Nigel Cawthorne

by Japanese;Italian Experiences of WW II Reaping the Whirlwind: Personal Accounts of the German

  The strafing was just as bad as the bombing. A prisoner from Cape Wampun said that ‘bullets seemed to search for a soldier until they hit him’. Another soldier recorded:

  The enemy air raids are terrible. I can’t lift my head because of the fierce bombing and strafing. I eat potatoes and live in a hole and cannot speak in a loud voice. I live the life of a mud rat or some similar creature.

  As the Allies tightened the noose around the Japanese air base at Rabaul on New Britain, the situation grew desperate. ‘Every day we have raids,’ wrote one Japanese serviceman. ‘If there are none during the day, they come at night. It is becoming unbearable.’ ‘Everyone has a helpless feeling,’ wrote another. And it was taking its toll:

  The majority of soldiers were rattled by air raids. As soon as the sound of planes was heard, all rushed to trenches and shelters and cupped their hands over their ears.

  At Arawe Island to the south of New Britain, a private wrote during a raid: ‘I expect this will be the end of my diary writing.’ It was. And there was worse to come, as a superior private at Kamiri recorded:

  In preparing for enemy landings, we are conserving ammunition rather than expending it in fighting enemy aeroplane attacks; hence the enemy planes bomb and strafe us from very low altitudes. I would like to go back home once more, and in one piece. Many others have voiced similar thoughts.

  In Burma, the RAF dominated the skies. A diary captured there said:

  Today the enemy aircraft came over twice. According to an old soldier, that is the smallest number of raids that we had so far in a day … Today the weather has been fine and the enemy has given us no rest at all, bombing and machine-gunning divisional headquarters throughout the day. If this continues we shall soon want to be withdrawn. I started praying that all was well with the family at home … Rain stopped play this morning, but the weather cleared up in the afternoon and the bombers concentrated on the steel bridge to our rear for four and a half hours. I have lost count of the number of times that the bridge has been bombed. If only we had some aircraft of our own we could ward off the majority of these attacks … I get so scared when we are being bombed that I would do anything to get home to my wife and family.

  Under constant air attack, those in the front line clutched at straws:

  Newspapers in Japan publish such slogans as ‘one more plane’, ‘send at least one more plane to the front’. Being in the front line I realize the reason for this. I pray that people on the home front will exceed American and British production. Enemy aircraft have come again and are circling overhead. They will probably bomb us.

  ISLAND CAPTURE

  The Japanese had captured the American islands of Attu and Kiska in the Aleutians on 7 June 1942. The following year the US decided to take them back. On 1 June a diary was taken from the body of a dead Japanese medical officer, who had studied in California for five years to became a doctor. His diary records the fall of Attu.

  12 May: 0155. Carrier-based plane flew over. We fired at it. There is a fog and the summit is clear. We evacuated to the summit. Air raids carried out frequently until we heard gun noise. It is naval gun firing. Prepared battle equipment. Information, American transports, about 41, began landing at Hakkai Missaki. Twenty boats landed at Massacre Bay and it seems that they are going to unload heavy equipment. Day’s activities: Air raid, naval gun firing, landing of US forces.

  13 May: Battle. The US forces landed at Shiba Deia and Massacre Bay, and the enemy has advanced to the bottom of the Misumi Yama from Shiba Deia. We have engaged them. On the other hand, Massacre Bay is defended by only one platoon, but upon the unexpected attack the AA machine cannon was destroyed and we have withdrawn. In a night attack we have captured 20 enemy rifles. There is mountain artillery gun firing. Approximately 15 patients came in the field hospital attached to the Arai Engineer Unit.

  14 May: Battle. Our two submarines from Kiska assisting us have greatly damaged enemy ships. First Lieutenant Suy Uki died from shots from rifle. Continuous flow of wounded in the field hospital. In the evening the US Forces used gas but no damage was done on account of the strong wind. We took refuge in the trenches in the daytime and took care of the patients during bombardment. Enemy strength must be up to a division. Our desperate defence is holding up well.

  15 May: Battle. Continuous flow of casualties in our field hospital caused by the fierce bombardment of enemy land and naval forces. The enemy has a great number of Negroes and Indians. The West Arm Unit have withdrawn to near Shitagata Dai. In a raid I was ordered to West Arm but it was called off. I just lay down from fatigue. The facial expression of soldiers back from West Arm is serious. They all went back to the firing line soon.

  16 May: Battle. If Shitagata Dai is occupied by the enemy, the fate of the West Arm is decided, so we burnt documents and prepared to destroy patients. At that moment, there was an order from the Sector Unit hospital to proceed to Chichagof Harbour by way of Unanose. At 0100 in the morning I accompanied patients. There was an air raid so we took refuge in the former field hospital cave. The guns of a Lockheed spat fire as it flew by our cave.

  17 May: Battle. At night, about 1800, under cover of darkness, left the cave. The stretcher went over muddy road and the steep hill of no-man’s land. No matter how far or how much we went, we did not get to the pass. We were rather irritated in the fog by the thought of getting lost and we sat down every 20 or 30 paces. Would have liked to sleep, dream and wake up again – and do the same thing over again. The patient on the stretcher does not move and has frostbite. After all the effort, we met up with Commander Colon Yamasaki. The pass is straight and narrow, falling steeply towards Chichagof Harbour. Sitting on the butt and sliding the feet, I slid very smoothly, changing direction with my sword. It takes ten minutes to slide down. We were straggling by the time we reached Chichagof Harbour ward. It took about nine hours. We set up a field hospital. Walking is now extremely difficult due to rheumatism in the left knee that reappeared in the pass.

  18 May: Battle. At night, there was a phone call from the Sector Unit hospital. In some spots on the beach there were some friendly float-type planes waiting. I went to Attu village church, which seemed to be someone’s home as there were blankets scattered around. I was told to translate a field order which was thought to have come from an enemy officer in Massacre Bay. I was ordered to execute a detailed sketch map of Massacre Bay and Holtz Bay which was in the possession of Captain Robert J. Edward, Adjutant of Colonel Smith. I got tired and went to sleep. First Lieutenant Hijio is also in charge of translation.

  20 May: Battle. The hard fighting of our 303rd Brigade at Massacre Bay is fierce and it is to our advantage. We have captured enemy weapons and have used them to fight. We shot ten enemy closing in under the cover of fog. Five of our enlisted men and one medical NCO died. Enemy pilots’ faces seen around Unanose. The enemy naval gun firing near our hospital wards is fierce and drops around 20 metres away.

  21 May: Battle. We were strafed while I was amputating a patient’s arm. It is the first time since moving over to Chichagof Bay that I moved into an air-raid shelter. The nervousness of our CO is severe and he has said his last words to his officers and NCOs that he will die tomorrow and gave all his possessions away. Hasty chap this fellow. The officers became desperate and things became disorderly.

  22 May: 0600. Air raid again. Strafing killed one medical man. Akeyaki was wounded in the right thigh and has a fractured arm. During the night a mortar shell came awfully close.

  23 May: Battle. Seventeen friendly medium naval bombers destroyed a cruiser off-shore. But naval gun fire hit the pole of the patients’ tent and killed two instantly. From 0200 in the morning until 1600 we stayed in foxholes. Officers and men alike suffered in the frost. Everybody looked around for food and stole everything they could find.

  24 May: Battle. It sleeted and was extremely cold. I stayed in the Hisume barracks alone. A great number of shells were dropped by naval gunfire, and rocks and mud flew around causing the roof
to collapse. In a foxhole, about 5m away, Haysaka, a medical man, died instantly when shrapnel penetrated his heart.

  25 May: Battle. Naval gunfire shook the earth when the Kisimi Barracks blew up. Consciousness has become vague. One tent burnt down after a direct hit by an incendiary bomb. My room looks like an awful mess from the sandbags that come down from the roof. Hirese, first lieutenant of the Medical Corps, was wounded. There was a ceremony of the granting of the Imperial Edict. The last line at Unanose was broken through. No hope of reinforcements. Well for the cause of the Imperial Edict.

  27 May: Battle. Diarrhoea continues. The pain is severe. I took a number of pills, then slept pretty well. Planes strafed us. Roff broke through. There was less than 1,000 left from more than 2,000 troops – wounded from the coastal defence unit field hospital headquarters, the post office and the rest in the front lines.

  28 May: Battle. We only have two days’ rations left. Our artillery has been completely destroyed. There is a sound of trench mortar also of anti-aircraft guns. The company at the bottom of Attu has been completely annihilated except one. I wonder if Commander Yenagawa and some of the men are still living. Other companies have been completely annihilated except for one or two men.

  The 303rd Brigade has been defeated. Yenagawa is still holding Ananous. There are many cases of suicide. Half the Sector Unit Headquarters has been blown away. I gave 400 shots of morphine to the severely wounded to kill them. Ate half fried thistle. It is the first time I have eaten anything fresh in six months. It is a delicacy. Orders came from the Sector Commander to move the field hospital to the island, but it was called off.

  29 May: Today at 2000 we assembled in the front of headquarters. The field hospital took part too. The last assault is to be carried out. All patients in the hospital were made to commit suicide. Only 33 years old and I am to die here. I have no regrets. Banzai to the Emperor, I am grateful I have kept peace in my soul. At 1800 took care of all the patients with grenades. Goodbye Taeke, my beloved wife who loved me to the last. Until we meet again grant you God speed. Misaka who just became four years old will grow up unhindered. I feel sorry for you. Tokika, born February of this year and gone without seeing your father. Be good Mataur, brother Kachair, Sukechen Masachan, Mitlicher, goodbye. The number participating in this attack is a little over 1,000 to take enemy artillery positions. It seems that the enemy is expecting an all-out attack tomorrow.

  He died soon after writing this entry.

  BIGWIGS ARE DOING FINE

  As the war turned against Japan, a certain cynicism began to creep in. In October 1943, Lieutenant Yoshiro Kiroki, who had seen action on New Guinea, quoted in his diary the Chinese saying:

  To hell with the boys on the firing line,

  As long as the bigwigs are doing fine.

  Another Japanese soldier, suffering malaria and constantly harassed by bombing and shelling, wrote:

  I wonder what they will say when we return to Japan safely. Probably: ‘What a wonderful trip you had without any expense.’

  During the fighting in northern Burma, Private First Class Hideo Fujino became detached from his unit. During the rainy season, he and a second lieutenant travelled down the Irrawaddy by bamboo raft and canoe and, pursued by the local Kachin, ‘crossed jungle in fear of wild elephants and leeches falling on us from the branches and leaves overhead’. Finally, with the help of a Burmese priest and villagers, he returned to Myitkyina, near the Chinese border, which came under siege by the Allies in June 1944.

  There were only 700 Japanese soldiers there to defend the town without any aid, while four divisions of Allies with air support and modern equipment violently attacked the small base town about two square kilometres. Due to the extreme shortage of ammunition and food, battle casualties and other losses on our side mounted. In order to survive, I had to sip dew-drops from leaves, and eat dandelions and other wild plants. Even a wounded soldier with one arm and one leg has to fight with a gun and hand-grenades. It was only the high morale among men and the perfect unity of the whole army that made us cling so stubbornly to the defence of the town.

  The situation at Myitkyina gradually became deadlocked, with the Japanese unable to make a definite attack on the Allies, and the Allies unable to subdue the Japanese garrison. The Allies became irritated. To bring the campaign to a quick conclusion, the Allies attempted to blast the besieged garrison by digging their way underground towards our position. For two and a half months, the Japanese stubbornly resisted and held out in the town.

  Day and night, the US air force carried out air raids on the town and casualties amounted to a great number. In addition, the whole ground turned into mud on rainy days, and when the sun began to shine, the trenches were filled with the smell of the dead. We, the Japanese, were in increasing peril as the days went by … Meanwhile soldiers were executing their duties faithfully during the 80-day siege.

  However Major General Mizukawai, commander of the Tatsu [Dragon] Division, could not allow his unit to be annihilated, and so he decided on his own responsibility to retreat from the position … The invalid and the wounded were the first to be transferred to Bhamo [130km (80 miles) downstream] by bamboo rafts floating on the Irrawaddy. The next to be evacuated were the all the members of his unit. He ordered his men to start for the opposite side of the river at midnight on 1 August and prepare for a fight there.

  In thick darkness, dozens of bamboo rafts on the river struggled to reach the other side across the wide and large river. With the others our raft began to start in the same direction. Soon afterwards, some of the rafts were upset and sank in the strong current, while the others were carried down the river. It was monsoon season and owing to the heavy rainfall, the Irrawaddy had risen a lot. Moreover, the rafts of undried bamboo were too heavy to carry the eight or more people on each. We tried hard to get to the opposite bank, and I had to take the lead by swimming in the extremely cold river. Nevertheless, we failed. Our raft began to be carried down the river and it was soon capsized. In the morning, as the sun rose, I found myself alone. All of my colleagues must have been drowned.

  I was on the raft all by myself. It drifted into a small village on the riverside where I found a canoe. I stole it to continue my journey to Bhamo. It took five days to reach there alone. During those days I could find nothing at all to eat or drink. Moreover, I could not escape the danger of being sniped at, or being drowned in the furious rapids in the gorge at the next turn of the Irrawaddy. Hovering between life and death, I happened to find grains of gold at the riverside, but at the time it meant nothing to me.

  He eventually reached Bhamo and survived the war.

  Yoshio Shioya was in Malaya in 1944, where they suffered few shortages.

  1 July: Arrived at Dama Village at 1400 hours. Had a few drinks with the village chieftain and had a gay time hearing phonograph recordings for the first time in quite a while – Chinese recordings only. Left for Galela with a cane as a souvenir. When I awoke the ship was entering the harbour. It was 2350 hours. After unloading had a sugar drink and returned to ship at 0230 hours.

  13 August: My daily routine is breakfast, dinner, afternoon nap and supper. This may not be believed by others but it is so. As usual in the evening I gather the children together and teach them how to drill. Tried to teach them to about face. Had them try it a hundred times but they still can’t do it. Ichiro and his younger brother Kumosuke [the ATIS translators noted that the native boys had been given Japanese names] have the best minds of the children in the village. Kumosuke is only seven or eight years old but at times his sayings are very mature. Their father has been imprisoned in Djailolo for nine months and has not yet been released.

  Allied planes regularly bombed nearby villages, but there was plenty of fish in the sea and the local inhabitants gave them fruit. Shioya was also impressed by the beauty of the Malay women.

  27 September: Heard that a native in Dowongigila village found a small bomb. Not knowing that it was a bomb and wishing to make a tobacc
o container of it, he began to saw it in two. It exploded and killed three men instantly and wounded a fourth.

  28 September: At 1000 hours I sent a prau [a small sailing boat] to village chief of Apulea with 14 cases of canned beef which I wanted him to keep for me …

  29 September: Two mysterious vessels went northward though the mist. At 0800 hours the Apulea-bound prau departed. Sent my trousers to a Chinese in Fitako for repairs. He returned them at 1500 hours. Aeroplanes appear intermittently one at a time. Heavy seas caused me to delay my departure. The mysterious vessels were heading south off shore at night.

  30 September: At 0600 hours two mysterious vessels entered Dama and after ten minutes left, heading north. At 0800 hours left directly for Ngadjama. The prau was tossed like a leaf. The surf was so rough at Ngadjama that we could not go ashore, so we went to Doroeme. The natives had scattered and the only remaining things were pigs and chickens. On the 25th an enemy vessel had shelled this village and had killed one native. On the 21st five Japanese survivors had drifted into Doroeme, it was reported. It is rumoured that the Navy is going to withdraw from Soefoe. Cooked my own meal in a native hut tonight. Felt grateful for portable fuel. The Kedi-bound prau departed at 2200 hours. Gave the natives some rice for encouragement …

  20 October: All I worry about nowadays is concealment. I can’t even hang my washing out to dry. Nevertheless, my present location is fairly safe, so I guess I’ll stay here a couple of days. There was a set of dishes and bowls, pots and pans, under the floor so I’m using them. The hut belongs to the Doroeme village chief.

  21 October: Enemy aeroplanes were strafing this area even before sunrise. Four Lockheeds strafed for about ten minutes before leaving. After breakfast decided to move farther back into the mountains. Will stop overnight in an abandoned hut. I went down to reconnoitre the village and found it in miserable shape. Houses were knocked down and some burned. I was surprised at the size of the bomb craters. The beautiful church was also demolished. I wonder why the enemy bombs villages where there are no Japanese troops. Then bombs were dropped and there are two bomb craters of about the size of 50kg bombs.