This photo, captured from the Japanese, shows American prisoners using improvised litters to carry those of their comrades who, from the lack of food or water on the march from Bataan, fell along the road." Philippines, May 1942.
How can we EVER forget our Prisoners of War during WWII and the horrors they experienced while being prisoners of the Japanese!!!
Seldom does our history reveal enough reference to this treatment on our soldiers by the Japanese. It has been documented that Japan was worse than the Nazi even. The POWs who experienced this, hardly ever speak of it, understanably.
"TOKYO ROSE" BROADCAST TO THE TROOPS, "SOMEBODY ELSE IS TAKING MY PLACE" (background music)
During World War II, the Imperial Japanese Army took over 35,000 prisoners of war to Japan to perform backbreaking work as forced laborers in coal mines, factories, and other locations. Out of the total, a Japanese organization called the POW Research Network Japan has compiled a listing of 3,526 who died, many from malnutrition and pneumonia. According to the network's website,
How and where these casualties met their death has never been clarified. Prior to the surrender the Imperial Japanese Army issued instructions to destroy all documents relating to these camps. Japan’s Government has never told the full story of the treatment of POWs either in Japan or overseas.
Our group has endeavoured to unveil this hidden history, and this list is nearing completion. The roll of Commonwealth soldiers has already appeared on our web site. We are now adding the names of American and Dutch casualties to each individual camp site.
We wish to express our deep sympathy to those who lost their lives in this conflict. We trust that this list will prove helpful to families and friends, especially those who up to now did not know the fate of their loved ones.
Data from the General Headquarters of the Allied Powers, along with lists of names retrieved from cemeteries and war memorials, were used to compile the listing.
The effort to compile a listing of the dead Allied POWs should be heralded. No doubt, there are generations of families who are eager to know what happened to their loved ones.
Allied POWs with hands tied behind their backs pause during the Bataan Death March. About 76,000 prisoners including 12,000 Americans were forced on the 60 mile march under a blazing sun without food or water toward a new POW camp in the Philippines. April 1942.
“I was a PoW working on the Burma railway. Towards the end of the war, we were taken to Ubon, 500km north east of Singapore. We had an inclination that the war was over but no one was certain. Suddenly, all was quiet. We hadn’t been ordered to go to work that day. A parachutist walked into the camp and said, ‘you are free’. He told us a bomber would do a trial run over the camp and not to be afraid. When it dropped supplies we just couldn’t believe it! There was tinned food, paper and pencils, and toilet paper. We were so happy when we walked out of the camp. To this day, I truly believe that it was the atom bomb that saved our lives. “I was a PoW for 3 years and 8 months. We were denied proper food and medicine and given just rice - so I suffered from a lack of vitamin B and lost my sight. Despite this, I’ve done so much in my life. I even did the Hastings half-marathon two years ago – I was 86 then. ”
After the War, Japan and the US formed an alliance to ensure their mutual economic prosperity and to ensure their mutual security. It became an unwritten policy to play down Japanese War Crimes, satisfied with the meager results produced by the Tokyo and Manila War Crimes trials.
Unknown to most: POWs held by the Germans died at a rate of 1.1%. POWs held by the Japanese died at a rate of 37%. The death rate amongst the Defenders of Bataan was much higher, because of their weakened condition, prior to their capture.
Germany has acknowledged their war crimes and has made restitution to the victims. Japan has denied everything. In their history books and in their school books, they have re-written history in an effort to falsely show they were the victims of the War, citing the atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as proof of their victimization.
After the war and faced with the threat of the Soviet Union, The United States and it's allies permitted Japan to escape the close scrutiny given to the Germans. Known Japanese war criminals went free to, not only, walk the streets of Japan, but the streets of the United States, as well.
Attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japs Dec. 7, l941. Atomic bombs by United States of America on Aug.6 1945 Aug.9, 1945 ending this brutal war.
Although it was against Japanese regulations and could have meant death, these American POWs celebrate the 4th of July, 1942, in the Japanese prison camp of Casisange in the Philippines.
