Lunghua Civilian Assembly Center

Lunghua Civil Assembly Centre was one of the internment camps established by the Empire of Japan in Shanghai for European and American citizens after the Japanese took over Shanghai in December 1942. James Graham Ballard was interned in the camp as an adolescent. His experiences there inspired the book "Empire of the Sun".

Description of the Camp

Lunghua Civil Assembly Centre was originally the Kiansu Middle School. It was located on Minghong Road about three miles (5km) from Lunghua Airport. (Pre-WWII documents use the alternate spellings of "Lunghua" and "Lunghwa"; the modern anglicized spelling of the town is "Longhua".) The school was damaged in the Second Sino-Japanese War and was empty until it was designated as a Civil Assembly Centre. It was then used to intern 1,988 people.

"The camp was large, containing seven concrete buildings, three large wooden barracks (originally built as stables by the Japanese), and numerous outbuildings. There were fifty nine dorms and 127 rooms for families." [Greg Leck [http://www.captives-of-empire.com/wst_page5.php] , author of "Captives of Empire"]

The buildings on the site were built orthogonal to each other. However, the overall site was aligned slightly east of north. Therefore, in the description below, when a building is described as being built east-west it is more accurately described as ENE-WSW and when a building is described as being built north-south, it is more accurately described as NNE-SSW.

The "Assembly Hall" was the central building. North of it were the single storey wooden buildings "A", "B" and "C". These were built parallel to each other, with each having been built east-west and with "Building A" as the furthest north. South of the "Assembly Hall", also built east-west, was the three storey "Building F", which was the administration block. South of "Building F" was the entrance and southeast was the three storey "Building E" built north-south. East of the "Assembly Hall" was the three storey "Building D" built north-south. West of the "Assembly Hall" and the wooden buildings were two ruined buildings built north-south and further west of the ruined buildings was the two storey "Building G" built east-west. Northwest of "Building G", in the northwest corner of the site, was the single storey "Hospital" which was built east-west. Between "Building G" and the "Hospital" were the five "Commandant's Staff Residences" arranged around a square with three on the northern edge and two on the western edge. "Building G" was on the southern edge.

North of the wooden buildings were the two single storey "dining rooms" (built east-west), and north of each of those was a single storey "kitchen". In the northeast corner of the site, north of "Building D", were two parallel, single storey buildings built north-south. These were "Building H" and "Building I" (or "J", the documents differ as to the name of this building). North of these were the single storey "shower block" (built east-west) and east of the "shower block" was another single storey building built north-south, "Building J" (or "K", the documents differ as to the name of this building).

The "recreation ground" contained a football pitch and was in the area of ground between the "Assembly Hall" and "Building D". [Map drawn by Bertram John William Grimes on 3 April 1943 as to a proposed system of fire hydrants for the camp and "Details of Water Fittings, Wash Rooms etc, At Lunghwa C.A.C" dated 2 May 1943] ["Enemy Subject: Life In a Japanese Internment Camp 1943-1945" by Peggy Abkhazi (1981, Sono Nis Press, Canada ISBN 0-7509-0958-7)]

Current Site

The site of the camp is southeast of the Shanghai Botanical Garden. The Botanical Garden is southeast of Longhua Airport; both of these are clearly identified on satellite images. Satellite images [coord|31.142672|N|121.433365|E|] show that there are buildings on the site in the "same" location as the Civil Assembly Centre buildings. The site of the camp is now enclosed by housing, but can be identified by the rectangular area (once "Buildings A", "B" and "C") and trees. The turning circle in the drive which is south of "Building F", can also be seen.

"Buildings A", "B" and "C" are no longer there, one of the "Staff Residences" has been demolished and one of kitchens no longer exists. The ruined building adjacent to the "Assembly Hall" appears to have been rebuilt the same shape and there are several new buildings built on the site of the other ruined building. There are several new buildings between "Building G" and the "Staff Residences". In addition, there is a road now between "Building H" and the rest of the site.

ources

These descriptions were written by Richard Grimes from maps and documents produced by his grandfather Bertram John William Grimes who was interned in the camp from 17 March 1943 and was released on 20 October 1945. Richard's grandmother, Ethel Mary Grimes, and his father, Norman William Grimes, were also interned at Lunghua on the 17 March 1943 and were released on 31 August 1945.

References