Capas Vehicular Bridge: Site of American Prisoners-Of-War Work Detail in 1942.

Investigating History Series:
TARLAC IN WWII HISTORY
Capas Vehicular Bridge: Site of American Prisoners-Of-War Work Detail in 1942.

The image of the Capas vehicular bridge taken in 1945 is a rare photograph of such bridge, where the many Americans were employed in the work detail. Most of the Americans were taken from nearby Camp O’Donnell, terminus of the Death March.

The prisoners were billeted at the present Capas Gabaldon Elementary School, just in front of the church in poblacion. Many of the prisoners died while billeted at the school, and were buried at the nearby public cemetery by the locals.

Citation:
Report No. 57, GHQ United States Army Forces, Pacific War Crimes Of The Imprisonment Under Improper Conditions Of American Prisoners At Capas Bridge Detail, Capas Tarlac , Luzon P.I., April to July 1942, US National Archives NARA, Bamban Historical Society Collection, Bamban WWII Museum.

Photograph:
Report No. 57 – US National Archives NARA