A white man leading a squad of Japanese soldiers?
Jun 27, 2024 21:00:06 GMT 8
chadhill and rlbj25 like this
Post by Hounddog on Jun 27, 2024 21:00:06 GMT 8
I've been reading a fascinating, personal account of the battle of Bataan by Philippine Army soldier Silvestre L. Tagarao. His book is titled 'All This Was Bataan.' On page 47 of the book Mr. Tagarao describes a very peculiar event:
"One morning, just as the light brightened, I caught the sound of a voice coming from the woods. The voice was almost muffled, but because the wind was blowing towards us I caught fragments of it. I could not only make out what was being said. All the other men had strained themselves in the direction of the voice. Gregorio was at once on top of his foxhole. After a time he told me that he could already see their netted helmets as they crawled through a draw. I told him not to be noisy but he insisted that he could see them already and fired. Several others stood up to see where the target was. But Gregorio said that he could not see their helmets any more. But at a point close to the wires where the draw ended, they rushed in a body. There was about a squad of them. At the head of the column was tall, white man. He was holding a steel tube that looked like a small mortar. All the soldiers with him were holding explosives instead of rifles. We did not fire at once. Somehow curiosity and doubt took hold of us because of the presence of the white man. But when they hurled their explosives against our wires, we gave it back to them. They folded up before one sweep of Julian's automatic rifle. Just when we thought that every one of them had been killed, one stood up and tried to run back to the woods. A bullet found his back and he dived forward with a loud cry, his legs describing an arc behind him. David at once set out to where the dead men were. He took their field rations and the mortar-like tube the white man was holding. He was breathing fast when he told us that the white man was very big and looked like an American. I guessed, though, that he could be German. I began to think also that the steel tube he was holding was the one being used to hurl the grenades that killed Cornelio and gave Domingo his worst shock."
Wow. If this account is true, and a white man was leading a squad of Japanese soldiers, who the hell could he be? A German, as Mr. Tagarao suggested? An Amerasian or half Japanese soldier? Perhaps an American soldier held against his will, - or God forbid - one that switched sides? My last guess is a civilian of some kind with Japanese sympathies. But surely no civilian would be allowed to run around with a mortar tube, much less lead a squad of IJA soldiers? It's quite the mystery and I'd love to know the story behind it. Anyone have any thoughts?
-Kevin (Hound dog)
![](http://www.kevinstrahm.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/IMG_20240627_085738935-scaled.jpg)
"One morning, just as the light brightened, I caught the sound of a voice coming from the woods. The voice was almost muffled, but because the wind was blowing towards us I caught fragments of it. I could not only make out what was being said. All the other men had strained themselves in the direction of the voice. Gregorio was at once on top of his foxhole. After a time he told me that he could already see their netted helmets as they crawled through a draw. I told him not to be noisy but he insisted that he could see them already and fired. Several others stood up to see where the target was. But Gregorio said that he could not see their helmets any more. But at a point close to the wires where the draw ended, they rushed in a body. There was about a squad of them. At the head of the column was tall, white man. He was holding a steel tube that looked like a small mortar. All the soldiers with him were holding explosives instead of rifles. We did not fire at once. Somehow curiosity and doubt took hold of us because of the presence of the white man. But when they hurled their explosives against our wires, we gave it back to them. They folded up before one sweep of Julian's automatic rifle. Just when we thought that every one of them had been killed, one stood up and tried to run back to the woods. A bullet found his back and he dived forward with a loud cry, his legs describing an arc behind him. David at once set out to where the dead men were. He took their field rations and the mortar-like tube the white man was holding. He was breathing fast when he told us that the white man was very big and looked like an American. I guessed, though, that he could be German. I began to think also that the steel tube he was holding was the one being used to hurl the grenades that killed Cornelio and gave Domingo his worst shock."
Wow. If this account is true, and a white man was leading a squad of Japanese soldiers, who the hell could he be? A German, as Mr. Tagarao suggested? An Amerasian or half Japanese soldier? Perhaps an American soldier held against his will, - or God forbid - one that switched sides? My last guess is a civilian of some kind with Japanese sympathies. But surely no civilian would be allowed to run around with a mortar tube, much less lead a squad of IJA soldiers? It's quite the mystery and I'd love to know the story behind it. Anyone have any thoughts?
-Kevin (Hound dog)
![](http://www.kevinstrahm.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/IMG_20240627_085738935-scaled.jpg)