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Post by Nowhere Man on Jun 18, 2010 20:00:59 GMT 8
The massacre of hundreds of British prisoners of war by Japanese sailors during the Second World War was covered up by the Government, it has been claimed.
By Jon Swaine Last Updated: 6:19PM BST 18 Sep 2008
A total of 548 British and Dutch PoWs were machine-gunned when the Suez Maru, the Japanese "Hell Ship" transporting them, was sunk by an American torpedo attack in the Flores Sea off Indonesia in November 1943.
According to a statement made by the Japanese ship's commander, attempts were made by a minesweeper to rescue the PoWs, but they could not be reached in time.
However, six years later a crew member admitted the truth, and was backed up by the ship's purser.
It has emerged that the then-Secretary of State for War, Manny Shinwell, was informed, and despite the perpetrators being in custody, the decision was taken not to prosecute them, according to a BBC investigation.
By that point, while more than 700 Japanese soldiers had been found guilty of war crimes, the Cold War was under way and Japan was needed as an ally against the Soviet Union.
Alan Jones, whose father Pte Lewis Jones died in the incident, said: "We had a brief note from the Government. They said that he was killed as a result of the sinking of a transport ship - and that was it."
"The atrocity that actually happened seems to have been withheld from the British public," Mr Jones said.
Alexander Knoops, a lawyer at the International Criminal Court at the Hague, believes the victims' families were denied justice and might have a good case on which to sue the Government.
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Post by okla on Jun 18, 2010 23:51:06 GMT 8
Lots of luck to these worthy folks in getting any satisfactory remediation in this matter. Although the Allies did execute, sentence to prison terms, etc many guilty Japanese war criminals, too many went unpunished or had their sentences greatly reduced or suspended just because we were fearful of them cozying up to the Russians during the Cold War. With hindsight methinks there was no real danger of this ever happening. Updated as of 2017-10-18 URLs for Hell Ships, Oryoku Maru & Hell Ships Memorial The Hellships Memorial is Subic Bay corregidor.proboards.com/thread/1203/hellships-memorial-subic-bayNaval Officer honored at Hell Ships Memorial, Lt. N. Minter Dial, CO of USS Napa AT-32, perished on the Oryoku Maru. corregidor.proboards.com/thread/177/naval-officer-honored-hellships-memorialFather Found by Capt. Duane Heisinger, a thread about a book from Capt. Heisinger about his father who perished on the Oryoku Maru. corregidor.proboards.com/thread/1698/father-capt-duane-heisingerOryoku Maru and its gun at Subic Bay, a thread in our forum with links to albums about the gun: corregidor.proboards.com/thread/390/oryoku-maru-gun-subic-bayPhotos of the Oryoku Maru in sequence from Manila to Subic Bay from David Demetherell corregidor.proboards.com/thread/1601/oryoku-maruThe Hell Ship Montevideo Maru Plaque Unveiling Ceremony took place on 1st July 2009 at the Hellships Memorial in the Subic Bay Freeport Zone, the former US Naval Base. corregidor.proboards.com/thread/490/ship-montevideo-maru-plaque-unveiledThe massacre of hundreds of British prisoners of war by Japanese sailors during the Second World War was covered up by the Government, it has been claimed. corregidor.proboards.com/thread/732/japanese-massacre-ship-survivors-coverFilipino American Memorial Endowment (FAME) Projects, including the Hellships/ Hell Ships Memorial in Subic: filipino-americanmemorials.org/projects/The Oryoku Maru story compiled by 4 survivors in 1983 www.oryokumaruonline.org/oryoku_maru_story.htmlWest Point Japanese-pow Home Page www.west-point.org/family/japanese-pow/A web page from the US-Japan Dialogue on POWs webpage. It is a book about a son's search for his father, perished on the Oryoku Maru tragedy: www.us-japandialogueonpows.org/Heisinger.htmCelebrating the life of Duane Heisinger, a joint US Congress Resolution 2006, #5082 lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?062+ful+HJ5082ER+pdfList of Hell Ship Voyages in Chronological Sequence of Departure Date www.west-point.org/family/japanese-pow/ShipsNum.htmThe album about the Hell Ships Memorial Dedication on the 22nd Jan 2006 with 50 images. s74.photobucket.com/user/PI-Sailor/library/SBFZ%20Ex%20Naval%20Base%20Subic%20Bay/Hellships%20Memorial/2006-01-22%20Hell%20Ships%20Memorial%20Dedicated?sort=9&page=1Album of plaque for, Lt. N. Minter Dial, CO of USS Napa AT-32, perished on the Oryoku Maru in Karl’s Photobucket account. s74.photobucket.com/user/PI-Sailor/library/SBFZ%20Ex%20Naval%20Base%20Subic%20Bay/Hellships%20Memorial/USS%20Napa%20AT-32%20Lt-Dial%202008-04-06?sort=9&page=1This is an album with pictures of Oryoku gun in Subic Bay, specifically in front of the American Legion Post #4 on Magsaysay Drive in Olongapo City. s74.photobucket.com/user/PI-Sailor/library/SBFZ%20Ex%20Naval%20Base%20Subic%20Bay/SBFZ%202009/Oryoku%20Maru%20Gun%202009%20and%20older?sort=6&page=1This is a URL to a group of albums about the Hell Ships Memorial: s74.photobucket.com/user/PI-Sailor/library/SBFZ%20Ex%20Naval%20Base%20Subic%20Bay/Hellships%20Memorial?sort=9&page=1An album about two new plaques and the other ones at the Hellships memorial: s74.photobucket.com/user/PI-Sailor/library/SBFZ%20Ex%20Naval%20Base%20Subic%20Bay/Hellships%20Memorial/2%20new%20Hellship%20Plaques%202012-06-24?sort=9&page=1 An album of the Hell Ship Montevideo Maru Plaque Unveiling Ceremony took place on 1st July 2009 at the Hellships Memorial in the Subic Bay Freeport Zone, the former US Naval Base. I was able to attend and shot these 35 images: s74.photobucket.com/user/PI-Sailor/library/SBFZ%20Ex%20Naval%20Base%20Subic%20Bay/Hellships%20Memorial/Over%201000%20Aussie%20Dead%202009-07-01?sort=9&page=1
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