Monday, September 16, 2013

A short and disgusting digression into WWII history

Admiral Morin on his way back from the first party given by 307 Battalion, at which human flesh was served and eaten, discussed the matter with Major Matoba, and asked him whether he would be so kind as to bring along a little liver next time an eneny pilot was executed by 308 Battalion, which was under Matoba's command.  It was, doubtless, pursuant to the admiral's request that Cadet Sakabe, in the Battalion Order quoted above, had been instructed to remove the liver from Flight-Lieutenant Hall's body after execution, although in fact it was removed by a medical officer named Teraki, as Sakabe was not sufficiently experienced.
The Knights of Bushido, page 238.

In another diary, kept by a member of the Fujita Force, the following entries appeared:
  13 Feb.  For security reasons, all inhabitants of the town were killed and all their                           possessions confiscated.
  17 Feb.  Because 90% of the Filipinos are not pro-Japanese, Army Headquarters                            issued orders on 10th inst. to punish them.  In various sectors we have killed                     several thousands (including young, old, men and women and Chinese). Their                   homes have been burned and their valuables confiscated.
Page 259

Not a book to read if you get queasy easily

1 comment:

AndyN said...

Have you read Flyboys: A True Story of Courage by James Bradley (the author of Flags of our Fathers)? Some of the same issues are raised.

I don't think it's much of a spoiler to mention that when George H.W. Bush was shot down in WWII he narrowly missed landing on a Japanese controlled island where these types of atrocities were taking place. If he'd bailed out over Chichi Jima instead of waiting until he was over the Pacific where he was rescued by a US submarine, it would have literally changed the history of the late 20th century - no Senator Bush, no CIA Director Bush, no President Bush 41 or 43. All because of a conscious decision to remain with a crippled aircraft a few moments longer.