The Bataan Death Marches, the building of the Burma Railway,
and the hell ships—the atrocities committed by the Japanese on enemy POWs
are infamous. But what about the flip side? What was the fate of
Japanese soldiers captured by the Allies? In this video, we delve into their stories.
During the Second World War, Japanese soldiers earned a reputation for never surrendering. Their
tenacity and will to keep fighting under hopeless conditions became legendary among Allied troops.
The Chinese, Soviet, US, and Commonwealth forces put this down to fanaticism. They believed the
regular Japanese soldier was desperate to throw his life away for the Emperor.
In Japan, this thinking was constantly reinforced. Soldiers were brutalised in training and taught
that their lives belonged to the Emperor by a government-sponsored indoctrination program.
From 1941, each soldier was given a pocket copy of the Senjinkun,
the Instructions for the Battlefield. A passage from this short, simple text reads: “Never live
to experience shame as a prisoner. By dying you will avoid leaving a stain on your honor.”
This concept wasn’t limited to Japanese soldiers; they believed it applied to
captured enemy soldiers too. Coupled with brutal Japanese military life,
this thinking paved the way for the Japanese Army to commit the worst atrocities of the war.
However, unthinking loyalty and fear of shame probably weren't the main
factors that kept Japanese soldiers from surrendering in large numbers,
as other armies did. It’s more likely the average Japanese soldier was
far more worried about his fate if captured than going against the Senjinku in his pocket.
Japanese soldiers expected to be killed on site if they surrendered to the Allies,
no matter which force. If they were lucky enough to avoid an immediate bullet,
they assumed their captors would treat them the same way Japanese units treated POWs:
horrendously. Believing they would surely be tortured or killed if they surrendered,
Japanese soldiers felt they had no choice but to fight or commit suicide. Similarly, medical
officers sometimes killed their own patients for fear of what the Allies might do to them.
But the worst part is these fears weren’t unfounded.
Before May 1944, most Japanese soldiers that surrendered to US forces were shot on site.
Allied soldiers, particularly American soldiers, believed the Japanese to be fanatical and expected
every surrender to be a ruse. Earlier in the war, some surrendering Japanese soldiers concealed
grenades or knives with which they attacked their captors. One famous example was the Goettage
Patrol in the early phase of the Guadalcanal Campaign. 25 marines commanded by Lieutenant
Colonel Goettage were annihilated in an ambush while they attempted to accept a Japanese unit’s
surrender. A marine watching from afar recounted, “The idea of taking prisoners was swept from our
minds. It was too dangerous.” Every surrendering soldier was seen as a potential threat.
Additionally, the Allied soldier’s habit of taking battle souvenirs led the Japanese to believe that,
if not death, they faced mutilation. Bones, and especially skulls, from dead Japanese soldiers
were prized by US forces. In Life magazine, the caption "Arizona war worker writes her
Navy boyfriend a thank-you-note for the Jap skull he sent her" appeared next to an image
of a young woman and a skull. President Roosevelt even caused controversy when he returned a gifted
letter opener made from a Japanese soldier’s arm bone, calling for its proper burial.
In May 1944, US high command initiated programs to educate their soldiers
about the benefits of enemies surrendering instead of fighting to the death. They were
fairly successful, and numbers of Japanese POWs grew substantially. Though, generally speaking,
Chinese and Soviet forces continued to take few if any prisoners until the end of the war.
The Japanese soldiers captured before mid-1944 tended to fit into two groups. The first group,
containing the vast majority, comprised Koreans, Taiwanese,
Manchurians, and other peoples colonised by Imperial Japan. Often from labour units,
these men were far less keen to die for the Emperor than home-grown Japanese soldiers.
The second group was made up primarily of soldiers that had been severely wounded in
battle or knocked unconscious. Left for dead by their comrades, they could not resist capture.
Once prisoners had been secured, they were moved to POW camps. The US military didn’t feel it had
the capability to support POWs in the Pacific so they outsourced the operation to Australia and
New Zealand. In return for extra war material from lend-lease deals, the Aussies and Kiwis
set up POW camps and provided the guards. This is where most of the Japanese POWs ended up.
However, a small number of POWs selected for their intelligence value were brought to specially built
camps in the continental United States. After they arrived, the POWs were sent to a medical
facility in Tracy, California, where they were fed and screened for tropical diseases.
Many suffered from parasitic infections and were in the early or medium stages of starvation.
Once pronounced fit in Tracy, POWs were relocated to camps at the nearby Byron Hot Springs and Fort
Hunt. These camps were specially provisioned for Japanese POWs. Japanese food appeared on
the menu alongside local fare, and the men were encouraged to socialise. Each was assigned his
own Japanese-American interrogator with whom he chatted informally for a few hours each day.
These interrogators quickly discovered that Japanese POWs could not be forced to divulge
secrets the traditional way, but had another weakness. The mere suggestion that a POW’s family
might be notified of his capture was enough to get even the toughest men talking.
Confident they weren’t going to be killed, the captured soldiers feared shame above all.
Good treatment and some hidden microphones loosened enough lips
for US military intelligence to get all they needed from the POWs. Many believed
they had already turned their back on Japan and were, consequently, more than willing to help.
Some even volunteered to fight for the Americans!
But for the regular grunts — the guys who didn’t know
anything useful — things were quite different.
One of the largest camps holding Japanese POWs was located in Cowra, New South Wales. In August 1944,
1,104 Japanese POWs were secured in Camp B of Number 12 Prison Compound. This camp was
guarded by militiamen of the 22nd Garrison Battalion. The militia was composed of men
otherwise unfit for service. Some were young and had health conditions, but more were old veterans.
They were armed with an assortment of Great War-era rifles and a few machine guns.
Discontent had been building in the camp for some time.
Facilities were in accordance with the Geneva Conventions; however,
cultural differences and racism between guards and POWs caused serious friction.
On August fourth, the militiamen heard the POWs organising a breakout. To stop it, they planned
to move all POWs below Lance-Corporal rank to another camp. This accelerated Japanese plans.
At two AM that night, the prisoners staged a mass breakout. On the sound of a bugle, a mass of
prisoners armed with improvised knives and clubs charged the fence and began cutting their way
through. Privates Ben Hardy and Ralph Jones manned a Vickers machine gun close to the breakout site
and, after warnings, opened fire into the crowd. They gunned down over a hundred Japanese soldiers
before the mob broke through and charged them. Just before they were overrun, the men pulled
the bolt from their weapon and threw it away, rendering it useless. They were hacked to pieces.
334 prisoners escaped, but all were recaptured within a week of the breakout. Many had chosen
to stay behind during the confusion and settle scores, as many Japanese POWs were discovered
to have been killed by fellow inmates. Several more committed suicide. All in all, 234 POWs
died as a result of the breakout and a further 108 were wounded. Hardy and Jones were both
posthumously awarded the George Cross, the highest Commonwealth award for bravery not under fire.
The Cowra breakout was the largest and bloodiest prison escape of the Second World War.
When Emperor Hirohito announced that “the war situation has developed
not necessarily to Japan's advantage”, millions of soldiers surrendered to the Allies en masse.
In Mongolia, Manchuria, and China, 1.6 million soldiers of the Japanese Army were captured by
Soviet and Chinese forces and sent to labour camps. They were gradually repatriated from
these eastern gulags, but some continued to toil until 1950, five years after the war had ended.
THAT was the surprising story of Japanese POWs and their treatment by the Allies in
the Second World War. But what do YOU think? Did you know most soldiers feared the enemy
more than shame? Do YOU think it’s messed up that a soldier sent a skull to his girlfriend?
Had YOU heard of the Cowra breakout? Let us know in the comments!