Wreath laid to remember P.O.W. dead

Press, 19 August 1981, Page 6

Wreath laid to remember P.O.W. dead

PA ■ Wellington A Japanese admiral laid a wreath on a commemorative stone marking Japanese prisoner of war dead near the site of&he World War II camp at Featherston yesterday.- v. Admiral Akio Sugata, with the Japanese Ambassador. Mr Takashi Oyamada, and seamen from Japanese training ships visiting Wellington,, laid the wreath at the small memorial compound yesterday morning.

Opposite, the memorial stands the only remaining building pf the Featherston camp, a ramshackle wooden structure.

Admiral Sugata gave the Mayor of Featherston (Mr William McKerrow) an en-

velope of Japanese cherry blossom -tree seeds to plant in the memorial site.

The ceremony was brief, as was .the incident in February .1943, when 48 Japanese prisoners .of war and one New Zealand guard died in a riot.- ’ After lunch at the Anzac Hall in Featherston, Mr McKerrow told the visitors that Featherston did not want to be remembered because of a tragedy but because of friendship. The Ambassador, replying to the Mayor’s suggestions of a sister town, a student exchange scheme, and the direction of. Japanese tourists to Wairarapa, said he would work towards it, although it would not be easy and would take time. .