Japanese naval atrocities in World War II: Continuously attacked merchant ships and killed all crew members

Japanese naval atrocities in World War II: Continuously attacking merchant ships and killing all crew members

Felton listed the gruesome atrocities of the Japanese navy: throwing some of them into the sea to feed sharks; The rest were hammered to death, stabbed with bayonets, beheaded, hanged, drowned or burned alive. What is even more outrageous is that some Japanese navy doctors even used living people for experiments, and many Allied prisoners of war were vivisected by Japanese navy doctors.

After investigation, British historian Mark Felton found that the crimes committed by the Japanese navy in World War II were more serious and cruel than the Nazi German navy. Some Japanese sailors who committed brutal acts were not punished after the war and are still alive today.

Felton pointed out that under the orders of Japanese naval officers, more than 20,000 Allied sailors and countless civilians were deliberately tortured and killed during World War II. This brutal crime by the Japanese military was a violation of the Geneva Conventions. serious provocation. Felton said: "Many Japanese soldiers who committed such horrific crimes are still alive today, and these people have lived their lives without any interruption for more than 60 years." In the naval records of the German Nazis, there was only one incident in which a German U-boat massacred Allied survivors at sea. For the Japanese Navy, massacring survivors at sea was an official order. ?

Even the innocent civilians on the shore are not immune. After some Japanese naval forces landed, they often surrounded civilians and carried out massacres and massacres. Felton lists the gruesome atrocities committed by the Japanese navy: throwing some of the men overboard to feed sharks; others being hammered to death, stabbed with bayonets, beheaded, hanged, drowned or burned alive. What is even more outrageous is that some Japanese navy doctors even used living people for experiments, and many Allied prisoners of war were vivisected by Japanese navy doctors.

Some archival data show that at least 1.25 million British sailors and 7,500 Australians were killed by the Japanese navy during World War II. The massacre suffered by the British merchant ship Behar is a typical example. The ship was sunk by the Japanese heavy cruiser "Telegon" on March 9, 1944. The captain of the "Telegon" ordered that all the captured British crew members be imprisoned below the deck. After 10 days of sailing, 85 of the British crew were tied up and brought to the stern of the Reagan. The Japanese soldiers began kicking the crew members in the stomach and testicles, then beheaded them one by one with sabers, and finally threw their bodies overboard. Most of the Japanese naval officers who ordered the execution of these British sailors escaped justice after the war.

Felton tells a horrific story about the horrific encounters of Englishman James Brills. Brills was a radio operator aboard the merchant ship Tejisarak. On March 26, 1944, the merchant ship Teji Sarak carrying 103 passengers and crew was en route from Melbourne, Australia to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) when it was attacked by the Japanese submarine No. 1-8 Sunk after torpedo attack. The survivors of Tejisarak floating on the sea, including Bliers, were all pulled onto the front deck of the submarine No. I-8 by Japanese submarine soldiers.

According to Bliers’ recollection, after the survivors were gathered on the deck, Shinji Uchino, the captain of the submarine No. 1-8 standing on the submarine’s control tower, issued a strange order to them. :?Don’t look back because it’s going to be bad for you guys. ?Then the submarine soldiers standing behind the survivors began to massacre. The survivors were beheaded, shot, and even thrown alive into the rotating propeller of the submarine one by one. One man's head was chopped off in half, and the Japanese left him lying on the deck struggling in pain. Others were cut in half by the Japanese and thrown into the sea. The Japanese soldiers laughed while killing people, and one of the Japanese even used a small camera to film the massacre. Seeing that it was about to be his turn to be killed, Bliers suddenly struggled to break free from the ropes that tied his hands and jumped into the sea. The Japanese immediately fired at him with machine guns. Bliers jumped into the water and immediately dived, which allowed him to escape death. Hours later, Bliers, who was exhausted from swimming, climbed into a lifeboat left behind by the Teji Sarak. Soon, another Indian crew member who had escaped from the Japanese submarine climbed on board. The crew member told Bliers that the 22 survivors left on the submarine No. I-8 were tied to the Japanese submarine with a rope. They were tied to the tail of the submarine together, and then the Japanese submarine began to dive. These people were dragged into the sea and drowned.

The mastermind of the massacre, Captain Shinji Uchino of the No. 8 submarine, was regarded as a "hero" by the Japanese at the time. By the end of World War II, he had become a senior official of a large military base, and He was also never tried after the war. This type of submarine massacre is directly related to the top brass of the Japanese Navy. Felton pointed out that on March 20, 1943, the top brass of the Japanese navy issued an order to encourage the navy to carry out massacres. The original text of the order was: "We must continue to sink enemy ships and merchant ships, and at the same time, we must completely eliminate enemy forces." crew.

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Within a few months after this order was issued, the Japanese submarine No. 1-37 sank 4 British merchant ships and 1 warship. Each time it succeeded, the ?I-37? The submarine will use machine guns to shoot all survivors floating on the sea. After the war, the captain of the submarine No. 1-37 was sentenced to 8 years in prison by the War Crimes Tribunal, but he was finally released after only 3 years because the Japanese government classified the captain as a criminal who ordered the shooting of Allied crew members. ?Lawful conduct in war?. The Japanese navy would even sink medical ships with red crosses on them and then kill the survivors floating on the sea or sitting in lifeboats. Some Allied aircrews who parachuted into the sea would also be pulled onto the deck of warships by the Japanese navy and tortured to death.

Felton’s investigative materials recorded the Japanese Navy’s massacre at Laha Airport on Java Island. The case occurred on February 24 and 25, 1942. After the Japanese army captured Laha Airport, Japanese Navy Rear Admiral Koichiro Hatakeyama ordered the killing of 312 captured Australian and Dutch prisoners of war. Since there were no survivors in the massacre, the massacre came to light after the Australian Army interrogated two Japanese sailors.

One of the Japanese sailors described how the first prisoner of war was killed: an Australian was taken to the edge of a low-lying area, and then he was forced to kneel on the ground. A Japanese warrant officer named Sasaki beheaded him with a samurai sword. His murderous act actually won a burst of cheers from the Japanese soldiers watching. Sasaki then killed four more prisoners of war. After him, a large number of Japanese sailors began to slaughter the remaining prisoners of war one by one.

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During the massacre, these Japanese sailors laughed and amused each other. Due to the clumsy movements of the Japanese sailors, some of the victims were still alive when they were pushed into the depression, where they lay in agony while their bodies convulsed. Koichiro Hatakeyama, who ordered the massacre, was later charged by Australia, but he died before he could stand trial. In addition, four Japanese officers were hanged for this massacre. The lack of eyewitnesses made it difficult for the Allies to continue to prosecute the remaining Japanese sailors.

((English) Nigel Brundle compiled by Li Youguan)