War Crimes in the Pacific
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This is a partial list of war crimes committed in the Pacific Theatre during World War II.
[edit] War Crimes committed by Japanese personnel
[edit] Medical Experimentation, Truk islands (Caroline archipelago, South Pacific Mandate), 1944
Japanese naval personnel performed medical experiments, including injecting live cultures of Streptococcus bacteria, and applying to limbs for several hours, on American prisoners-of-war (POWs)[citation needed].
[edit] Forced Labour and Executions, Wake Island(1943)
380 American POWs were retained on Wake Island, and forced to rebuild the island's defenses. In October 1943, with the an American invasion expected, the island's commander ordered the mass execution of all survivors[citation needed]. In addition, Japanese personnel executed 98 civilian prisoners[citation needed].
[edit] Executions, Battle of Midway
American Ensign Wesley Osmus of the USS Yorktown, and Ensign Frank O'Flaherty of the USS Enterprise were captured by the Japanese Navy during battle and held in the destroyers Arashi and Nagara respectively. The prisoners were subjected to intense interrogations from their Japanese captors. Several days later the they were executed with an axe and thrown into the sea[citation needed].
[edit] The "Hell Ships" or "Death Vessels"
These names were given to Japanese prisoner transport vessels by allied POWs, many of whom did not survive the journey to POW camps. On the Oryoko Maru, for example, 1,300 prisoners died en route from the Philippines to Japan in 1944[citation needed].
American POWs captured during the invasion of Wake Island were transported to camps at Woosung, near at Shanghai, aboard the prisoner transport vessel Nitta Maru. During the journey Lieutenant Toshio Sato beheaded five Americans POWs (3 seamen and 2 marines), whose bodies were later used for bayonet practice[citation needed].
[edit] New Guinea, Celebes and Amboina (Dutch indies)
At Rabaul (the greatest Japanese fortress during war), 1,000 American and British prisoners were ordered to walk 165 miles over bad terrain. Only 183 survived[citation needed].
On Celebes Island, a Japanese officer ordered the crucifixtion of four airmen[citation needed].
[edit] Tatanichi Manaka
In February 1944, Warrant Officer Tatanichi Manaka beheaded American prisoners from a downed USAAF B-25 on Mille Atoll[citation needed].
[edit] Aleutian campaign
Aleutians (Alaska) June 1942, four unarmed American meteorologists shot dead by Japanese personnel for no apparent reason.
