Japs Holding Sioux Cityan
Men from Carroll and Glidden Also Among 234 Taken
Washington—The war department made public Tuesday the names of 234 soldiers, including 10 Iowans, held as prisoners of war by the Japanese at an unstated camp. The Iowa men included:
Private Howard D. Wilkinson, son of Mrs. Clara L. Watts, who resides at 2702 Douglas Street, Sioux City.
Private First Class Robert W. T. Trafford, son of Hubert A. Trafford, Glidden.
Private First Class Edward W. Tyrrell, son of Mrs. Anna Tyrrell, Carroll.
Source: The Sioux City Tribune, April 13, 1943
SOLDIER FREED FROM JAP CAMP
Pvt. Howard D. Wilkinson, son of Mrs. Clara L. Watts, 908 Pierce street was among the Iowans released from a Philippine internment camp. The name of the camp were he had been held prisoner was not disclosed.
Mrs. Watts received a telegram Sunday night informing her of her son’s safety.
Source: The Sioux City Journal, February 19, 1945
Pvt. Howard D. Wilkinson Among Released Prisoners
Pvt. Howard D. Wilkinson, son of Mrs. Clara L. Watts, 908 Pierce street was among the prisoners released from a Japanese prison camp, according to a telegram received by Mrs. Watts from the War Department.
Pvt. Wilkinson was born at Peterson, Ia., and later moved to Sioux City. He was graduated from Central high school in 1941. On February 12, 1941, shortly after his graduation, he enlisted in the army and was sent overseas a short time later.
He was stationed at Pearl Harbor up to December 5, 1941, when he was transferred to Corregidor, just three days before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
While on Corregidor, he fought under Gen. Eisenhower, and was with the last group to be captured when Corregidor was taken by the Japs. He also was among the soldiers who made the 28-day death march.
The name of the camp where he was held prisoner was not disclosed.
Source: The Sioux City Journal, February 20, 1945
Pvt. H. Wilkinson, Freed from Japs, Wires to Mother
“With the Yanks at Bilibid. Hoping to be home soon.”
That is the telegram which was sent by Pvt. Howard D. Wilkinson, recently released from a Japanese prison camp, to his mother, Mrs. Clara Watts, 908 Pierce street. The message, received Friday, was relayed through Washington. It is believed that Bilibid is a former Japanese prison camp in the Philippines.
Pvt. Wilkinson was transferred from Pearl Harbor December 5, 1941, to Corregidor where he was with the last group to be captured when the island was taken by the Japanese.
Source: The Sioux City Journal, February 24, 1945
Pvt. H. Wilkinson, Released from Jap Prison, On Way Home
Pvt. Howard D. Wilkinson, son of Mrs. Clara L. Watts, 908 Pierce street, who was among the prisoners released from a Japanese prison camp, has arrived in San Francisco according to an Associated Press release received Wednesday.
Pvt. Wilkinson fought under Gen. MacArthur on Corregidor and was with the last group to be taken by the Japs. He was one of the soldiers who made the 28-day death march.
Pvt. Wilkinson was graduated from Central high school in 1941 and enlisted in the army the same year. He was sent overseas in 1941 and was stationed at Pearl Harbor up to December 5, 1941, when he was transferred to Corregidor just three days before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Source: The Sioux City Journal, April 11, 1945
Former School Chums Home After Being War Prisoners
Jack Wickey and Cpl. Howard Wilkinson, friends since they attended Roosevelt grade school together, arrived home recently after being prisoners of war at opposite sides of the earth.
Young Wickey, son of Mr. and Mrs. Melvin Wickey, 2600 W. First street, was taken prisoner by the Germans at Anzio, January 26, 1944, and Cpl. Wilkinson, son of Mrs. Clara L. Watts, 908 Pierce street, was captured by the Japanese at Corregidor May 6, 1942.
Both young men were seniors at Central high school when they entered service. Cpl. Wilkinson enlisted in the regular Army February 13, 1941, and left San Francisco for the Philippines the end of March the same year. He was a gunner and relayer in the 60th coast artillery corps, anti-aircraft, when he was captured at Corregidor and sent to Bilibid prison at Manila. From there he was sent to the various Japanese camps on Luzon with a work detail which helped build airports for the Japs.
Sent To Various Camps.
On September 21, 1944, while he was working on a runway at Camp Murphey with a work detail, he was wounded in the foot when American planes bombed the camp. That evening he was taken to the hospital at Bilbid where he remained because of his foot injury and because of malnutrition until he was liberated February 5, this year.
He was taken to Queason institute in Manila for 10 days, then to Leyte for a week, and finally to New Britain where the wounded were brought aboard ship for the United States. For seven days he was in Letterman General Hospital in San Francisco, from where he was released April 17, and he was home in Sioux City, April 18. After his visit here Cpl. Wilkinson will go to the hospital at Clinton, Ia., where he will receive medical care.
Mr. Wickey, a member of the Iowa national guards, left Sioux City for Camp Claiborne, La., in February, 1941, and went overseas with the unit in February 1942, spending several months in Ireland, Scotland, and England before taking part in the African campaign. Then his 34th (Red Bull) division took part in the Sicilian campaign during which he was wounded. Then came the landing at Anzio, when he was captured. He was serving in a headquarters unit of the infantry.
Five of the 13 months he was a German prisoner, he spent in a hospital with malaria which he contracted while he was in Africa. He was in a hospital in Berlin from June to September, and then from December to January, where he was located when his name was placed on a prisoner’s exchange list. He arrived home April 19, just one day later than his friend, Cpl. Wilkinson.
Source: The Sioux City Journal, April 30, 1945 (photo included)
