bob10
6th November 2019, 04:12 PM
Z force was a secret commando force formed after the fall of Singapore. The members of Z force infiltrated behind Japanese lines , and even today , very little is known of what they did. With one exception. Operation Jaywick, and after that operation Rimau. The first a great success, the second a disaster. There is a book by Ronald McKie, THE HEROES, the true story of the KRAIT , Australian WW2 raids on Singapore. Everything there is to know, even to the Japanese side of the story after the Rimau men were captured. And here the story gets a little weird. The prisoners were beheaded by the Japanese, not through brutality, but because they regarded the Rimau men as heroes and even compared them to the forty-seven Ronin [ who are among Japan's favourite heroes] the men were treated with the utmost respect. The trial and execution takes up most of the second half of the book, and could not have been told without the co-operation of Hiroyuki Furuta, a civilian interpreter, who was with the men until the end.
One wartime incident which impacted on the Japanese treatment of the men was the Japanese midget sub. attack on Sydney harbour. The bodies of the Japanese sailors recovered by the Australians were given a full military funeral, and their ashes returned to Japan. This act was regarded by the Japanese as an utmost mark of respect. So it was decided to honour the men by giving them a heroes death. If there could be a better example of the complexity of the Japanese way of thinking, I don't know it. Major General Otsuka reported to a Staff conference of 7th Area Army on the " Patriotism, fearless enterprise, heroic behaviour and sublime end of all members of this party " praising them as " the flower of chivalry, which should be taken as a model by the Japanese." He concluded by saying " all Japanese soldiers should be inspired by their fine attitude, and on reflection must feel the necessity of bracing up their own spirits in emulation, if they hoped to win the War. " Execution - ceremonial execution - was therefore the only way to give them the highest honour the Japanese could confer.
I don't know. Each time I read this book, I can't help feeling it was a waste of such fine lives, and that War is indeed an indefensible process.
The Story of the Krait - Australian Story (https://www.abc.net.au/austory/the-story-of-the-krait/8466640)
One wartime incident which impacted on the Japanese treatment of the men was the Japanese midget sub. attack on Sydney harbour. The bodies of the Japanese sailors recovered by the Australians were given a full military funeral, and their ashes returned to Japan. This act was regarded by the Japanese as an utmost mark of respect. So it was decided to honour the men by giving them a heroes death. If there could be a better example of the complexity of the Japanese way of thinking, I don't know it. Major General Otsuka reported to a Staff conference of 7th Area Army on the " Patriotism, fearless enterprise, heroic behaviour and sublime end of all members of this party " praising them as " the flower of chivalry, which should be taken as a model by the Japanese." He concluded by saying " all Japanese soldiers should be inspired by their fine attitude, and on reflection must feel the necessity of bracing up their own spirits in emulation, if they hoped to win the War. " Execution - ceremonial execution - was therefore the only way to give them the highest honour the Japanese could confer.
I don't know. Each time I read this book, I can't help feeling it was a waste of such fine lives, and that War is indeed an indefensible process.
The Story of the Krait - Australian Story (https://www.abc.net.au/austory/the-story-of-the-krait/8466640)