, leaving Tacloban, Leyte, on 26 March 1945, arriving in Townsville, Australia, on 5 or 6 April 1945. Your grandmother is mentioned in some articles including:

      The Argus (Melbourne, Australia) article of 26 February 1945 titled “Troops Rescue More Manila Internees.” 33 Australians listed including “Betsy Taylor.”

      The Maryborough Chronicle (Queensland, Australia) article of 7 April 1945 titled “Internees from the Philippines Welcomed in QLD” [Queensland]. “The only Queensland woman on the ship was Miss Betsy Taylor, whose father resides at Newmarket, Brisbane.”

      The Townsville Daily Bulletin (Queensland, Australia) article of 7 April 1945 titled “Manila Evacuees at Townsville.”

      The Daily Mercury (McKay, Australia) article of 7 April 1945 titled “Philippines Evacuees Tell Stories on Arrival at Townsville.”

      The Sydney Morning Herald (Sydney, Australia) article of 9 April 1945 titled “Manila Internees Here To-Day.” Listed as “Betsy D. Taylor, Brisbane.”

      I have several photos taken of the returning Australian internees, from various newspapers. I didn’t see your mother listed in any of these, but I can email them to you, if you are interested.

      My colleague, Maurice Francis, contributed to this information. Please let me know if you have any further questions.

      Regards, Cliff Mills
      PhilippineInternment.com

      • Hi Cliff
        My name is Rodney Robilliard born (Bryan Thomas Taylor) in 1945 in Sydney Australia and father of Jason Robilliard and son of Betsy Doris Taylor.
        I would appreciate any information you have as this is the closest I have been able to get in over 50 years of extensive searching.

        • Hi, Rodney, thanks for your message. I will check for any information regarding your family and get back to you via email. It may take a few days, because of the holidays. Regards, Cliff

      • Thanks Cliff and Maurice, very much appreciate your efforts. Best Christmas present today! My father Rodney has accessed the information and yes please forward the photos that would be very much appreciated.

        Thanks again!

        Jason

        • Hi, Jason, I will send you the photos of the Australian repatriates via email in small batches. Please disregard any duplicates, since some photos appeared in multiple newspapers. Regards, Cliff

  14. Karen Purnell McColgan

    I am very pleased about the information you have been able to supply. My parents, Jack and Lillian Purnell , were in Los Banos and Santo Tomas. They were interned for 37 months. My whole life, I am in my 70’s, I knew the story and there were so many. One thing that is really remarkable is that when our son, Jonathan McColgan, was in second grade his classmates were invited to bring their grandparents to school. Jonathan introduced my mom and told everyone that his grandmother had been a POW. At the end of the talk two people came up to my mother. One had been part of the paratroopers who rescued them and an other man was the brother of a best man at my parents wedding in Manilla. What were the odds that three people related to 24 little second graders shared the same story? This also shows that my son knew the story from an early age. I don’t ever remember not knowing the story. It is the record of our family and I hope my granddaughters will know it as well.

  15. I am looking for information on Herman Knaesche. I’ve found him on a roster with notes that say STIC No. 2 p. 34, 232 but have no idea what the notes are referencing. Anything that you could tell me about his time at Santo Tomas would be appreciated.

    • Hi, Deb, thanks for your message. I do not seem to have much about Mr. Knaesche, but I’ll send you what I have, via email. It will probably be tomorrow. Thanks again and regards, Cliff

  16. Christopher Arundell

    Hi, Cliff!

    Have just finished scrolling down through the several ‘messages’ wondering if there may be some person I may ‘recognize’! I feel ashamed at not having discovered your website previously, being a former ‘resident’ of Santo Tomas
    (‘Shanty Town’) as a toddler/young boy with my mother, father, younger brother (Gwen, Philip and Felipe Arundell), my Australian born grandmother (Susan Isobel Lewis, nee Livingstone) and (I believe, also interned), her sister Sarah Livingstone (repatriated to Australia). My maternal grandfather, Walter W. Lewis was an American who fought in the Spanish American War and was stationed in the Philippines after that War and subsequently married my grandmother. He died in Manila in 1924. My English father and his relatives all remained in England. We were repatriated to America (San Pedro, CA) aboard the USS John Lykes (with many other internees) in Apr/May 1942 and thereafter on to England and school! I’ve had the good fortune of being able to attend a number of STIC Reunions in Sacramento and the Bay Area, enjoying the company of former internees from both Santo Tomas and Los Banos, who have been able to confirm some of my early recollections ‘camp’ and ‘fill me in’ on aspects (1942/43) that I had no direct recollection of!).

    Any, am so glad to have, finally, made this ‘connection’ with you, Cliff, and keep up this wonderful website you have developed and are maintaining. In closing, would very much appreciate your sharing this communication with Maurice Francis in England, given our English ‘connection’. Kind regards –
    Christopher Arundell (retired in southern Arizona)
    cgharundell@gmail.com

    • Chris, thanks for your message. I appreciate the info you provided and will incorporate it into my database, which includes over 12,000 entries. Thank you again and regards, Cliff

      p.s. Like your grandfather, my paternal grandfather, Alvah Eugene Johnson, served in the Spanish American War and married a Filipina, eventually having 10 children!

  17. I am looking for information on STIC internees Harry Clifford Morrison, his wife, Estelle Friedman Morrison; and son, John Nathan Morrison. Harry Morrison apparently worked as a mining engineer in Timor prior to the Japanese invasion on the island. We have no idea how the Morrison family was transported from Timor to STIC. We have very little information about Harry and his wife Estelle. I found records that indicate that Estelle perished in STIC in May of 1943. There is a family story that Harry and Estelle had a baby besides John Nathan, it is unclear if the baby was born in the camp or prior to interment. I have no records to indicate to verify the family baby story.

    Harry rarely talked about his STIC experience and the family knows very little about it. He did attend a reunion of STIC Internees in Hawthorne Park, Inglewood, California in the 70’s.

    Any record or information about the Harry Clifford Morrison family would be greatly appreciated.

    • I will check for anything that I may have regarding the Morrisons. If I find any information, I will certainly send it to you. Best regards, Cliff

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