Trawling through a the dross on another small aviation forum, and believe me it is dross, I came across a couple of posts under a thread about their favourite Battles of WW2, I find it hard to understand that anyone would have a favourite Battle in which thousands of people lost their lives, but I guess each to their own.
The following comments were about the Japanese, the first was OK, but the second strikes me as being somewhat naive about the actions carried out by the Japanese on the millions of people that their expansionist ideas affected.
They are a determined people. It would be a honor to die in battle, rather than surrender, according to their customs. They are very determined.
Thats why they deserve more credit. They did an outstanding job all things considerd defending their home land.
One such person affected badly by the Japanese and their treatment was found hiding in the back room of his daughters’ house, where he had been hiding for the last 60 years, too traumatised by his treatment at the hands of the Japanese during the building of the Burma railway to face the world.
I know it’s one persons misguided and quite frankly juvenile take on things, but I can not see any reason to give the Japanese credit for nothing more than starting a war, in the far east, that they really had no chance of winning and causing the suffering and death of millions of people, not only in the occupied territories but also in their own country.
Does anyone honestly think they deserve real credit as this ill-advised individual has proposed ?
By: EN830 - 12th February 2006 at 09:53
Not secret, Robbo has put a link in his thread.
Edited because I hadn’t realised Robbo had deleted his thread, here it is :-
By: Dave Homewood - 12th February 2006 at 09:47
Ian,
what’s this forum you refer to? Or is it secret?
By: EN830 - 12th February 2006 at 09:35
I don’t think we’re ignoring the atrocities committed by the Germans, I would have expected the same reaction had this individual made the same comments about the actions of the Gestapo or SS.
To put things in some sort of comparison, the figures involved in the holocaust are well documented at between 10 & 12m lives, by contrast from the invasion of China in 1937 to the end of World War II, the Japanese military regime murdered some where in excess of 10,000,000 m people consisting of Chinese, Indonesians, Koreans, Filipinos, Indochinese and Western prisoners of war.
The generally accepted reasons given are that it was due to a morally bankrupt political and military strategy, military expediency and custom, and national culture, such as the view that those enemy soldiers who surrender while still able to resist were criminals, it is this last part that is the main reason behind Western abhorrence of the action of the Japanese, the treatment of POW’s.
In general the Germans treated western POW’s reasonably well. As far as I am aware actions such as the ceremonial beheading of a POW didn’t happen in German POW camps. However, yes there were executions for a number of reasons, the 50 from the great escape being the most notable and famous example of this.
On the other hand the Japanese, due to their mind set at the time, thought that anyone surrendering was lowest form of life and therefore treated accordingly, examples of ritual execution for the slightest misdemeanours have been regularly catalogued since the war.
By: mixtec - 12th February 2006 at 04:34
I think a common problem in western culture is that we tend to think our morals are always correct. In Japan surrender was not part of their culture, it was considered an honor to be executed after defeat in battle. During the island campaigns in WW2, not only Japanese soldiers, but Japanese civilians commited suicide rather than surrender.
I also think it is ironic that we ignore the atrocitys of the Germans in WW2, and hold them in such high esteem. Of course most everyone is familiar with the holocaust. And somehow we dont think much of however many millions that the Germans exterminated, but when we see a few thousand traumitized war veterans of the pacifac theater, that is somehow worse to us. And then there are the millions of Russian civilians the Germans killed. The Germans were actually welcomed as liberators by the Ukranians, but they quickly discovered that their fate was to be worn down to non-existance, then they fought bitterly for their survival. In fact the war on the eastern front turned into one of “take no prisoners” on each side as a result of German actions. Ironic because Germany could have won the war against Russia had they treated those they defeated humanely.
By: holty - 10th February 2006 at 09:38
thread has been removed
By: Rlangham - 9th February 2006 at 20:47
They seem to make a big enough deal about Hiroshima and the ‘peace memorial’ there etc, apparently the government there send a letter of protest each time a nuclear weapon is detonated in the world, maybe our government should send one for each POW that suffered at the hands of them
By: jbritchford - 9th February 2006 at 19:10
I had family who fought out in the far east in burma, my Great Uncle John. Never actually met him, but there was no love lost between him and the Japanese.
Sure, there is a time for forgiveness of the Japaneese people, but we can only forgive if they acknowledge their crimes and try to make up for them.
Paying decent compesation, admiting to the crimes they committed and making sure that all Japanese children are properly educated on the matter would be a good start.
By: Arabella-Cox - 9th February 2006 at 18:46
Some people have no common-sense……
By: Rlangham - 9th February 2006 at 17:27
Personally I think the second comment is one of the most ridiculous things i’ve ever read, although i’m only a teenager and have never met a veteran of the far east campaign, I still feel strongly about the terrible things the japs did – as well as the horrifying story of the POW that was found hiding in a house, i’ve also read a story of a guy that was a POW, living in remote Scotland, never talking about what happened, until one day he was going for a walk with his family and came across a Japanese couple. These were the first japanese people he had seen since the war, and he instantly fell to the ground, curled up in a ball, crying and trembling because of what had happened to him.
What I find even more insulting is the fact that japanese history books censor what happened in WW2, makes me feel like printing out a book of japanese atrocities in WW2, in japanese, and standing on a street corner in Tokyo handing it out
By: holty - 9th February 2006 at 16:47
iv’e politely pm’d chip and suggested he remove the affore mentioned thread, because it certainly does come across as highly offensive to any that suffered at the hands of that so called army
By: Auster Fan - 9th February 2006 at 15:58
It is gross and cretinous, but given the originator of the comments, no less than we ought expect. Robbo is quite right – treat it with the contempt it deserves and I hope that he never has to suffer what my uncle and many others like him went through. 😡 😡 😡
By: Digsworth - 9th February 2006 at 00:06
Gentleman, I would ask the *********g idiot who posted the silly comments that Ian has quite rightly draw our attention too, to read a book called
Hidden Horrors
Japanese War Crimes in World War 2
by Yuki Tanaka.
To give you idea of the the book, here are a few of the chapter headings
Sandaken Death marches and the elimination of POWs
Japanese Cannibalism
Massacre of civilians at kavieng
It not a a nice read.
I read the book a year ago, and I still can cannot get my head round the senseless brutality of Japanese in WW2
If they did read the said book , would still hold such views ?
Yours
Dave
By: kev35 - 8th February 2006 at 21:53
Mark, don’t be silly. Of course you can speak, as long as you only say what the powers that be want to hear.
Regards,
kev35
By: Snapper - 8th February 2006 at 21:50
I’m not allowed to speak in this thread. I am censored.
By: kev35 - 8th February 2006 at 20:58
Outstanding job?
The butchering of captured pilots with a Samurai sword?
The brutal and inhumane treatment of prisoners of war and civilians?
The multiple rapes in China followed by disembowelment?
The false surrenders?
The forced labour both in Japan and on Burma-Siam railway?
Would you mind identifying this individual Ian, and I will take them to the NMA at Alrewas to give them a brief glimpse of what it was like. Might even be able to find the odd veteran to help educate this crass, naive and offensive individual.
My Uncle fought the Japanese in Burma. And his great sadness at the end of the war was that only two atomic bombs had dropped. The brother of my Dad’s schoolmate was a prisoner of the Japanese. He returned home barely able to walk, weighing no more than six stone, suffered terrible nightmares and was unable to work or participate in the Society he had left behind. He was afraid, bewildered and bereft. The nightmares didn’t last too long. He committed suicide in 1949.
Regards,
kev35
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February 8, 2006 at 8:30 pm