During World War II, the Imperial Japanese Army used it as a POW camp for British, Indian and Canadian soldiers. This was the main POW Camp in Hong Kong, operating from before the British surrendered the Colony, to the Japanese surrender. By the latter date, it was the only POW facility operating in Hong Kong, bar the hospital at the Central British School (now King George V School). Many POWs died here, especially in the diphtheria epidemic of 1942, and all shipments of POWs to Japan left from Sham Shui Po's Bamboo Pier.