The Davao Panel Colony is a Japanese POW farm labor camp located in a small port city on southeast coast of Mindanao, the largest island in the southern Philippines. The POW camp was located some ten miles northwest of the port. Originally had an area of approximately 30,000 hectares, Davao Camp was formally established on January 21, 1932. The prison complex itself had an area of about 8,000 hectares.
In December 1941, after the outbreak of the Pacific War, it held about 1,000 Japanese nationals, guarded by Filipino military police reporting to an American commanding officer. On December 20, 1941, the Japanese Forces attacked Davao and the colony was among the establishments taken over by the invading army. The entire settlement was thrown into confusion; many guards simply ran away, and a great number of prisoners escaped. On November 8, 1942, a representative of the Director of Prisons of the Philippines transferred the colony and its properties to the Japanese authorities. During the Japanese occupation period, it was taken over by the Japanese Army as a prisoners of war camp. About two thousand Americans were held at Davao during the war. Prisoners were treated harshly in manners typical of most prisoners of war camps run by the Japanese during this period. By mid-1944, American forces were only 300 nautical miles southeast of Mindanao and able to bomb Japanese positions there using long-range bombers. American forces under Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz had advanced across the Central Pacific Ocean, capturing the Gilbert Islands, some of the Marshall Islands, and most of the Marianas Islands. Facing the approaching American force, the Davao Camp was closed June 6, 1944 and the POWS were sent first to Cebu on the Yashu Maru. In Cebu, they were transferred to the Singoto Maru and moved to Manila and into Bilibid. |