WAR CRIMES AND ATROCITIES (True Crime) (23 page)

Eventually the remaining prisoners were taken to another penal camp at Davao, Mindanao, and put to hard labout. The beatings, murder and humiliation continued and conditions were no better, but their salvation eventually came in the form of Red Cross parcels providing them with food and clothing.

Three soldiers managed to escape on 4 April, 1943, and it is through their account that we have so much evidence of the Bataan death march.

S
ANDAKAN

The story of the Sandakan death marches is one of the most tragic of World War II, but also one of the most heroic. Despite the appalling conditions, the prisoners never gave up hope, and it is their heroism and determination that are testimony to the strength of the human spirit. Of the 2,434 prisoners held at Sandakan, 1,787 were Australian and the remaining British. Out of these, only six Australians escaped to tell their story.

The Japanese army decided to build a military airfield at the port of Sandakan, on the north-eastern tip of Borneo, to protect the oilfields they had recently captured. To complete this task they shipped in Australian and British prisoners of war from Singapore and neighbouring islands. The conditions at Sandakan were appalling – water was drawn from a filthy creek, their food was a couple of handfuls of contaminated rice and sometimes a few vegetables. At first security at the camp was lax, and several prisoners managed to escape into Borneo’s steamy jungles. However, the remaining prisoners were punished by denial of food, and Japanese guards routinely shot any prisoner who attempted to escape or who was recaptured. Indiscretions, such as stealing a coconut to supplement their diet, or forgetting to bow to the guards, were treated with beatings or being locked in cages in the hot sun for hours on end.

Any prisoner who was suspected of assembling or operating an improvized radio could find himself at the mercy of the feared Kempei Tai, the Japanese military secret police. Torture methods included burning flesh with cigarettes, hammering metal tacks under the nails and force-feeding the prisoners water until their stomachs became distended. The Kempei Tai would then jump on the prisoners’ stomachs.

The arduous work on the airstrip and the appalling lack of nutrition soon started to take its toll on the prisoners, many of them becoming totally emaciated. As the sickness took hold and the work slowed down, the brutality of the Japanese heightened and the already meagre rations were further reduced. To force the men to work harder, the Japanese brought in a gang of tough guards, who became known as ‘the bashers. They carried wooden pick handles or bamboo canes and seemed to take great pleasure in beating the prisoners for no real reason. The victims were often left unconscious, with broken arms or legs.

By the beginning of 1945, only 1,900 prisoners were left at Sandakan and, as the war in the Pacific entered its final stages, the Allied prisoners were chosen to act as porters to undertake an arduous journey through the marshlands and dense jungle. This was the first of the Sandakan death marches, and only 470 prisoners were found strong enough to actually carry the supplies. The journey of 192 km (120 miles) would have been a test of endurance for even the fittest soldier, but already sick, weak and exhausted from their treatment at Sandakan, only 190 men survived the trek. Ill-equipped and severely undernourished, many of the prisoners simply collapsed from exhaustion. Those that did survive were forced to build huts for the Japanese soldiers and a temporary camp for themselves on the outskirts of Ranau, a village high on a plateau. The men were forced to carry heavy loads from Ranau back to the camp, including barrels of water from a nearby stream. Their rations were cut even further, until they only received 100 g (4 oz) a rice per day.

The second death march started on 29 March, 1945, with 536 prisoners who had been chosen because they were still able to stand without assistance. They set off in groups of about 50, with Japanese guards at the front rear and sides of each section. They had been ordered to shoot anyone who collapsed from exhaustion or attempted an escape. This march took 26 days and at the end only 183 prisoners reached Ranau. When the second group arrived at the camp at Ranau, they discovered that only six prisoners out of the original 470 who had left Sandakan were still alive. The survivors of the second march, like the men in the first one, were immediately put to work and the death toll soared.

After the second death march, there were about 250 prisoners left at Sandakan. Most of these men were so ill that the Japanese had decided to just leave them there to perish. However, on 9 June, 1945, they changed their minds and set out on a third expedition to Ranau. Only one man made it further than 50 km (30 miles), and as each one collapsed, he was shot by a Japanese guard.

By 1 August, just 38 prisoners remained alive at Ranau. The rest had died as a result of the brutality and starvation. What they thought had been an idle threat by one of the Japanese guards when they set out on their marches, turned out to be a reality. He had said that the prisoners would be killed as soon as they reached their final destination – this order was eventually carried out. A Japanese sergeant addressed the prisoners, saying, ‘There is no rice, so I’m killing the lot of you today. Is there anything you want to say?’

Out of the original 2,434 prisoners of war, only six managed to escape the Japanese guards. It happened one afternoon when a US reconnaissance plane flew low over the camp at Ranau. The Japanese guards ran for cover, which gave the men the chance to run off in the opposite direction. Despite being riddled with disease and skeletal, they found the strength to slide down a long, steep slope and hide in the brush until it became dark. For the next few days they hacked their way through the dense, humid jungle and marched towards, what they thought, was the sea. They soon discovered the secrets of surviving in the jungle by watching the animals around them. They survived on bugs, wild fruit and fish, and simply spat out anything that tasted too bitter. Unfortunately, five of the men was so weakened by malaria and beriberi they were no longer able to move and died before they could get help. One man did make it out, though, and he was rescued by fishermen who took him to a group of Australian commandos stationed close by. He was taken to a US navy ship, where he was nursed back to health.

When it became certain that Japan would have to surrender, they made every effort to cover up for their atrocities by destroying incriminating evidence. For many years the rough track through the jungle was overgrown but in recent years it has been uncovered.

MASSACRE ON BANKA ISLAND

In February 1942, the fall of Singapore to the Japanese army seemed imminent. The British ship SS
Vyner Brooke
was carrying some of the last citizens to escape Singapore, including 65 Australian army nurses who had been evacuated from the besieged city. Also on board were over 200 civilians and English military personnel, who were also evacuees. The
Vyner Brooke
was only licenced to carry 300 passengers, so conditions were cramped and there was not enough food on board for regular meals. There were no bunks on board, so the nurses had made makeshift beds on the deck. As the ship sailed through the treacherous trait between Sumatra and Bangka, it sighted Japanese bombers. The ship sounded its warning siren, and the passengers crowded below deck. The first missile missed its target, which gave the
Vyner Brooke
time to change its course and fire its one token cannon in resistance. However, the Japanese planes returned and this time made three direct hits. The overloaded ship sank quickly.

The trained nurses automatically ran to any part of the sinking wreckage to administer morphine and dressings to the wounded. When they could do no more to help, the nurses jumped overboard and swam to a partly submerged lifeboat. In total 12 nurses (three of them wounded), two civilian women, one man and a ship’s officer either clung to the side or managed to climb into the lifeboat. Although they could see land in the distance, it took them eight hours to reach the shores of Banka Island. Seeing fire in the distance, the survivors walked along the shoreline and found other survivors from the
Vyner Brooke
, who had managed to make their way using pieces of the ship as rafts. Others joined them in the night, many of whom had literally been washed in on the drifting tide.

The following morning the groups divided into three and went in search of food, clothing or anyone who could assist them in any way. One of the parties found a village, but when they asked for help they were told that the Japanese troops had already taken control of the island, and that they feared retribution if they were to offer them any assistance. The other two groups came back and reported similar stories.

That night another group of survivors – 20 English soldiers – from another ship that had been sunk, joined the crowd from the
Vyner Brooke
, bringing the total up to 100. One of the officers explained to the new party that there was no food or shelter, and he advised that they gave themselves up to the Japanese.

A party of men went off to find the Japanese, while 22 nurses stayed behind to look after the injured. Another party of women were told to walk to Muntok to ask for help. They made sure that they were easily recognizable as non-combatants by erecting a red cross. By mid-morning, the ship’s officer returned with about 20 Japanese soldiers. They proceeded to separate the men from the women. The Japanese then divided the men into two groups and marched off down the beach out of sight. The nurses heard gunfire coming from that direction and shortly afterwards the Japanese soldiers returned on their own. They proceeded to sit down in front of the women and cleaned their rifles, wiping blood off the bayonets.

The nurses were then told to form a line and walk into the sea. They all knew exactly what was going to happen, and putting on a brave face, their matron said, ‘Chin up girls. I’m proud of you and I love you all.’ As the water reached their waists the soldiers opened fire. One of the nurses, sister Bullwinkle, was hit in the back by a bullet, which knocked her off her feet into the surf. Realizing that she had only been wounded, she lay still pretending to be dead. The waves brought her back to the edge of the shore, where she lay for about ten minutes before daring to open her eyes and look around. Seeing that the Japanese soldiers had gone, she got up and went into the jungle, where she lay semi-unconscious for about two days.

By the third day she had recovered enough to be able to walk to a fresh water spring close to the beach. She bathed her wounds, which had been sterilized by the salt water, and was then startled by the sound of an English voice coming from the trees. A soldier, who had been left on the beach laying on a stretcher with the other wounded, had managed to also survive the Japanese attack. Although he had received a bayonet wound to his chest, it had missed his vital organs and he had been able to crawl into the jungle. The remainder of the wounded still lay on their stretchers on the sand where they had been slaughtered.

The nurse dressed the soldier’s wounds as best she could and then helped him to hide in the edge of the jungle. Over a period of a few days, the nurse managed to beg food from the fearful Indonesian women in the nearby villages, and eventually the two survivors had enough strength to attempt the walk to Muntok. They didn’t get far before they were picked up by a Japanese officer in a truck and driven to the army’s headquarters. They were questioned for several hours and then made to line up with the already crowded coolie lines of prisoners and refugees. Unfortunately, the English soldier who had arrived with the nurse died a couple of days later from his wounds.

Aware that if she told the Japanese what she had witnessed she would be killed, sister Bullwinkle kept her story secret for the three years that she spent in the prisoner-of-war camp, unable to tell anyone of the atrocities that had taken place following her shipwreck.

EVIDENCE OF CANNIBALISM

Horrifying evidence came to light after the war that the Japanese soldiers had committed acts of cannibalism on Australian prisoners of war. What is even more horrifying is that this was not as a direct result of shortage of normal food, but just a sick desire to eat human flesh.

Between 21 and 26 August, 1942, 13,500 Japanese troops landed at the villages of Gona and Buna on the northern coast of Australia’s territory of Papua. Their mission was to cross the precipitous terrain of the Owen Stanley Range and capture the Australian stronghold of Port Moresby on the southern coast. The Japanese army were tough, jungle-trained veterans, but they were unprepared for the narrow dirt track called the Kokoda Track. The track crossed some of the most rugged and isolated terrain in the world and was only passable on foot. Hot humid days with intensely cold nights, torrential rainfall and endemic tropical diseases, such as malaria, made it a challenge for even the toughest soldier and the Japanese troops set off with just ten days of rations.

There were 500 Australian militia defending the Kokoda Track, and these poorly armed and supplied men were outnumbered by the Japanese by ten to one. Many of the Australian soldiers were only 18 and lacked adequate training or experience but they fought hard to defend their post. They forced the Japanese army to fight every step of the way and they succeeded in blocking their advance for over five weeks.

The exhausted and starving Australian militia were eventually relieved by another battalion on 26 August. These new militia were more experienced and used to combat, but they were still outnumbered by the Japanese five to one. Bloody fighting broke out on the Owen Stanley Range and both sides suffered heavy casualties. The Japanese, who were now low on supplies and totally exhausted, came to a halt on the top of the ridge. Unable to get any backup, they were forced to retreat to the beaches on the northern coast, closely followed by the Australian reinforcements.