AtoM
David Conde fonds
International Military Tribunal for the Far East
Trial transcripts
Conde, David W.
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16 SEPTEMBER 1946 I N D E X Of WITNESSES Prosecution's Witnesses Page Wild, Cyril Hew Dalrymple (resumed) 5599 Direct by Mr. Comyns Carr (cont'd) 5599 Cross by Mr. Blewett 5686 I N D E X Of EXHIBITS Pros. Def. For In No. No. Description Ident. Evidence 476 Extracts from the Diary of the Major General KAWAMURA, the 9th Infantry Brigade Com- mander 5624 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 5,598 Monday, 16 September, 194-6 INTERNATIONAL MILITARY TRIBUNAL FOR THE FAR EAST Court House of the Tribunal War Ministry Building Tokyo, Japan The Tribunal met, pursuant to adjournment, at 0930. Appearances: For the Tribunal, same as before. For the Prosecution Section, same as before. For the Defense Section, same as before. (English to Japanese and Japanese to English interpretation was made by the Language Section, IMTFE.) 1 2 5 4 5 e 7 c o 9 10 li 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 WILD DIRECT 5, MARSHAL OF THE COURT: The International Military Tribunal for the Far East is now in session and ready to hear any matter brought before it. THE PRESIDENT: All accused are present except OKAWA who is represented by counsel. Mr. Comyns Carr. C Y R I L H E W D A L R Y M P L E W I L D , called as a witness on behalf of the prosecution, resumed the stand and testified as follows: DIRECT EXAMINATION (Continued) MR. COMYNS CARR: Colonel Wild, when the Tribunal adjourned on Friday I was reading at page 40 of exhibit No. 475- I had concluded paragraph "c" on that page and I had asked you some questions about it. I will now proceed with paragraph "d". (Reading) "d. The equipments for transportation of personnel are as follows: "1. Setting aside indispensable vessels, all were two storied. Still further in every spare room on the decks, two or three storied berths were equipped as it was called the 'Decisive battle transportation'. Thus the capacity was increased. "2. The space between the upper and the lower stories was regulated not to touch the head in sitting 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 WILD DIRECT 5,600 attitude (about 0.75 metre in minimum). "3. As the capacity was increased as far as possible, with an equipment of such berths as said in 1 and 2, each person lost the freedom of his action in a ship when the ship was damaged by a torpedo and many persons and munitions were sunk to the bottoms of the sea. "This caused the greatest difficulty in the operation of the Japanese army and its fighting power of long duration. About this matter, it is supposed that your navy knows well. "The bad ventilation and the bad and in- constant supply and the loss of sleep (it ?<?as impossible to lie down) due to the closest packing caused the conspicuous increase of patients during the trans- portation. "Even those who did not fall ill during the transportations, must be at rest for a time after landing, or else, they sometimes became unable to fight a severe battle. "For that reason, the shipping space was calculated to economize as far as possible, the water- closet being put outside gunnel." Then omitting paragraph "C", "a" and "b", come to small "c" in the middle of page 41. (Reading): 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 WILD DIRECT 5,601 "c. Instances of counter-measures for trans- portation and its actual conditions accompanying the want of vessels were as above mentioned. It is de- sired that you acknowledge the war prisoners were not closely packed up only because they were war prisoners. "That they were kept from coming out on the decks may be from the viewpoint of guarding and pre- venting of espionage of the voyage of ship groups. "It may be supposed that the war prisoners transported to the Thailand-Burma Railway area were treated better than in any other areas." Q Pausing there, Colonel Wild, do you see any reason for that supposition, as far as your information goes? A I should just like to explain that the system whereby prisoners were carried to Siam was the same as in other voyages. The system, in fact, was that wooden stages were built up in empty coal bunkers and in holds with three-foot clearance between one stage and the next one. Where it says that twenty- nine men were carried in the space of one cubic "tsubo" that means that fourteen to fifteen men sat cross-legged on these planks in an area six feet by t six feet; and three feet above their heads another 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 5,602 WILD DIRECT ! fourteen or fifteen men were sitting in the same space and so on to the top of the hold or the bunkers. Where this was harder on the prisoners than on Japan- ese was because their average height was greater and they were not accustomed to sitting cross-legged. Also, they were usually suffering from dysentery— had some cases of dysentery among them when they em- barked — and they were not allowed on deck during the voyage. This applied to the voyages to Siam or Burma as well as to other voyages, and I know that one Dutch ship going from N.E.I, to that destination had extremely heavy casualties during the voyage. Q About the suggestion that not allowing them ( on deck was a nrecaution against espionage, what do you say? A That is a good instance of the age-old Japanese preoccupation with espionage and it is dif- ficult to see what possible use the prisoners could have made of the information if they had gotten it. Q If they were unable to transport the prisoners under proper conditions, was there any necessity for transporting them at all? MR. LOGAN: If the Tribunal please — THE PRESIDENT: Mr. Logan. MR. LOGAN: We object to that question. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 • 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 WILD DIRECT 5,603 We think it is purely argumentative and not to be decided by this witness. THE PRESIDENT: It is a question an expert might answer, and he is an expert. A No doubt the Japanese considered it necessary but what, as prisoners, we were stressing to them again and again was that they had not the right to move prisoners unless they had proper means to do so nor the right to detain them in nlaces like the Siam jungle where they were unable to feed and supply them. C I need not read the rest of page 41; and page 42, Colonel Wild, does that deal with the two forces, F and H Forces, on which you have been giving us your personal experiences? A It does. MR. COMYNS CARR: (Reading) "4. How two branches of the Malay camp were removed on foot within the construction area to the spot. "A. Outline. "In May, 1943, to promote the work, two branches of the Malay camp were newly attached to the railway regiment. One of them was moved to Niike and the other to Kinsaiyork, being transported by railway from Shingapore to Panpon, from where they went on 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 WILD DIRECT 5,604 foot. "According to the circumstances at that time, it was the want of the transportation means that forced them to march on foot. "B. Then was just the time the deploy the forces and labor to the remote places accompanying the progress of the work. At the same time tke only means of transportation, that is lorries, were scaree enough to be used for the supply, and rather they were sometimes in want. Therefore, they could not be used for the transportation of persons. Also the water-routes did not swell yet, so that the use of ships were restrained. "C. For that reason, the following action was taken to remove them on foot. "a. At' the end of i*pril the commissary facilities were established along the line of con- struction and they were used to give the aid in the accommodations and supplies. "At every 20 or 25 kilometres along the march line, a pavilion (camping by means of tent) was set up, with a tea-supplying place in the interval. "b. The march was as a rule 20 or 25 kilo- metres a day and made by night to avoid the heat. "c. A great effort was made to check the 5,605 WILD DIRECT 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 * 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 epidemics on the marching road and stragglers were taken in to the nearest sanitary institution. For this means, motor cars were driven along in order to make liaison and to take stragglers in. "d. In consideration of the supply, an echelon was made up of 200 or 300 persons. It was made a rule that they should rest one day, when they marched two or three days. "D. And at that time, the 31st Division ('Retsu' Division) which were marching to Burma were all walking on foot from the middle of April in the same way as above. "E. In short, the marching on foot was not avoidable, if the circumstances were considered. Even a squadron on an urgent operation was, as it really was compelled to march more than 400 kilometres, and we assure that it was decidedly not only on the war-prisoners that this was compelled." 0 Now, Colonel Wild, you have told us, given us your account of this matter; is there any particular additional comment you want to make on this account of it? A The so-called pavilion which was set up at every twenty or twenty-five kilometers meant, in effect, the accommodation which was provided for the Japanese. WILD DIRECT 5,606 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 1 After the beating which Major Hunt and I had sustained 2 ' at Tarsoe, v</e did in a sense win our battle to the 3 extent of being allowed to put, say, thirty sick in 4 the prisoner of war hospital at Tarsoe. We did see 5 Japanese infantry marching uu the road and they were 6 not having an easy time. I said myself earlier that as an infantry soldier I consider it would have been an arduous march for fit troops. The Japanese were fit and well feed. We were half-starved and had two thousand non-walking sick to push along. As regards the rest days, the last march of the British troops who went to Songkrai Camp were five successive night stages in the worst of the monsoon rains, and they were taken out to work the next day. MR. COMYNS CAKR: Now, passing over to page 44, I read the conclusion to which this committee came: "CONCLUSION "1. The foregoing is an explanation of the circumstances which compelled a heavy toll of life during the progress of the construction work. In the final analysis, causes of the tragedy may be traced principally to the placement of a time limit on the construction, the immense difficulty in making thorough preparation and to the precipitancy with which the Japanese soldiers, despite their lack of experience 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 WILD DIRECT 5,607 in such large-scale construction work and meagre scientific equipment, dared to carry on their work in strict obedience to orders which they character- istically regarded as imperative. Thus the occurrence of the casualties, it must be declared, was by no means due to any deliberate intention on the part of the <*rmy authorities. "As regards the employment of prisoners of war in the above construction work, it may be stated that at the time the Japanese Army as a whole enter- tained the ideas that the employment of prisoners of * V ' I war in any work other than military operations was not j a breach of the Geneva Convention. Furthermore, it is to be insisted that the incident was of a radically j different character from the so-called maltreatment of prisoners of war. "2. The incident, already stated was an inevitable outcome of the situation then prevailing, and, if anyone is to be called to account for the dreadful death rate, the responsibility ought to be placed on the then Chief of the General Staff (General Sugiyama) who ordered the construction, the War Minister (General Tojo) who sanctioned the employment of prisoners, and the Commander-in-Chief of the South Area Corps (General Terauchi) who was entrusted with 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 WILD DIRECT 5,608 the construction on the spot. "3. As regards Individual cases of mal- treatment of prisoners of war, it is desired that investigation "be started upon the further receipt from the Allied Powers of a report of the details, particularly the ranks, and names of the suspected offenders, and if as a result, they should be found guilty severe measures should be meted out to them." WILD DIRECT 5,609 G 0 1 d b e r g & S P r a t t 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 BY MR. C O O T S CaRR: '(Continued) Q Now, Colonel Wild, will you just look at the tables of statistics which are attached to this document? No. 1 has the headings for the month, the total number of prisoners, and then in the "Operation on Construction of Railway", "Number of Prisoners Worked", and "Rate to Total Number of Prisoners", Then a similar division under the head of "Works in Branches"; and a similar division under the head of "Number of /.ccidents". I want you to explain to us what is meant by " irr orks in Branches", and how the figures under that head came to be so high. A The "Works in Branches" covers men who were engaged on camp duties such as doctors, medical order- lies, cooks, and so on. It was always a matter of the utmost difficulty to get sufficient men kept off work to keer) a camp going. The reason, therefore, that those figures are' so high must, in my oninion, be that they include a large number of the light duty men whom I mentioned earlier; that is to say, men who, in effect, were starved out of hospital to work for a few hours so they could get a little more to eat. Q With regard to tables No. 4 and 8, are those simnly copies of the ones we have seen already in 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 4 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 5,610 WILD DIRECT exhibit No. 473; that is our document 1810, Colonel Wild? A They appear to be so. Q No attempt has been made to bring them up to date? A Evidently not. Q Or to correct the errors which you pointed out before? A I find no corrections. Q Now Colonel Wild, while you have been in Tokyo have you made some further investigations? A Yes, I have, particularly in Sugamo Prison. Q And has it come to light that there is in existence a complete series of reports by this War Ministry Committee dealing with prisoners of war over all the Pacific area? A Yes, as a result of my interrogations twenty- six more documents have come to light similar to the one which you 'have been reading. Q And have you obtained possession of one which deals with the Chinese massacre in Singapore, about which you gave us evidence before, earlier? A It came into my hands for the first time last Thursday. MR. COMYNS CARR: May it please the Tribunal, WILD DIRECT 5,611 , we have had that document translated and processed, 2 and we have attempted to serve it, but a difficulty 3 • has arisen which I understand has arisen not for 4 j the first time in the matter of service of documents 5 where for any reason there is short notice. | 6 Rule 6 b provides "As far as practicable, a copy of every document intended to be adduced in evidence 8 by the prosecution or the defense will be delivered..." and so on, "....not less than twent3?--four hours i before such document is to be tendered in evidence." In fact, they were ready for delivery at six — at ! or any time after six o'clock on Friday, but the lady who presides over the defense office, being informed before she closed her office at five o'clock that that was the.position, declined to receive them at any time after five o'clock on Friday until this morning. I am not aware of anything in the rule, or of anything that has been said by the Tribunal, limiting the nature of the twentv-four hours for service; and I ask the Tribunal to allow me to introduce this document now in order that I may have the advantage of asking the witness s-^me questions about it. TLE PRESIDENT: You have been reading from the rule as originally enacted, Mr. Comyns Carr. There has been an amendment — 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 i 25 I 1 2 3 4 * 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 WILD DIRECT 5,612 MR. COMYNS CARR: Oh, I am sorry. THE PRESIDENTS — w h i c h nlaces the matter entirely in the hands of the Court. MR. COMYNS CARR: Ah, yes. THE PRESIDENTs The words, "as far as prac- ticable", were deleted, and the words "except as otherwise provided by the Tribunal" were inserted. It means that we — it means this? that we can decide the matter here and now. Dr. KIYOSE. DR. KIYOSE; I am going to ask a question concerning the question of massacre of the Chinese officer generals. This was found in the Legal Affairs Section of the Demobilization Bureau, but it was not submitted by this section. I do not know whether it was this witness or some other American officer, but someone came the other day to the Legal Section of the said bureau and brought back this document. THE MONITOR: After searching for some docu- ment, took this particular document out with him. DR. KIYOSE (Continuing): This document is yet incomplete and neither the Legal Affairs Section nor the Committee — the Section for Investigation of Affairs Concerning Prisoners of War has decided • this — to make this a final version. That is why WILD DIRECT 5,613 1 this document is devoid of signature nor seal which 2 i is customary in preparing an official document in 3 Japan; and it is neither dated; and also the author 4 of the document is also unknown; and this is merely a reference in order to prepare for — to be used in 6 the future conferences. Therefore, I object to this document being introduced as evidence. THE PRESIDENT; Mr. Logan. MR. LOGAN: If the Tribunal please, the casual examination of this document the prosecution is talking about shows that it has forty pages in length and we have just received it as Court opened this morning. We have had no opportunity to examine i£. With respect to the attempted service or>) Friday night, I know nothing about it; but, apparently, if that rule were relaxed permitting the prosecution to serve a document on us at six o'clock on Friday night, I suppose that would extend to any time that they wished to serve it and not comply with that twenty- four hour rule. The question of serving documents over the weekend has come up at least twice, I believe, in Chambers before; and I do not recall any definite ruling being made by your Honor with respect to it, but I believe when it did come up, it was frowned upon and it was suggested to the prosecution that they comply 7 •! 9 ! 1 0 11 12 I 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 WILD DIRECT 5,614 with the twenty-four hour rule before the weekend. That is my recollection of what happened. I am quite sure that if the prosecution had attempted to serve this, or see that some of the copies got into the hands of some of the defense attorneys before Saturday, that we would have had an opportunity to read it over the weekend because there is always some of us in town available. In addition to that, your Honor, there is no certificate attached to this document, the copy that I have received, and we are unable to tell from where it came$ and, more fundamental than the objection with respect to the service of this document in time is the same objection that I made the other day with respect to document 1509-A. If it is the purpose of the prosecution in offering this document at this time to question this witness about it for the -rurpose of tearing down a document, we seriously object to it and think it is fundamentally wrong. The prosecution has not stated whether or not the defend- ants intend to rely on this document. THE PRESIDENT: tell, they could not state whether the defendants were going to rely on it, but apparently they are going to rely on it. MR. LOGAN; If your Honor please, I said 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 WILD DIRECT 5 "defendants" because what I am trying to explain is that if the defendants intended to rely on a document and the prosecution will make that claim, then perhaps there might be some .basis for this preliminary exam- ination of a document in anticipation of what our defense might be; and in addition to that, the pros- ecution has not stated whether or not it intends to rely on it; and with respect to document 1509-A, we assumed that when they introduced it in evidence that they intended to rely on that and vouch for its credibility. But, they did just the opposite. But, particularly with respect to the time of the service of this document, we believe that it should not be permitted to be used in examination of this witness. MR. COMYNS CARR: May it please the Tribunal, first of all, with regard to the service, I tried to make it clear that the document has -»- a sufficient number of copies of it have been * available in this building all through the weekend at a nlace which was notified to the representative of the defense at the time before five o'clock on Friday. If she did not pass on the information to my learned friends, or if they did not choose to send for the documents, that is not a matter for which the 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 WILD DIRECT 5,616 prosecution is responsible. Secondly, with regard to Dr. KIYOSE's objection, that depends upon some assertions of fact by him, and I shall be in a position both through this witness and from internal evidence in the docu- ment itself to show exactly how and under what circum- stances it did come into existence. In my submission, it is a report of a department of the Japanese Government, namely, the War Ministry, of an investi- gation ordered and held by them. Dr. KIY0SE is wrong in saying that it is not signed. The witness will be able to identify the signatures on it and to tell us who the individuals are. Therefore, in my sub- mission, it is a document which, under Article 13c of the Charter, does not require a certificate. And lastly, with regard to the objection as to the manner in which we are seeking to use this document, and the last one, we use it, as I explained before, for the truth of certain parts of it although we criticize other parts of it through this witness. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 WILD DORECT 5, THE 1 PRESIDENT: By criticize you mean attack, Mr. Comyns Carr. You will have to face up to that. MR. COMYNS CARR: Oh, yes. In my submission, there is no objection to that in any case, and particu- larly in the case here where, although I cannot show at present at least that the document actually Emanates from any of the accused in this dock, it does emanate from the Japanese Army and does purport to represent the defense of the Japanese Army to these allegations. THE PRESIDENT: Yes, Dr. KIYOSE. DR. KIYOSE: Mr. President, I don't want to argue about this matter. However, as Mr. Comyns Carr, pointed out that the first half of this document certainly bears a signature — THE MONITOR: Just a moment. Mr. Comyns Carr said this document bears signatures but I submit that the original copy has a signature, original copy alone has a signature. THE INTERPRETER: The original of this docu- ment has no signature and I world like to show this to the Language Arbiters. DR. KIYOSE: There are so many corrections on this original copy — on this copy with pencil and pen and it is not customary to see those corrections on a Japanese official document. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 5,618 WILD DIRECT THE MONITOR: Correction on the first statement by Dr. KIYOSE: I don't desire to argue about this but -- THE INTERPRETER: The first half of this docu- ment has no signature. THE MONITOR! The first half of this document does not bear any signature. One more addition: If you see the entire document it would be clear. DR. KIYOSE: In our country it is customary to affix seals at the particular places where the corrections have been made on the official copy so that the original draft can be distinguished — the original can be distinguished from the draft copy. THE MONITOR: Original can be distinguished from the corrected copy. THE PRESIDENT: Dr. KIYOSE; DR. KIYOSE: On page 12 of the English copy reference is made to Fourth Unit, No. 4- Unit. There is no such unit as Fourth Unit. This is a unit of one of the subdivisions of the investigators when the in- vestigation was being made, and that is not the identity of the person responsible for drafting this document. THE PRESIDENT: Dr. KIYOSE, I won't hear you further at the time being. You are referring to matters which, as Mr. Comyns Carr has pointed out, are matters WILD DIRECT 5,619 for evidence later by the defense. We must take this document,vwhich is about to be tendered in evidence, according to its face value. It may or may not be signed; it may or may not have a number of unsealed or unmarked corrections. Those are matters of fact to be determined later. Whether this document is to be admitted or not has to be determined by the terms of the Charter and, as it is a document coming, we are told, from enemy sources and relates to matters in issue, it is our duty to admit it for whatever it is worth, for whatever probative value it has. Then dealing with the question of whether the document was served in due time to be admitted today, it appears to me that having been served at the place named by the defense,during office hours, necessary notice was given. Mr. Logan said it was served on a lady, I think, who represented the defense. I may have misapprehended him. If it can be said that after all there was no actual service, well, there is evidence,and it is not contradicted,that service was refused in effect. In any event, on the facts as ad- mitted there is a strong case for an exemption or an exception by this Court in terms of introduction to the rule. That position is strengthened, as two of my colleagues pointedly indicate to me in a joint note, 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 WILD DIRECT 5,620 by the fact that Tr. KIY0SE, has disclosed a full know- lege of the document in question. He, at all events, will not be taken by surprise if the document is ad- mitted this morning, and he represents all the defendants This rule, unlike our national rules, does not exclude holidays in calculating the period of notice. It is possible that I said in Chambers that the prose- cution should treat the holiday period as excluded from the period of notice. I don't recollect. It is a thing that I would be likely to say. Now, as for the other point, the use to be made of the document and the use made of the earlier document, that matter has already been argued twice and we are not going to argue it a third time. The document may be used this morning. It comes within the exception, if compliance has not been made with the rule. That is the opinion of the Tribunal. We will recess now for fifteen minutes. (Whereupon, at 1Q50, a recess was taken until 1105, at which time the proceedings were resumed as follows:) 5,621 WILD DIRECT MARSHAL OF THE COURT: The International Military Tribunal for the Far East is now resumed. DR. KIYOSE; In the remark I made before the recess, Mr. President, I have discovered that there was some mistake in interpretation and I should like to have that correction made. I heard that whereas I said "original," the term "original" in Japanese was interpreted "the first half." Since there has been a shift in the inter- preters I will make the explanation myself. In the document which was about to be sub- mitted by Mr. Comyns Carr, in respect to that document i I said "original" and that the original had no signa- ture. And on that basis I contended, that is, m y mean- ing, the meaning of my contention was that this docu- ment, being incomplete and being a preliminary document, could not be submitted as evidence either as a docu- ment representing the government or the individual. Feeling rather unfortunate that there has been this misunderstanding, I have made this explanation. I should also like to point out that I saw the document here just a while ago for the first time, that is, the original document, and I have only informed the Tribunal of what I have learned here with respect to the incident which took place in the 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 WILD DIRECT 5,622 Mobilization Ministry, Mobilization Bureau. THE MONITOR: Correction: About the details of how this was taken out by the Allied personnel from the Mobilization Bureau, I only heard about that part. But I had not seen the original before I came here. DR. KIYOSE: I do not believe that the fact that this document was taken out of the Mobilization Ministry by the American or Allied officers has any- thing to do with the length of time required by the prosecution to serve this paper to the defense. I would just like to point out those two points. THE PRESIDENT: Nothing Dr. KIYOSE says has any bearing on the decision, as appears from the reasons given for the decision. The document comes from the Japanese Government and it appears to relate to matters in issue, and it is admissible under the Charter. Dr. UZMSA*. DR. UZAWA: I should like to have the Court understand, Mr. President, that this document was placed on my desk this morning and from that point was delivered. As to the general delivery of this docu- ment, in some cases documents are placed in the box of every defense counsel; but it happened that these 1 2 3 4 K J 6 7 £ 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 WILD DIRECT 5,623 documents were brought in one lump and were delivered in this room. THE PRESIDENT: Well, that, Dr. UZAWA, is a matter between you and the person who represents the defense for these purposes. Major Furness. MR. FURNESS: So that the record may be straight, sir, we would like to explain the service of this document. We understand that at about 3s30 our Document D i v i s i o n — THE PRESIDENT: Now, we cannot have this matter re-argued. There is no need for you to put the record straight. American counsel and Japanese coun- j sel addressed us on the matter. Mr. Comyns Carr had the last word. We gave our decision and this is an attempt to reopen the decision. You may put on the 1 record something inconsistent with the matters placed before us by other American counsel and on which our decision was given, and I do not think you should be allowed to do so. When you say you want to put the record straight it is very obvious you want to contradict or supplement something that other American defense counsel have said. We refuse to hear you, Major Furness, you are coming too late. 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 13 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 WILD DIRECT 5,624 MR. FURNESS: It was something that we could only learn over the recess, sir. THE PRESIDENT: It is too late now. We are not going to reopen the matter. MR. COMYNS CARR: Then I formally tender the document, which is prosecution's document No. 2647. THE PRESIDENT: Admitted on the usual terms. CLERK OF THE COURT: Prosecution's document No. 2647 will receive exhibit No. 476. (Whereupon, the document above re- ferred to was marked prosecution's exhibit No. 476, and was received in evidence.) MR. COMYNS CARR: May the witness have the original to look at for a short time? (Whereupon, a document was handed to the witness.) BY MR. COMYNS CARR (Continued): Q Colonel Wild, have you as a result of your inquiries ascertained how the committee which has been referred to in the course of this discussion came into being, and how this report came into being? A Yes, I have. Q First of all, who appointed the committee? A The main committee was convened or), the orders of Lieutenant General WAKAMATSU, Vice-Minister of War. Will) DIRECT 5,625 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 It was called the Prisoners of War Investigation Com- mittee. Q At about what date did it first come into existence according to the information given to you by the members? A In September or early October 194-5* Q When the Vice-Minister of War took this action, where was the Minister of War? A The Minister of ":ar, Lieutenant General SHIMOMURA, was detained in Shanghai, being unable to return to Japan owing to the close of hostilities, Q Was the Vice-Minister, therefore, acting as Minister? A He was in ettmkt doing so, Q Now, then, with regard to this particular docu- ment, who prepared this one and how were they appointed? A This sub-committee was detailed by Lieutenant General WAKAMATSU to study the question of what the Japanese themselves called the Chinese Massacre Affair, The chairman was Colonel SUGITA, who got his orders direct from General WAKAMATSU, and there were four committee members of the sub-committee. Q Are their signatures, or any of them, to be found on the original document? A It is in my recollection that I saw Colonel 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 WILD DIRECT 5,626 SUGITA's signature on this original, but I cannot say whether the others have also signed it or not. Q When you say it is within your recollection that you saw it, how did you come to see it? A When the document first came into my hands on Thursday. Q Do you mean you went through it and found it, you went through the document and found the signature? A It was screened rapidly for me, and that sig- nature was pointed out to me at that time. I should need some similar assistance if I could find it now. MR. C O r a S CARR: May I ask your Honor if during the recess he may be allowed to examine the document with such assistance in order to point out after the recess where the signature is? THE PRESIDENT: I see no objection to that, Mr. Carr. BY MR. COMYNS CARR (Continued): Q Now, the members of the committee, are they all persons whose names are known to you? A Colonel SIJGITA gave me four names: Lieuten- ant-Colonel 0ISHI, Lieutenant-Colonel KASHIZUME, Lieutenant-Colonel KINOTAKE, and he said, I think, Lieutenant-Colonel FUJIWARA. Q Were any of those persons, to your knowledge, ! WILD DIRECT 5,627 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 in Singapore at the time this happened? A Lieutenant-Colonel OISHI, and Lieutenant- Colonel FUJIWARA, Lieutenant-Colonel HASHIZUME, and, I think, Lieutenant-Colonel KINOTAKE were all in Singapore on the staff of YAMASHITA at the time. Q And Colonel SUGITA himself? A Colonel SUGITA himself is the same man to whom I referred at some length in my earlier evi- dence. He was senior Intelligence Staff Officer of General YAMASHITA. Lieutenant-Colonel OISHI was particularly notable during these massacres as the Chief of the Kempeitai in Singapore. MR. COHYNS CARR: I now propose to begin reading the document, or extracts from it, begin- ning, which I think is the logical order, at page 12: (Reading) "SECRET "A proces-verbal concerning the punishment of Chinese residents in Singapore "By the 4-th unit "23 Oct., 1945 "1. Circumstances of manoeuvres by Chinese residents in the Malay Campaign: •"During the MALAY campaign, Chinese res- dents were very active In their manoeuvres from 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 5,628 WILD DIRECT the beginning to the end around the battle-fields and especially in the rear, obstructing our cam- paign and causing us much difficulty. That is to say, near the battle-fields they chiefly communi- cated with the enemy, consequently our plan of operations was perceived by the enemy, placing us in a very disadvantageous position; or areas where our troops were concentrated were bombarded, thus it was not only once that our troops had to suffer meaningless sacrifices, or in the rear our com- missary lines were attacked, lines of communication, military communication lines were destroyed, and our military materials damaged, delaying the arrival of those materials, especially ammunition, at the battle- fields, consequently often the MALAY camnaign, which necessitated speed, was obstructed and made difficult." 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 WILD DIRECT 5,629 BY MR. COMYNS CARR (Continued): Q Pausing there, Colonel Wild, were you, as you told us, a staff officer engaged throughout that campaign? A From the first attack in the north of Malaya down to the fall of Singapore. Q Have you read the 11 paragraphs of examples which followed that passage which I have just read? A Yes, I have. Q Do they relate to incidents in the cam- paign with most of which you are familiar? A They relate to places in Malaya with which I am fully familiar and connect in my mind with the actions that took place there during that campaign. MR. COMYNS CARR: I do not propose to take up time by reading those incidents, unless the de- fense wish me to, but just to ask this witness some questions about them. THE PRESIDENT: Mr. Logan. MR. LOGAN: If the Tribunal please, if the prosecution is going to question this witness about specific instances, I think that it should be read to him and asked if he was actually there at the time they occurred. THE PRESIDENT: There is no need to read 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 WILD DIRECT 5,630 I them. The substance could be put shortly. Q First of all, were there any organized Chinese military units acting as part of the British forces? A Yes, there were two formations known as the Federated Malay States Volunteer Force, and there is the Straits Settlements Volunteer Force. These comprised a number of battalions which correspond almost exactly to Territorial battalions in England. Also, like Territorial battalions, they consequently carried the name of the State from which they came, such as the Kedah Volunteer Force, Penang Volunteer Force, and so on. The only difference was that the nationalities — different nationalities ordinarily took a pride in forming their own individual compan- J ies within those battalions. Thus, you have a Brit- ish company, Malay company and a Chinese company in the same battalion. The Chinese volunteers were in- variably British subjects and men of good character and standing. It was considered a great honor to be a member of the volunteer force. And I notice, look- ing at these incidents In this document, the reference '' "Chinese" is used again and again; and in the majority ! of cases where the word "Chinese" is used, it may be safely assumed that the individual xvas a British .... _.; 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 WILD DORECT subject, Q In addition to the forces you've mentioned, was there another special force raised amongst the people of Chinese race during the campaign? A There was another battalion raised by my own corps headquarters, recruited entirely from the Chinese and officered by British officers. This battalion was particularly used for outposts and scouting duties and for harassing the enemy's communications. Q Now, looking through these 11 paragraphs of examples, and as far as you can identify the inci- dents at all, what do you say as to what Chinese were the persons taking part in them? A I know of no Chinese who took part in the fighting against the Japanese during the invasion of Malaya apart from those who were in our regular armed forces. On the other hand, it is only reasonable, I think, to suppose that the Japanese forces were not exactly accepted with open arms by the local population, particularly in view of the appalling manner in which their troops behaved as they came down the peninsula. Q As far as giving information is concerned, is it a fact that information was from time to time 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 5,632 WILD DIRECT conveyed to the British forcos by local residents? A Naturally, because the sympathy of the local population was, with few exceptions, on the side of the defending troops and not of the invaders. MR. COMYNS CARR: Now, I will read from page 14, paragraph 2: "2. The state of public peace in and around Singapore after the surrender of the British forces. "The British forces in Singapore surrend- ered on the 15th of February and the island im~ mediptely after the fighting actions was covered with uneasy atmosphere. Especially what is to be noted is the fact that there was a two-three day gap between the day of the British surrender and the day of the Japanese entry into that city. Thus, during this interval, implements of war such as rifles, ammunitions, machine guns, revolvers, wireless equipment, light automobiles, etc. were moved away and concealed in the houses of Chinese and natives. Such state became clear gradually, and it transpired that frequently the telegraphic wires running between the headquarters of all the army corps in the suburbs and the city were cut off intentionally, rendering it impessible to 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 WILD DORECT maintain the communication between them. And it became clear that the Chinese in the suburbs or in the urban districts of the city plundered pro- visions, clothes and fuel, etc. and concealed those things in their store-houses or above the ceiling or under the floor of individual houses, etc," 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 IS 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 WILD DIRECT 5, BY MR. COMYNS CARR (Continued): Q Pausing there, what do you say about this two or three day gap? A It is quite untrue. There was no such gap. As I mentioned before, we got permission to retain five hundred British troops under arms until the Japanese took over control of Singapore. That was arranged on the evening of the 15th of February and our surrender. I left Fort Canning about eight o'clock in the morning of the l6th of February to go I to Bukit Timah for another confercnce with the Japan- ese, and Japanese soldiers were already on duty in Singapore. MR. COMYNS CARR: (Continuing:) "In the meanwhile, what constituted our primary consideration was that it was impending to draft a major proportion from our forces to prepare for the a/oproaching operation, and that we were to maintain the public peace in the oc- cupied area with a minor force. The advance towards the south of our army was very speedy. On the other hand, there were still a number of bases in the west coast of Malay peninsula left for hostile groups plotting brigandage; on top of this, the hostile Chinese dispersed in the Rhio WILD DIRECT 5,635 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 islands, south of Singapore, Lingu island and the Anambu islands after the fall of Singapore seemed to be preparing for their future action in coopera- tion with their comrades in Singapore and Malay- peninsula and the rumors about the British rein- forcements to arrive were circulated. So we feel keenly the necessity to secure public peace with some drastic measure and control to check the false rumors in Singapore island. (Reference)." 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 WILD DORECT BY MR. COMYNS CARR (Continued): Q Now, during all the time that you had been in Malaya before the Japanese invasion, had there been disturbances? Was the population given to distrubance? A Certainly not. Malaya was a very happy place in my observation, and the happiest thing about it was the way in which Indians, Malays and Chinese, many races, lived in peace with one another. MR. COMYNS CARR: Continuing to read: "The status of the activities of De-Gaulle's group was likely to have been made clear gradually by the 28th of February; Klay /phonetic/, a Lumor /phonetic/, a spy of the military commission of the DeGaulle's party, and Coceil /phonetic/, the manager of the French Indian China Bank, were then arrested and detained. " 3 . Regarding investigation and execution of Chinese residents in * Singapore'. "Under the consideration that simultaneous advance of the various corns of the expeditionary forces into the city of Singapore should rather cause a difficulty in keeping peace and order of the city, the military order was given, on F e b . 17? to detail a force in a size of nearly three infantry battalions WILD DIRECT 5,637 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 plus the 2nd detachment of Field Military Police /KEMPEITAI/ under the command of Major-General KAWAMURA, commander of the 9th Infantry Brigade; while the major part of the military operation forces was placed back to station at the northern suburb of 'S' city, thus to have only small number of the unit put on duty for the guard of the city. The said guard commander, on the following day, visited the General Headquarters and did the required liaison. "(1) Posting "The posting at the beginning was as shown on the attached map showing the status of disposition, but afterward the guard was extended all over the is- land on March 2nd with a movement of military strengths occurring since then. "(a) Search for hostile Chinese. The in- vestigation was executed during the 4 days period from Feb. 17 to 20 mainly on the basis of 'a list of the anti-Japanese Chinese 1 which had been secured at 'IPOH 1 and with reference to search materials of the roster of the detective bureau criminal lists of the Police Office and the statement made by rescued Japanese. The police officials of the Malay detective bureau were causod to attend to this occasion" 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 WILD DIRECT 5,638 BY MR. C O O T S CARR (Cohtunod) Q Pausing there, what can you tell us about that paragraph and about what was done with the Malay police? A According to ray information, one of the members of that committee — sub-committee, obtained from the police station in Singapore a list of the Chinese detectives of the Singapore police force. ! He handed the list to the chairman of the sub- committee, and the twenty Chinese detectives were shot that night. I am informed by the present head of the Malayan's Currency Service that all twenty were outstandingly good members of the detective force in Singapore. MR. COMYNS CARR: (Continued) j "(b) The number of persons searched during the first series lasting for 3 days, Feb. 21-23, about 5,000 persons; the second series, Feb. l8-March 3 , about 1,500 persons-, the third series at the end of March, about 300 persons. Among them, about 2,000 persons were released after the investigation. "(c) Reason for the search and the execu» tion. There exists no written order given to the Guard Commander; it is, however, almost clear that the Guard Commander had issued orders to cope with — 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 5,63$ VILD DIRECT the idea of the Army, and in the light of the situ- ation of the mopping up operation throughout the MALAY peninsula, it is clear that the Guard Commander did not issue orders based on his own personal view. It is, however, very doubtful whether the mass exe- cution of Chinese was due to the order of the commander-in-chief or not, "As Lieutenant-Colonel KAYASHI who was Chief of Staff in charge at that time died on the field, it is impossible to find the fact, "(d) Execution of the punishment. The ob- jectives of the punishment constitute mainly those who communicated secretly with the enemy; those who led the hostile bombinj of our airfields; those who did marking of targets of artillery gun fire; those who disturbed rear transport lines; those who did not change the attitude of opposition to Japan and self confessed the continuance of the act to oppose Japan at our investigation. These were the leaders of the Federated Association of Chinese Volunteer to oppose Japan, and member of Communists party in Malay; those who were punished strictly t-^tal about 5,000 up to the end. of March." 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 1-5 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 WILD DIRECT 5,640 BY MR. COMYNS CARR: (Continuing) Q Pausing there, in your opinion, was it pos- sible to examine even on these bases, the cases of five thousand people in three days? A Most certainly not. The Japanese themselves said, and.I saw for myself, that they kept the small- est possible number of troops in the city to do this job. THE PRESIDENT: We will adjourn now until half-past one. (Whereupon, at 1200, a recess was taken.) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 5,641 WILD DIRECT AFTERNOON SESSION / The Tribunal met, pursuant to recess, at 1330. MARSHAL OF THE COURT: The International Military Tribunal for the Far East is now resumed. THE PRESIDENT: Mr. Comyns Carr. C Y R I L H E W D A L R Y M P L E W I L D , called as a witness on behalf of the prosecu- tion, resumed the stand and testified as follows DIRECT EXAMINATION (Continued) BY MR. COMYNS CARR: Q Colonel Wild, I noticed the expression "punished strictly" in the last line that I read before the adjournment. Is that one with which you became familiar in captivity? A Yes, we learned in captivity that that was the accepted Japanese euphemism for execution. MR. COMYNS CARR: Continuing to read; para- graph 4 on page 16: <"4. The Present Situation of Regulating Operation in MALAYA Peninsula. "(1) The Present Situation of the Public Peace in MALAYA Peninsula. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 5,642 WILD DIRECT "We have already mentioned the conditions of the Chinese manoeuvring during our MALAYA operation. Even after the surrender of SINGAPORE many anti-Japan Chinese have entered secretly into cities and jungles and declaring communism and commun- icating with each other, some of them have continued to be active in order to develop the systematic anti-Japan movement under the strict and strong system and try hard to obtain weapons, ammunition, provisions, money and members, while looting our stock of weapons obtained in the battle field, killing secretly our soldiers and officers, and were acting independently in destroying the networks of communications and traffic and killing, threatening, looting good citizens. Though the battle was over there was great anxiety about the public peace in MALAYA. "(2) The Present Situation of Regulating Operation. "Our Army has recognized the importance and necessity of subjugation operations after the surrender of SINGAPORE and till nearly the end of February despatched the 18th Division to V 0 H 0 R E ' Province, the 5th Division to other provinces in MALAYA outside of 'J0H0RE' Province from SINGAPORE Island and made each of them stand guard over the public peace in the WILD DIRECT 5,643 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 district in charge also carrying out the subjugation operation against the anti-Japan Chinese. "The 5th Division divided the districts in its charge into several parts and made detach- ments take charge of portion. 1 MALACCA' Province 'NEGRISEMBILAN f Province 11th Infantry Regiment; 'SELANGOR' Province 41st Inf. Reg,, 5th Artillery Regiment 5th Transport Regiment 1 PSRAH' Province 42nd Inf. Reg. •PAHANG' Province 5th Cavalry Regiment 'KEDAH' Province 'TRENGGANU' Provinee 'KELANTAN' Province "The 5th and 18th Division commenced the subjugation operation from nearly the beginning of March. Carrying out the research and subjugation of anti-Japan Chinese in cities and jungles we caught wicked Chinese till the end of April; about 1,000 in 'JOHORE' Province, about 1,500 in 'SEREMBAN', 'MALACCA', about 300 in 'SELANGOR', about 100 in •PERAH', about 50 in 'PAHANG', and about 200 in 'KEDAH' and 'PENANG', and confiscated many weapons, but after investigation released most of them the 21st Inf. Reg. WILD DIRECT 5,6 44 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 same way everywhere. There were, however, many cases in which at the arrest the Chinese resisted by firing guns, which induced us to return fire and persons on both sides were injured and killed. Many people (leaders) were there who committed suicide, recognizing their unfavourable circumstances." BY MR. COMYNS CARR(Continued): Q Pausing there, Colonel Wild, what can you tell us about those numbers of persons mentioned in those provinces? A Among other things, I have been in charge of war c r ino3 investigation in Malaya and Singapore since February, this year. I have some thirty files of evidence on the way in which this so-called subjugation was carried out. It can safely be stated that many thousands of Asiatic citizens of Malaya were killed by the Japanese shortly after the occupa- tion. I should say that these figures are not un- reasonable for the first round-up. As regards Johore, they include,no doubt, the whole of a peaceful Eurasian settlement near Johore Bahru city. All the Eurasians — men, women, and children — were murdei'ed. On the evidence of witnesses we exhumed their bodies shortly before I came up to Tokyo. MR. C O M N S CARR; Continuing at page 18: X 2 3 4 5 6 1 , £ 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 WILD DIRECT 5,645 "Since the beginning of May also, the anti- Japan Chinese still continued anti-Tapan activities, hiding themselves from the eyes of the Japanese, and the public peace was often jeopardized. Our Army carried on subjugations and tried to keep the public peace, often traversing jungles and meeting with great difficulties and suffering considerable damages, but never succeeded in entirely sweeping away the anti-Japan Chinese. "The subjugation which is noted among those since May is that in the forest to the north of KWALA LOMPUR. Finding out a report that about 300 anti-Japan Chinese were planning the assassination of Japanese soldiers and the burning of Japanese barracks, we sent a punitive force to subjugate them, taking the initiative against them. After a battle the defeated Chinese fled away deep into the forests. In this battle, the bodies left dead in the field numbered 200." BY MR. COMYNS CARR (Continued) Q Can you tell us anything about the position at Kwala Lompur? A I never heard any such battlo in the neighborhood of Kwala Lompur-, but it is true that a number of villages in that area were completely 5,646 WILD DIRECT 3 4 5 6 1 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 IS 19 20 21 23 24 25 wiped out by the Japanese on the ground that they harbored communists. MR. COMYNS CARR: (Reading) "(3) Conclusion. "In short, the regulating operation in the Malay Peninsula was net only for the Japanese Army itself, but was an action for the purpose of guarding the public peace which was carried on for the protection of the lives and properties of the ordinary citizens (including the ordinary Chinese, Malayans, Indians, etc.) and though it is to be regretted that the circumstances in details, are not clear on account of lack of material it is plain enough that all those dead Chinese died by the bullets during the battles of subjugations. During these difficult subjugations a considerable number of victims appeared on our part also." BY MR. COMYNS CARR (Continued): Q Have you anything to say about that para- ! graph then? A Only that it is,to say the least, a bit • curious that during the hundred years or so of , British rule in Malaya we had not found it necessary to slanehter thousands of citizens in order to protect the remainder. WILD DIRECT 5,647 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 THE PRESIDENT: Major Furness. MR. FURNESS: We object to the speeches which are being made by the witness regarding past history. We also object to testimony by a prosecutor on the case which he has investigated as a prosecutor. THE PRESIDENT: The last part of the objection is not clear to me. Major Furness. MR. FURNESS: He has testified that he is the head of the Investigation Section of the war crimes in Singapore and Malaya. I take that to be the equivalent to the prosecution of war crimes there and it does not seem to me that he should be allowed to make these, broad statements when regarding the things which he investigated. They are statements of conclusions and it seems to me that in his position he should not be allowed to make them. THE PRESIDENT: He simply stated that the British found no need to massacre Chinese to preserve the peao* 2 in Malaya. That is obvious enough, but it would be desirable for him to avoid such statements. They do not help us; we know that without being told. 1 2 3 4 3 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 WILD DIRECT 5,648 M R . COMYNS CARR: (Continuing to read ) "V. About the handling of this investi- i gation of punishment of the Singapore Chinese. "I. The enemy's protest has not yet coxae, but the reports concerning this problem is as r f ollo'ws: "(1) The story by Major Moris Dee ton /phonetic/ oiid Captain Thomas Ellio /phonetic/ "We were pushed into freight-cars and brought to Siciia, after the fall of Singapore and were used in the construction of the railroad be- tween Bangkok and Mouimeia. Many died on account of hunger and the tropic diseases, the medicines for which were very scanty. According to the ta lk of member of the Australian advance-p^rty, all of 1340 in number except 34 members died before they reached the spot 130 miles off to the west. "(2) The report sent from London on Sept. 5. The announcement of the terrible cruel actions of the Japanese toward the prisoners of the allied powers and those detained people have caused the anxiety of thousands of families in the world. Every evening papers in London has reported, 'the Singapore radio lias Said that when a complete document is made public, the civilized world will WILD DIRECT 5,649 be against the- cruel deeds of the Japanese. A Chinese was forced to drink petroleum end a Jap- anese threw a kindled usatch into the mouth of the Chinese. f "A fei-btt massacre of the Chinese troops and civilians by machine-guns tool: place in Singa- pore, and Dr. Bedler /phonetic/ the former physician of the Sultan of Joliore believes that more than 150,000 Asiatics (not including, military men) were punished or tortured to death by the Japanese secret police. The largest tiajority of them, are Chinese «n& the doctor s«id that, in the small urea of Deibon /phonetic/ alone, some 30 thousand were killed by the Japanese secret ^olice, and that it was a matter of course that the Chinese hated the Japanese so much. "Tcllint the story of the ill treatment, the PWs released in Hongkong said that they received only a small portion of the packages sent by the Red Cross. (San Francisco Sept. 5) "A correspondent on board of an American hospital ship reported the barbarism of the Japanese toward the Australian, British and Dutch prisoners who worked in oil-refineries and machine-factories. "Atrocities committed while the road 1 2 3 4 5 6 -t i 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 WILD DIRECT 5,650 was under way in Burma and Siam were also reported to the effect that 'Even invalids were forced to walk to the place of constructional work and break stones. ' (Sept. 5 Australia.) "According to the report reached the Army Headquarters in South-Eastern Asia, allied power prisoners were greatly suffering from malaria, beri- beri, consumption and dysentery. (Sept. 5. San Francisco.) "3. Singapore internment camp, "A London broadcast reported on Sept. 6, about the Japanese atrocities at the Singapore in- ternment camps as follows:- "(I) In Singapore 4,500 persons of all nationalities including men, women, and children were interned, but Red Cross has never been per- mitted to visit there. All males above 10 years old were compelled to undergo heavy labor and were supplied with rations even lest; than half of that issued by the 'Malay' Prison Bureau as punishment before the war. When the rescue arrived at, all persons have just begun to roast snails. "(2) During the period of more than 3 years, there '..as only a single period v.hen a logi- cal control was prevailed; this occurred in the WILD period "when the command-ant was a Japanese civilian. "3. There existed always the terrors of many atrocities and everybody was beaten day and ni&ht for not saluting jroperly. "4. Spy suspects '..ere especially ill- treated. On October 2nd, 1943, the police started a barbarous search to find evidences of spy suspects in the camp, 57 men and women were confined in a small guard-room, and for many hours they were made to sit with their legs bent in Japanese style and without being., given even a minimum. of decency they were forced to stay there for many months. One European was tortured for 55 hours and the other was struck 144 times. There wap a record with the full particulars of the devilsh torture, which Richarc. Sharp, B. B. C. correspondent saw and re- corded in Uiich a Japanese poured water into the mouth and nostrils of one of the suspects and then pressed the swollen stomach of the latter with his foot or jumped on the upper part of the stomach. Some of oiifc prisoners of war will bear the scars of the Japanese torture forever. "5. The captives released at Singapore talked of the ill-treatment: forced labor, wo rst food ration and beating. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 WILD DIRECT 5,652 "(2) Judging, fro a the attitudes adopted by the United States and British especially the public opinion prevailing in those countries, the British protest against Japan is not so bitter as the United States at present, but Britain will file a protest on completion of further close in- vestigation after the recovery of the ex-occupation area. Ic is,therefore, necessary for us to take a measure to cope with the situation. "1. Though it, is not necessary to pro- duce these investigation materials at present as long as Britain or the United States does.not make any request and yet preparation should be made so as to meet the changing situation. ''2. The execution of Chinese residents at Singapore to some extent was unavoidable considering the circumstances which arose at that time, but since the execution had reached a considerable num- ber, Britain, (the United States) and China will announce it as a big massacre and will lodge a pro- test with us. So that it will also be necessary to make a preparation for the punishment of those re sponsible." 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 WILD DIRECT 5,653 The next part of the document is headed: "Outline of the Investigation Concerning Inhumane Acts (Principally against the Chinese Problem) during the Malaya (Singapore) Operations, 22 November 194-5, Group No. 4| addressed to: POW Affairs Investigative Department, POW Affairs Central Investigative Committee. "I. J "The Outline of the Protest and Reports by Great Britain on Inhumane Acts in Malaya (Singapore) Area. "Although there were almost no protests from Great Britain, there were some highly exaggerated and • superficial reports made in England after the conclu- ! sion of the war. "1. On 10 March 1942, British Foreign Minister Eden gave a formal explanation in the House of Com- mons on the outrageous acts of the Japanese following the surrender of Hongkong, of which the gist is as . follows: "GIST: According to the reports of those who escaped from Hongkong, prisoners of war and citizens in Hongkong were treated inhumanly regardless of race. Fifty British soldiers were bound hand and foot and were then bayonetted to death, "Even after ten days from the surrender of Hongkong, the wounded were left on the battlefields, . and the dead were not buried. Europeans and Asiatics ] alike were abused and killed without discrimination. "The Chinese quarters of the city became a 5,654 WILD DIRECT nest of prostitutes. These outrageous acts can be compared to that of the great Rape of Nanking in 1937. "There were no windows, doors or lights in the prisoners' camps which were mere huts without sanitary facilities. Food was very poor, mortal diseases broke o u L and deaths continuously occurred. Furthermore, the Japanese Government would not allow the representatives of the Protecting Powers and the International Red Cross to visit the district. "We do not possess any information concerning the prisoners in Malaya. We only know that 75,000 Chinese had been captured in that area. "It is not true that the Japanese army act on the spirit of chivalry. "2. We have been notifying and protesting that we have deliberately studied the great quantity of evidence concerning the treatment of detained British nationals in East Asia which were obtained by the British Government on 2 September 1942 and which hold no ground for refutation, but there is nothing con- cerning Malaya." Then I am omitting several pages because they are the same in substance as in the former document which I have already read. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 WILD DORECT 5,6 55 Continuing on the middle of page 24: "*In short, this has caused no great problem until today, but considering the tendencies of the U.S.A. and Great Britain, especially the public opinion of both countries, England will thoroughly investigate this matter as soon as she regains her former territories and there is strong possibility of her launching protests against Japan. So we must also investigate and announce the true facts concern- ing these matters.' "II. "General Situation in Malaya (Singapore) and the Management of the Natives by the Military before W a r , "Before the Greater East Asia War broke out, Malaya, Singapore, in particular, was the center of policy and strategy in the south and was the nucleus of pressure against Japan. The activities of the natives in general, especially the Chinese, were very vigorous and the pressure was carried out in every sort of form, such as demonstrations, boycott and threats, so that there were soon more and more Japanese returning to Japan. Thus Singapore naturally began to draw the attention of all the Japanese. "The military were keenly aware of the necessity 1 2 3 4 3 6 7 8 9 10 11 U 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 2.1 22 23 24 25 5,656 WILD DIRECT of a speedy occupation of Malaya, especially Singapore, and as the operations in Malaya were the first to be started in the Southern operations and in view of the aim of the Greater East Asia War, it was necessary to assume an attitude of endearment towards the natives so as to exalt the justice of the Imperial Army throughout the world, and a determined attitude was taken towards those who interfered with the activities of the army. The military adopted the policy of strictly observing merits." And again omitting several pages for the same reason, I come to page 29: (Reading): "CHAPTER 4 "Clearing of battle-fields and mopping up operations after the capitulation of the enemy. "Believing that it would not only snswer the purposes of our 1 Sacred War>* but also brine about good results in further operations in the southern areas especially in the Sumatra and Anda- mans operations, which were our a m y ' s next tasks at that t i m e — t o set up a firm military administration in Malaya and especially in Singapore, as soon as possible after the capitulation of the British Army, 5,657 WILD DIRECT 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 our army at first stationed only Kempei in Singapore itself and avoided sending big units into the city. Ma.jor-General KAWAMURA Saburo was given command of No. 2 Kempeitai (with about 2 companies of auxiliary Kempei and armoured car and tank company from No. 5 and No. 18 Imperial Guards Divisions attached to them, and the necessary troops, and put in command of Singapore city, while the main force of the Imperial Guards Divisions were put in Charge of Singapore island (excluding the greater part of the city) and continued their work of clearing the battle fields rapidly and their mopping-up operations. By these means, our army tried to establish public order and at the same time prepared for the next round, of operations. "Considering the importance of Singapore to the forces and the fret that it was infested with plain clothes bandits who had obstructed our mili- tary operations for the whole period of our oper- ations in Malaya, our army decided on a strict attitude in dealing with the Chinese emigrants. On Feb. 17th, our army issued an A m y Orde^ and dis- patched Major HAYASFI Tadao, a staff officer to Singapore garrison headquarters, mainly for the purpose of dealing with this matter. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 OLD DIRECT "In the latter part of February the main strength of the 5th and the l8tb Divisions success- ively moved to Northern Malaya and Johore State and assumed the same duties as those mentioned above. "The clearing of the battlefields and the mopping-up operations on Singapore Island. "Major-General KAWAMURA, Commander of the 9th Infantry Brigade, who had been newly appointed as the coromander of the Singarore Garrison Forces, appeared at the army headquarters on the 18th. Be- sides making the necessary contacts, he issued, in view of the above-mentioned situation, an order to the 2nd Field Gendarme Unit, it mainly to clear the battlefields and mop up the enemies within the city. Moreover, the main strength of the Imperial Guards Division was transferred from its operational area to the key points on the island where it continued the clearing up of the battlefields and mopping-up operations. "Outline of command system and detailing/ of troops/" 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 WILD DIRECT 5,659 MR. COMYNS CARR (Continuing): There follows a chart, which shows that there was a direct chain of command from the Army Commander to the Second Field Gendarme Unit and another to the Commander of Singa- pore Garrison Forces, and that at some unknown date it seems that this Unit took direct supervision of the Auxiliary Gendarmes. Resuming in the middle of page 31 : (Reading): "The search for and the disposition of anti-Japanese Chinese merchants. "1, The army's policy toward the Chinese. "In view of the great obstructions to our r operations put up by the anti-Japanese activities of Chinese subsequent to the operations in central Malay, we were obliged to change the original attitude toward the Chinese which we had held at the time of the outbreak of war. We were obliged to deal with the disobedient, Chinese in a stern manner. "2. The collection of data concerning anti-Japanese suspects among the Chinese. "On the basis of mainly the register of anti-Japanese Chinese as well such other data as the register of the Detective Bureau, police 1 9 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 5,660 WILD DIRECT office register of criminals, advice by rescued Japanese residents, and the information supplied by some of the anti-Japanese Chinese merchants who were arrested, a register of disobedient Chinese suspects was drawn up during the four days from February 17 to 20 and the suspects were detained at several places and detected beginning from the 21st. In making the detections we made sure of obtaining accuracy by using the above-mentioned registers as our basis and also obtaining the presence of the police from the Detective Bureau of Police Office. "The number of persons examined as sus- pects during the course of detections was roughly as follows: "First time Feb 21 to 23 (3 days) about 5,000 "Second " Feb 28 to March 3 about 1,500 j "Third " End of March about 300 j i "After the examination for the detection of suspects about 1,000 to 1,500 persons were re- leased and about 5,000 persons were apparently punished as anti-Japanese spies (those who guided the enemy in bombing airfields, gave indications of the direction of artillery shelling, attacked I ox; disturbed the rear commissary lines, or guided WILD DIRECT 5,661 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 * 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 such activities, the leaders of anti-Japanese organizations, members of the anti-Japanese Volun- teer Army, end members of the Malay Communist Party)." WILD DIRECT 5,662 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 MR. COMYNS CARR (Continuing); Then passing over several pages, I will begin on the second para- graph, page 38: (Reading): "The collection of the contri- butions from the Chinese, which was carried out with- out reference to the arrests of Chinese in Singapore, seemed to be mainly a counter measure adopted to cope with inflation following the occupation of Malay. "Since the currency In circulation reached St. $260,000,000 — " What does "S-t" stand for? TEE MONITOR: Straits dollars. MR. COMYNS CARR (Reading continued): " — follow- ing the surrender of the British troops as compared with St. $210,000,000 in pre-war days, it was decided to have the difference, St. $50,000,000, donated. The donations were collected about the time of the trans- fer of General YAMASHITA to another post." BY MR. COMYNS CARR (Continuing): Q Pausing there, Colonel Wild, we are going to read some more about that in a diary shortly, but what can you tell us about that now? A In the last two days or so before Singapore fell, very large sums in Straits dollars, paper cur- rency, were collected and burned by order of the WILD DIRECT 5,663 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 G . 0. C. Malaya and the Governor General, particularly all bank notes held in the Bank of Singapore. THE MONITOR: Was that "old" or "all"? THE WITNESS: "All." MR. COMYNS CARR (Reading continued): "5. Judgements. "In short, it can be understood from the guiding policy of the Army Commander at the beginning of the war that utmost efforts were made to prevent and check the inhumane acts committed during the course of the Malay (Singapore) campaign, "(1) With regard to the question of the disposition of the Chinese in Singapore, it is clear that Commander YAMASHITA, following the surrender of the British Army, issued to the various commanders of the corps and of the Garrison Forces an order concerning the clearing up of battle-fields and purging operations (mopping-up operations) with the determination to eradicate spies and disturbers of peace and order, in view of the intensive obstructive measures and anti-Japanese activities of the Chinese during the campaign. However, no written order for the punish- ment of the Chinese alone exists. The Commander of the Garrison Forces at Singapore, on the basis of the above-mentioned order and the Army's intention, carried 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 WILD DIRECT 5,664 it out as a part of the operations for clearing up the battle-fields and of the purging operations. Judging also from the objective situation at that time and the state of mopping-up operations through- out the entire Malay Peninsula, it is clear that it was not based on the personal view of the Commander of the Garrison Forces. I should judge that, in punishing the Chinese, preparations were made before- • hand and various measures adopted after entry into | Singapore in order to ensure propriety." BY MR. COMYNS CARR' (Continued): Q Colonel Wild, can you say — help us as to who "I" is in the singular at that point in the 1 document? A From internal evidence it would appear to be the Chairman of the Sub-Committee, Colonel SUGITA. MP. COMYNS CARR (Reading continued): "2. Since the arrests and punishments of the Chinese were conducted during the course of clearing up the battle-fields and mop^ing-up operations following intensive fighting, it is needless to say that it is difficult to judge such acts on the basis of the standard for normal times, even though efforts were made to ensure their propriety. It appears that the reports by enemy WILD DORECT newspapers include those who died from war sickness during operations and even citizens at large who were victims of bombing. They also exaggerate things. Accordingly, it seems proper to estimate the number of spies and anti-Japanese undesirable elements who were punished at about 5,000, "In Hu KSING's 'Notes on the New Life of the Chinese' it is written that there was a fairly large number of undesirable Chinese who obstructed operations and instigated and looted law abiding citizens. This gives an idea of the situation, "3, Although it is not possible to guarantee that, in making the arrests and punish- ments, tho staff officers concerned did not 'overdo themselves, and although it is difficult to get a clear idea of the situation then because Lt, Col, HAYASHI, who was the staff officer in charge of it (staff officer attached to the headquarters of the Shona.n Garrison Forces) r.nd Chief of Staff Lt. General SUZUKI have died in action, it may become further clear if Major General IKETANI, who was the chief of the operations section, and Colonel TSUJI, who was the staff officer in charge of operations, are interrogated." 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 WILD DIRECT 5,666 BY MR. COMYNS CARR (Continuing): Q Colonel 1,T ild, have you been able to find either of those gentlemen? A I know where they are. THE PRESIDENT; Dr. KIYOSE. DR. KIYOSE: Prosecutor Carr asked a while ago, asked to the witness a while ago who was the man mentioned by "I" in singular in the statement. However, in the Japanese text of it, which is the original text of it, I do not see any mention of the word "I". THE MONITOR: First person singular. THE PRESIDENT: The Language Section will have to clear that up for us. We direct them to do so. Q Now, Colonel Wild, before the adjournment you were not able to tell us about the signatures on this document. Are you now in a position to deal with that? A Yes, I am. Q On what part of the document, as we have it translated here, are the signatures to be found? A They are on the cover of the Japanese document which at the time I looked at it had been displaced and nut inside and the cover does not appear to have been translated. When I originally received this 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 5,667 WILD DIRECT document, the cover was on top as it is now. Q And what is said on the cover, and what are the signatures to be found there? A It is marked "Original" and "Secret." It then says in Japanese; "Furyo kankei chosa chuo iinkai" meaning "The Central Committee of Investi- gation Relating to Prisoners of V T a r." The next column is: "Furyo kankei chosabu," which is the Investi- gation Section dealing with Prisoners of War. There is then a tyr^d heading which may be translated "Investigation of the Cruel Acts Committed During the Malayan (Singapore) Campaign". The next column or heading refers to the investigation of the Chinese Affair. Then there is marked "Dichi han", the No. 4 Section, followed by the names of three of the officers in that No. 4 Section. They are written in the same hand in ink in Japanese, SUGITA, Taisa, Colonel SUGITAj 01SHI, Taisa, Colonel 0ISHI; third one, HASHIZUME, Chusa, Lieutenant Colonel HASHIZUME. Below those three names are the personal seals of the three officers concerned, a valid signature in Japanese. The date given is November 22 , 1945, followed again by No. 4 Section. Q Is that the whole of it? ( No answer.) THE PRESIDENT: Dr. KIYOSE. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 WILD DIRECT 5,668 DR. KIY0SE: Those seals are the signs — DR. KIYOSE (in English): Not "signs". DR. KIYOSE (Interpretation continued): — t h a t this document had been circulated among the officers concerned and had been read by them and not that this document was written by those officers themselves. THE MONITOR: Slight correction: "These three names with their personal seal imprinted on this does not mean that these men wrote the document. This seal just indicates that they have read this document. In Japanese documents signatures are not written in a way to --" I mean "signatures are always written with first and last name both on the paper. This document does not have that." THE PRESIDENT: Well, we have enough to show that for the time being it is properly part of the prosecution's case. The defense can attack it when they give evidence later. We do not want to hear any more about it. BY MR. COMYNS CARR (Continuing): Q Attached to the document and within the cover are the three extracts from diaries. A There is no all-embracing cover, but those extracts were attached to the original when we received it. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 WILD DORECT MR. COMYNS CARR: That brings me to page 1 of the document as we have it here, your Honor:"The Excerpts from the Diary, February 18th." It is there, read Page 1. DR. KIYOSE: I would like to know the name of the author of this diary. Whose diary is it? MR. COMYNS CAPR: We shall soon find out when I have read it. Q Perhaps I might ask you now, Colonel Wild, did the author of the diary accept its authenticity when you questioned him? A I showed the nhotostatic copy of it to him and he recognized it as his own immediately. Q Who was that? A Major General KAWAMURA, Saburo, Lieutenant General, late Lieutenant General. THE MONITOR: "Late"? THE WITNESS: Retired. MR. COMYNS CARR: The Tribunal will notice that the second extract also purports to be from a diary by the same individual, Q Have you yet been able to clear up, Colonel Wild, why it is that two extracts from the diary in slightly different phrases appear attached to this document? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 S 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 WILD DIRECT 5,670 A I have not had any opportunity of doing so. Q Which one was it that you showed to Lieutenant General KAWAMURA? A I gave him the first nine photostatic pages » which cover both diaries, and he used them for his own purposes during the next hour. MR. COMYNS CARRs I will read the first one. THE PRESIDENT; Do you mean the first nine pages of this or in Japanese? This has eleven pages. THE WITNESS: The first nine pages of the Japanese version. I think I am right in saying nine. It was the pages of the photostatic Japanese version equivalent to the first seven pages of the English. MR. COMYNS CARR: Page 8 is quite a different diary, your Honor. We will see when we get to it, THE PRESIDENT: Yes. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 2.0 21 22 23 24 25 WILD DIRECT 5,671 MR. COMYNS CARR: I will read the first document. (Reading) "February 18th. • I "I was appointed the commander of the guards in Singapore and was ordered to command the 3rd Bat- talion, 11th Infantry Regiment and the 1st Battalion, 41st Infantry, and military police including assistant gendarmes, and to take charge of the defense of Singapore. "At 10 a.m. I reported at the army head- quarters and received orders and instructions on defense and also received news of the attachment of the extra staff officer, Lieutenant Colonel HAYASHI. "I have issued orders concerning the general guarding. "February 19th. I heard reports from the OEASEI unit, military police, which was in charge of guarding and inspection of the city. "The pillaging by citizens is still going on. "Towards evening, the defense headquarters were removed to Fort Canning in the city, the former general headquarters of the British forces. "The same evening, according to instructions, I issued-orders requiring the wholesale rounding up of undesirable Chinese residents, which is to be en- forced from the 21st. WILD DIRECT 5,672 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 "Especially I urged the gathering of Chinese malcontents into a certain restricted area to be separated from the rest of the citizcns. "February 21st and 22nd. The wholesale round up -was inforced. "February 23rd. At 11 a.m. the meeting of commanders was held and we heard the various reports from each parts'-, on the conditions of arrest and later reported the information to the army commander. "February 24th. From today, extending over three days, the meeting of the branch directors of the military administrations is to be held. I have today attended the meeting. "February 25th. The commander of the forces made a round of inspections, and examined the defense situations in the city. "March 1st, I have received orders to take charge of the guard of Changi district from today. The 3rd Battalion, 11th Infantry Regiment was as- signed for this purpose. "March 4th, I have received an order to take charge of the defense of the entire island of Singapore. In accordance with the instructions of the army, I have issued orders for the refugees in Singapore to go back from where they came from," "To" 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 WILD DIRECT 5,673 it should be. The rest of that is Immaterial for our purposes. Page 4. (Reading) "Extracts from the diary of Major General KAWAMURA, the 9th Infantry Brigade Commander. "February 16. Despatched Major KOBAYASHI and approximately 100 officers and men under his com- mand as an Emergency MP unit to the Raffles college by 10 a.m. "Got all units to clean the battlefield. This day, despatched the unit under Major MISKIBA's command to handle the Prisoners of War matters. "February 17. Our headquarters were removed to the Clubhouse for the reason of inconvenience in command. "Late at night I was ordered to take command of both battalions of the 11th and 41st Infantry Regiments and the Emergency MP unit as the newly- appointed commander of the Singapore Guard Force, and to take charge of the guarding of the city. "February 18. Presented myself to Army headquarters at 10 a.m. to receive the order ap- pointing me to be Guard Force Commander. "At 12 a.m. I went to Raffles College and issued the necessary orders. Staff Officer PIAYASHI WILD DIRECT 5,6 74- * 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 was assigned to me. "February 19. Inspected the general situations within the city from 10 a.m. Listened to the report concerning the situations from MP Unit Commander OISHI and his men. (Was impressed with the imperfec- tion of the military discipline of our officers and men.) "In the evening, our headquarters were re- moved to Fort Canning. "Issued an order to make wholesale c r e s t s of delinquent Chinese from the 21st and thereby ad- vocated their assembly in a certain area. "February 20. Held a memorial service for those who laid down their lives and a ceremony of awarding certificates of merit. "February 21. Started the wholesale arrests today. Held a memorial service in the Division. Later, inspected the situations of searching bv the Central Area Unit, "February 22. In the morning, inspected the situations of the East Area Unit, the camp for British non-combatants and the North Area. In the afternoon, attended the memorial service of the OKABE Unit and later inspected the situations of the Central Area Unit. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 ft I LB DIRECT 5,675 "February 23. Held a Unit Commander meeting from 11 a.m. and listened to the reports concerning the situations of searching to the effect that those who had been punished numbered approximately 5,000, of which important persons are continuing to be detained and are under investigation. "In the evening, was invited to the dinner in the Division. Heard that the Division will shortly be dispersed to various areas. It was a farewell party for me. "Memory: It is in my memory that on the 23rd I went to the Army headquarters to report after the Unit Commander Meeting had adjourned. "February 24, 25, 26. Held a meeting of chiefs of the Military Administration Department on the 25th, the Army Commander called on us during his inspection tour. "On 26th, the Army Commander gave a speech to the effect that we should take up a far more positive attitude, instead of the heretofore internal guidance. "March 1. From this day, the guarding of Changi was taken over by the 3rd Division, 11th In- fantry Regiment. "March 2. Inspected the prisoners of war 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 WILD DIRECT 5,676 in Changi. Today, concerning the security precau- tions throughout the Shonan Island, I gave necessary orders. "March 4. The guarding units throughout Shonan Island were changed, at 12 p.m. today. From this day, ordered the refugees to leave the place." And again, the rest of it is immaterial. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 WILD DIRECT 5,6 77 Now, page 8. (Reading) "Abstracts of the Subjects Concerned from the Greater East Asiatic Ton Secret Operation Diary of the Imperial Headquarters. "The following descriptions are what were reported to the Imperial Headquarters by the 25th Army, excepting the 2nd clause of March 13th, which is the report from the Southern General Army. "February 7. The army enters at once into the next operation without the ceremony of triumphal entry. "February 18. 1. The army made about three battalions of infantry and the second field gendarmerie under the command of Brigadier KAWAMURA mount guard over the city of Singapore, and the main force located in its vicinity are engaging in cleaning the battle- field and preparing for the coming operation. "2. Each one company of 5 D successfully landed on the islands ''Bukum' and 'Sambo.' "February 20. SASAKI Battalion of 5 D landed on Bintang Island without bleeding. "February 21. There are fairly many volunteers and Malayans who joined the enemy's force as a volunteer army and the fifth column. The army is now in search of them. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 WILD DIRECT 5,67 8 "Those who were taken in soon after the fall of Singapore: 16 Chinese volunteers, 360 Malayan volunteers. "February 24, 25, 26. On this occasion when the main operation of Malay has come to an end, a meeting of the head officials of the branches of the military administrative department was held. "February 27. With captives and captured arms was organized the Singapore Island Defense Corps. All of the seventy thousand of cantives cannot be consumed by this army. The army wishes to use them dispersed in each necessary field, and immediate in- struction is desired. "February 28. The state of activities of ' de Gaulle' faction here is now being clarified by and by. 'Glaire, 1 /phonetic/ a Jew, 'Remanl,' /phonetic/ a spy of the military committee of the 'de Gaulle' faction and 1 Cause-lie/phonetic/ the Manager of the French Indo-Chinese Bank have been subjected to intern- ment and inquiry. "March 1. As It has serious influence on the future action of the army, we wish to know if you have a m intention to move the present captives here to any other places than Malay Peninsula. At present, 85,000 captives. WILD DIRECT 5,679 "March The occupation of Singapore is going j smoothly and the occupation business by committee mem- bers wes completed at the end of February. State of affairs in the city of Singapore: Sonn after the occupation, wo arrested and executed about 5,000 delinquent persons as the first clearing and, further, ! we are preparing for the next clearing. The appeas- ing campaign to the citizens is as follows (the following;, concerning the currency). The movement | of the military administrative organs has been taking its regular course." I i March 13 is immaterial. i "March 17. Since the commencement of Malay operation, we have been watching strictly the movement | of the Chinese residents. After the capitulation of Singapore Island, their interest in Japan has been intensified. At the same time, rigorous measures were adopted to such anti-Japanese Chinese as the volunteers. Thus, their movement has taken decisive direction. That is, they take an attitude to submit their lives, properties and all the rights and interests to the Japanese army and to wait penitentially for any orders, ; keeping these things for themselves. They pronose that if the commander of the Japanese Army would exempt them : from death and would give them a favor to carry on 5,680 WILD DIRECT 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 # 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 their occupations at ease, they would swear their future faithfulness and economical contribution and would contribute one half of their properties to the Japanese army. As to the offering of one half of their properties, we accept only their spirit and instead of one half we receive cash of fifty million yen. With the foregoings, the first step of the measures toward the Chinese residents in Malay is completed. Next, the second means shall be taken. "March 18. From Colonel Tsuji; "I intend to take my post there after the inspection o f battle condition of Burma fnd Philippine theatre about the latter part of March. "April 10. Though the public peace of Malay Peninsula is going to recover by the activities of respective guarding units, still, secret movements of Chinese residents here have not entirely ceased yet. "March 27. Approximately 1500 persons in Celenban and Malacca were captured at once and a lot of arms were confiscated, and the majority who were captured were released after investigation. "March 29, (At the distance of 16 kilometers to the north of Kwantan) The den of communists was crippled entirely and 15 of its members were captured (the leader committed suicide) at the end of March. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 WILD DIRECT 5,681 "At the location of 15 kilometers to the south-east of Kagayan approximately 500 hiding com- ; munists are being searched with the attempt of ousting. "April 5. Fifty-three anti-Japanese radicals were captured at Taipin. At Penan, we are to make a i round up before long. "April 16. As the result of the search by • our Gendarmerie, we have disclosed the plot movement of British battle beaten remaining soldiers and a certain party of Chinese communists (it seems to be under the leadership of CHENG-CHIEH-MIN). Accordingly, ; after the further searching out of the location of J the wireless apparatus, we expect to capture this group." That is the whole of that document. i BY MR. COMYNS CARR: (Continuing) j Q.'Now, there are just two short matters I want to j ask you about further, Colonel Wild. One is this: Did you, while in captivity, get to know of any j protests that were being made by the British Govern- ment about your treatment? A Yes, we did. Q When for the first time? A In so far as they were broadcast, from soon I after we were taken prisoner of war. i WILD DIRECT 5,682 Q In particular, do you remember the speech by Mr. Eden coming through? A I read the full text of Mr. Eden's protest regarding the Burma-Siam Railway in Changhi Camp the day after it had been delivered. Q Do you remember the date, approximately? A I would say January, 1944. It made a great impression on us at the time as we had left Siam only a few weeks before, and it read like the statement of an eye witness. THE PRESIDENT: We will recess now for fifteen minutes. (Whereunon, at 1445, a recess was taken until 1500 , at which time the proceedings were resumed as follows:) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 WILD DIRSCT 5,683 i MARSHAL OF THE COURT: The International Military Tribunal for the Far East is now resumed. THE PRESIDENT; Major Moore. MAJOR MOORE: Mr. President, if the Tribunal please, I refer to the pronoun "I" in prosecution's document No. 2647, page 38, third line from the bottom. The clause should read, "It should be judged that . . ." or, "It is our judgment that . . . " The reference is to the final judgment.of those who were preparing the investigation. THE PRESIDENT: M r . Comyns Carr. B Y M R . COMYNS CARR (Continued): Q How did you get the information through in the prison camps that you have been telling us about? A In every camp I was in we always had our secret wireless receivers with which we used to listen in to the B.B.C., New Delhi, Australia, Chungking, and San Francisco . Q Did the Japanese ever discover them? A I remember their discovery of one at Kan- b u r i within a day or so of my arrival there from the jungle. Q What did they do t o the people concerned? A They were six British officers; three of c. them had been concerned in it and three had not been 1 2 3 A 5 € 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 WILD DIRECT 5,684 concerned in it, although they lived in the same hut. Under the directions of the Japanese camp commandant, these six British officers were flogged with heavy sticks for four hours, between about one o'clock In the morning and about five o'clock in the morning. Two of them died after about two and a half hours' flogging. The case was one of the first to be tried in Singapore, and the Japanese officer and his chief assistants were hanged and the remainder were sen- tenced to long terms of imprisonment. Q Since you have been engaged in war crimes investigation in southeast Asia, Southeast Asia Command, approximately how many cases have been brought to trial there? A Over three hundred by now 5 including those undergoing trial, nearly four hundred. Q And with what results, again broadly stated? A Well ovar a hundred death sentences and about a hundred and fifty terms of imprisonment. Q Have some been acquitted? A About fifty. Q Now, is that exclusive of those brought to trial by Australian aourts, Dutch courts and American courts? WILD DIRECT 5,685 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 A Exclusive, except that some of the Dutch, American, and so on, cases have been tried in Singa- pore; but excluding a large number tried in areas outside Singapore. M R . COMYNS CARR: That is all I have to ask the witness. THE PRESIDENT: Mr. Blewett. MR. BLEWETT: If your Honors please, this witness has travelled a long and circuitous road covering a vast territory— THE PRESIDENT: Now, you must examine him and not give us a e.ermon on his evidence. MR. BLEWETT: If your Honor please, I a m — THE PRESIDENT: No preliminary statements, Mr. Blewett. Proceed with your cross-examination. MS. BLEIfETT: That statement, your Honor, \ was preliminary to a motion that the testimony of this witness not supported by his own personal know- ledge of the facts be stricken from the record. THE PRESIDENT: We have announced from time to time curing the trial that hearsay is admissible under the Charter.. Its probative value will depend on all the circumstances.. MR. BLEWETT: If your Honor please, this defense panel is entirely satisfied that the Members 5,686 WILD CROSS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 of this Court will distinguish between hearsay and factual evidence. But for those who may read this record from various parts of the world, including, perhaps, future lav; students, the defense feels that it is customary that such motions should be of record. THE PRESIDENT % You are wrong in assuming that all the Members of this Tribunal will reject hearsay. Some may, and some may not. We do not admit it for the mere purpose of rejecting it. MR. BLEWETT: I shall proceed with the wit- ness, your Honor. CROSS-EXAMINATION BY MR. BLEWETT: Q Did you meet and speak with Colonel SUGITA? A Was the name SUGITA? Q Yes, SUGITA. A I did. Q Where was the Colonel confined? Where was he located? A At the time I spoke to him he was in Sugamo Prison. Q What was the date? A I spoke to him on three successive days, I should think about a fortnight ago. I can't quote the dates from memory exactly. I u WILD CROSS 5,687 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Q '/here is Colonel SUGITA at the present time? A I have at last succeeded in getting him transferred to Singapore, having originally asked for his arrest on the 18th of September, last year. He was No. 2 on my original list of "Wanted" forwarded on the 18th of September last year to Supreme Allied Command, Southeast Asia. Q Do you know where Colonel SUGITA is at the present time? A I hope he is in Singapore by now. If not, he is on his way there. Arrangements for his transfer had already been made before I saw him; and I considered myself lucky to catch him before he left. Q Upon what date did he leave Tokyo? A Not less than ten days ago; I should think probably two weeks ago. I can't recall exactly, off- hand. MR. BLEWSTTs If your Honor please, I have been asked by the majority of defense counsel that your Honor issue a bench warrant for Colonel SUGITA. THE PRESIDENTS I know of no such procedure except in the case of a witness who has been subpoenaed and has failed to attend. As far as I am aware, there has been no subpoena for SUGITA. The defense will be at liberty to ask the 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 WILD CROSS 5,638 Court to issue a subpoena for his attendance, and if he fails to attend the Bench may take steps to enforce his attendance. That is all I can say. MR. BLEWETT: If your Honor please, defense respectfully points out that this witness is the only person that can testify to these facts. The prosecution no doubt knows of his whereabouts, of what station he has reached on his way to Singapore. THE PRESIDENTS I will be prepared to deal with any application made by the defense for the issue of subpoena for his attendance. But it must be made in chambers as other applications of the kind have been made, and must be supported by particulars, the nature of which we have indicated frequently enough. MR. BLEWETT; We shall so follow the rule, your Honor. Q With whom did you communicate at Singapore headquarters on December 8, 1941? A If I remember rightly, what I said was that we were in immediate communication with Singapore. At that time I was a G.3, a captain; and the senior officer in operations room at the time of that incident was a G.S.0.2, a Major Anderson. We took calls as they cams in, but I can't say at this distance of time who exactly was at the other end of the wire, except that Y;ILD CROSS 5,689 he was the appropriate officer on duty in the operations rooD of the Malaya Command at that time, Q V/hat transpired as to headquarters having any information regarding declaration of war? A There was some indignation at the fact that the attack had been made without declaration of war, which was something known within an hour or so, I sup- pose, to every staff officer in Malaya, Q Who actually gave .you the information, Colonel? A I recall that that was one of the questions put to Malaya Command as soon as the announcement of the attack had come in, and the conversation occurred immediately afterwards between Major Anderson and my- self' commenting on the fact, and with other officers who came in, including the Brigadier and the corps commander; added to which, had such a declaration been received by Malaya Command it would have been in corps headquarters within two minutes and it would have been the immediate duty of Major Anderson and myself to dis- tribute it to the two divisions and thence to brigades, and so on, throughout the whole army corps. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 WILD CROSS 5, THE PRESIDENT: Colonel Wild, would you kindly speak In shorter sentences and pause for translation if you can manage to do so? THE WITNESS: Yes, I will, your Honor. Q From whom did you learn of the landings at Singora and Patani? A By telephone message from probably the Brigade Major or Staff Captain of 8th Indian Brigade with headquarters at Kota Bahru. Within a short time of that I was relieved and went off duty, and I heard about the Singora and Patani landings on my return to the Operations room where my co-commander was holding a conference. Q From where did the signal come? A From Kota Bahru. Q What is the distance from that Kula Lampar - A Kuala Lumpur. q (Continuing) Kuala Lumpur to the Siamese border? A Between 300 by road — between 300; no, I'm wrong. About 300 miles. Q At exactly what point did the Japanese and British first clash after the landings at Singora and Patani? A There were two points. I'm not sure which WILD CROSS 5,691 4 I i 5 • 6 j 7 I 8 | !> ! 10! 1 1 12 j 13 14 : 15 16 17 IS 19 20 : i 21 | 70 J— A. 23 ; 24 , •25 ! came first. Both were just over the border into Siam, we in Corps headquarters having authorized our troops to cross the border after we heard the Japanese had attacked. The two points were just north of Kroh: K-r-o-h, just north of Padang Besar. Q Would one of these places be Ban Sadao: 3-a-n S-a-d-a-o? A Yes. Q Could the other place have been L-e-d-d-e? A I don't remember that name. It is an un- usual spelling for a name in that part of the world, Q But they did clash at two locations. A They did. Q And where are these two locations with re- spect to the borderline of Siam and Malaya? A They are north of the border inside Siam. Q How far? A I speak entirely from recollection of some years ago on this point, and I have no map. I think the Kroh column advanced about thirty miles in an attempt to hold a defensive position called the Ledge, it being impossible to defend the position just south of the border on that road. Q And did these operations occur on the morn- ing of December the 8th, 1941? WILD CROSS 5,692 4 1 A I should say that the one on the west coast 2 occurred pretty late on the 8th, if not in the early 3 ; hours of the 9th. The first clash on the Kroh Road 4 took place as soon as the border was crossed. It 5 1 was, I think, some time after daylight, perhaps in 6 the middle of the morning, of the 8th. 7 Q Was there any agreement at that time be- 8 tween the Siamese Government and the Japanese as to 9 the movement of troops? 10 A None that we knew. n Q Was a treaty of alliance concluded between 12 the two nations later? 13 A Some time during the Japanese occupation, 14 if one calls it that, in Siam, I believe it was con- 15 eluded. 16 Q Would you agree that it was the 21st of 17 December, 1941? is A That I don't remember. 19 Q How many troops did the British have in 20 Malaya at that time? 21 A I can tell you in formations but not in 22 numbers. One Indian division of the northwest; one 23 weak Indian. division, that is, less a brigade, on the 24 east coast; in Johore, two brigades of Australians; 25 on the island of Singapore, two brigades plus one WILD CROSS 5,693 l reserve brigade: about half what was considered the minimum necessary before the operation started. Q v Tiat does a brigade consist of in your army as to officers and men? A It consists of three battalions of about 800 men and 30 officers. I am afraid I should have to work the thing out a little to give you that answer exactly. Q Just tell me approximately the number of men on Singapore island at that time. A At what time? Q December, 194-1, just prior to December 8. A I should think five British battalions — I quote again from memory because I had nothing to do with the island then — and a brigade of Indians — three battalions of Indians. I am afraid, without reference to a contemporary order of battle, it is quite impossible for me to answer questions on numer- ical strength of units with authority. I can do it for my own corps area, but that stopped not far south of Kuala Lumpur, Q I shall leave that question, Colonel, al- though you told us the number of prisoners of war in each locality very precisely. A That was because of my duty there — WILD CROSS 5,694 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Q I understand that you were not on Singapore island at that time, and I shall not press that ques- tion, When did your 3rd Indian Corps come to Kuala Lumpur? A The 3rd Indian Corps Headquarters came to Kuala Lumpur in June, '41, and I joined them there two months later, Q What did you do in Japan from 1931 to 1940? A I was on the staff of the Rising Sun Petrol- eum Company, a company belonging to the Shell organ- ization. Q Where were you located? A Nagoya, Sendai, Yokohama, Tokyo, Kyoto, Hakata or Fukuoka. Q And you are a student of the Japanese lang- uage and history, are you not? A During my last three and a half years in the country, yes. Q Are you author of any books or pamphlets? A I am the author of a work on the first century of foreign intercourse with Japan, sixteenth and seventeenth century. It is called "Purcha's His Pilgrimes in Japan." Q Have you written anything other than that regarding Japan? WILD CROSS 5,695 22 23 24 25 A Nothing. Q How did you obtain the information that the Japanese had ships in Singora and Patani? A From aerial reconnaissainoB photographs, and particularly from the intelligence reports. I was in Operations myself, Q what is the basis for your statement that there were 3500 European nationals in Singapore at the time of the surrender? A Actually, the number was larger, but that ¥/as the number that was interned. They were interned in the camp immediately next door to ours, Q What nations were in the majority? A Presumably British, but I never read the split by nations, Q What is the source of your information that these 3500 men, women and children were placed in Changi Prison? A Because Changi Prison was within two miles of Changi Camp where I was confined for the ear^y part of my captivity, and there was contact between the prisoners of war and the civilian internees. On two occasions I went into Changi Prison myself and talked to a lady internee there, Q Was it from her you learned there were 3500? WILD CROSS 5,696 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 # IS 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 A I didn't discuss the question with her. Q Exactly where did you get that figure of 3500? A It was the — I was going to say accepted figure, the figure that I heard, in Changi POW Camp. Q Well, then, you did not have that information from your own personal knowledge, Colonel? A Mo, from what I was told by other prisoners of war. But there was contact, as I told you, be- tween Changi Camp and Changi Prison. Q I mean, how did that contact l?«ive to do with you personally? A There was something which the prisoners of war were extremely irritated about, that their wives and children — many of them were married to the people who were in the jail — were being confined within those walls of their prison. I was also con- cerned in arranging with the Japanese for a visit of such husbands to their wives, and it was, in fact, arranged; not only husbands and wives, but also more distant relatives. I gave the lists to the Japanese, got their approval with certain erasures, and the meeting, in fact, took place. I naturally talked to a great number of those men when they came back.. I mention that- as one source of information only. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 5 WILD CROSS Finally, I was in the jail in April, 1944, at the time when I was officially assisting a senior officer to take over the jail. At that time, the prisoners of war advance guard, to which I belonged, overlapped for a short period with the civilian internees' rear guard. Also, as interpreter, it was my duty to argue with the Japanese over the over- crowding of five thousand in the jail. And I re- member that three thousand five hundred, the number of the civilian internees, was one of the arguments we used. It was not queried by the Japanese, although their POW office also controlled the civilian intern- ees. THE PRESIDENTS We will adjourn now until half-past nine tomorrow morning. (Whereupon, at 1600, an adjourn- ment was taken until Tuesday, 17 September 1946 at 0930.)
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