Derek Nudd's Blog - Posts Tagged "pow"
Japanese Prisoners of War in India 1942-46
This is the only book I know to tackle an inadequately researched subject. Japanese captives, in any theatre, were few enough until the last stages of WW2. Japanese soldiers who experienced the collapse of the Arakan, Imphal and Kohima offensives had plenty of orders from high command to motivate them. What they didn't have was food, ammunition or relief. Those who were too sick, wounded, exhausted or hungry to fight or retreat were left to die or, in some cases, killed by their own medics. Their lot seldom improved when overtaken by advancing allied troops, as there were enough booby-trapped corpses and indoctrinated casualties determined to take a foreigner with them to make British and Indian soldiers cautious about taking them alive.
For the survivors, who had been warned to expect torture and death if captured, relatively civilised treatment during interrogation and internment created a sense of obligation totally at odds with their Field Service Code which demanded victory or death. The book traces the authorities' efforts to educate them in the Geneva Convention and the option of living for their country rather than dying for it.
It is comprehensively researched if a tad repetitive in places. There are a few topics I would have liked to see addressed in more depth. The author briefly mentions the transfer of naval prisoners from (then) Ceylon but the CSDIC / SEATIC establishment at Colombo and Kandy could easily have merited a chapter of its own. Equally he mentions the different outcomes for PoWs held in India from those housed in Australia and New Zealand - and interesting comment which could be followed up. Then there is the question of how and when Japanese attitudes to prisoners of war changed from the relatively benign behaviour seen in WW1 to the uncompromising brutality of WW2. Sareen adresses this but not, to my mind, entirely convincingly. Is 'bushido' even an appropriate word? I don't know. Finally, while not Japanese, he mentions the soldiers of the Indian National Army who allied with them and were taken prisoner. They were treated as traitors not PoWs. So what happened to them?
Despite these minor whinges it is an interesting, well researched and written book. One I will keep coming back to.
For the survivors, who had been warned to expect torture and death if captured, relatively civilised treatment during interrogation and internment created a sense of obligation totally at odds with their Field Service Code which demanded victory or death. The book traces the authorities' efforts to educate them in the Geneva Convention and the option of living for their country rather than dying for it.
It is comprehensively researched if a tad repetitive in places. There are a few topics I would have liked to see addressed in more depth. The author briefly mentions the transfer of naval prisoners from (then) Ceylon but the CSDIC / SEATIC establishment at Colombo and Kandy could easily have merited a chapter of its own. Equally he mentions the different outcomes for PoWs held in India from those housed in Australia and New Zealand - and interesting comment which could be followed up. Then there is the question of how and when Japanese attitudes to prisoners of war changed from the relatively benign behaviour seen in WW1 to the uncompromising brutality of WW2. Sareen adresses this but not, to my mind, entirely convincingly. Is 'bushido' even an appropriate word? I don't know. Finally, while not Japanese, he mentions the soldiers of the Indian National Army who allied with them and were taken prisoner. They were treated as traitors not PoWs. So what happened to them?
Despite these minor whinges it is an interesting, well researched and written book. One I will keep coming back to.
