|
|
The Pacific War ended on
September 2, 1945, however, occasionally
Japanese holdouts in the
Northern Marianas were found who had managed
to hide and survive for
many years following the conclusion of hostilities.
One such group of stranded
survivors of a Japanese vessel sunk by the
American military found
their way to the island of Anatahan,75 nautical
miles north of Saipan. At
16 degrees -22 ‘ north x 145 degrees - 40’
east, the island’s coast
line is precipitous with landing beaches on the
northern and western shore
and a small sandy beach on the southwest
shore. It’s steep slopes
are furrowed by deep gorges covered by high
grass. This brooding cone
jutting from the sea floor is a large, extinct
volcano with two peaks and
a grass covered flat field, the final resting
place for a B-29 Superfortress
that crashed upon returning from a
bombing mission over Nagoya,
Japan on January 3, 1945 killing the
aircraft’s crew.
By 1951 the Japanese holdouts
on the island refused to believe
that the war was over and
resisted every attempt by the United States
Navy to remove them. This
group was first discovered in February 1945,
when several Chamorros from
Saipan were sent to the island to recover
the bodies of the Saipan
based B-29, T square 42, from the 498th Bomb
Group, 875th Squadron, 73rd
Wing under the command of Richard
Carlson Stickney, Jr. The
Chamorros reported that there were about thirty
Japanese survivors from
three Japanese ships sunk in June 1944, one of
which was an Okinawan woman.
Pamphlets had been dropped
informing the holdouts that the war was
over and that they should
surrender, but these requests were ignored.
They lived a sparse life,
eating coconuts, taro, wild sugar cane,
fish and lizards. They smoked
crushed, dried papaya leaves wrapped in
the leaves of bananas and
made an intoxicating beverage known as
"tuba", (coconut wine).
They lived in palm frond huts with woven floor
matting of pandanus. Their
life improved after the crash of the aircraft .
They used metal from the
B-29 to fashion crude implements such as
pots, knives and roofing
for their hut. The oxygen tanks were used to
store water, clothing was
made from nylon parachutes, the cords used
for fishing line. The springs
from machine guns were fashioned into fish
hooks. Several in the group
also had machine guns and pistols recovered
from the aircraft.
Personal aggravations developed
as a result of being too long in
close association within
a small group on a small island and also
because of tuba drinking.
The presence of only one woman, Kazuko
Higa, caused great difficulty
as well. Six of eleven deaths that occurred
among the holdouts were
the result of violence. One man displayed
thirteen knife wounds. Ms.
Higa would, from time to time, transfer her
affections between at least
four of the men after each mysteriously
disappeared as a result
of "being swallowed by the waves while fishing."
In July 1950, Ms. Higa went
to the beach when an American vessel
appeared off shore and asked
to be removed from the island. She was
taken to Saipan aboard the
Miss Susie and, upon arrival, informed
authorities that the men
on the island did not believe the war was over.
Meanwhile, officials of
the Japanese government became interested
in the situation on Anatahan
and asked the Navy for information
"concerning the doomed and
living Robinson Crusoes who were living a
primitive life on an uninhabited
island", and offered to send a ship to
rescue them.
The families of the Japanese
holdouts on the island of Anatahan ,
were contacted in Japan
and requested by the U. S. Navy to write
letters advising them that
the war was over and that they should
surrender. In January 1951,
a message from the Governor of Kanagawa
Prefecture was delivered
to them which read:
I am very proud to learn
that all of you are in good health and still
residing on a small island
in the Pacific six years after the war is over .
I will not blame you for
saying that our country lost this war.
That was six years ago in
1945. It was the 15th of August 1945 when
the peace treaty was signed
(sic!).
Our country lost this
war, but we are not unfortunate, as the
United States is giving
us the best of opportunities to recover and I am
sure that we are the best
of friends in the present world.
During the war it was said
that the American soldiers were killing
all prisoners of war, but
that was not true. The United States treated
our prisoners the best until
1947 when all of them were released and
sent home. Now there are
no other Japanese military men in the Pacific
except you gentlemen.
Previously, in our country,
a prisoner of war lost face so that
even after the war if he
came home he had to live in a dark world. That
is not so now. The Emperor
ordered all our people, wherever they were,
to surrender peacefully.
All of those returned will never be separated
from their home people again.
Those who have returned to Japan give the
Americans thanks that the
long period of their suffering is over . .
I believe you have read
letters from your family which said not to
worry which will give you
confidence to give yourself up to the
Americans. In the box of
new letters sent to you we are enclosing a
piece of white cloth with
which you can signal the Navy boat. You do not
have to worry. The Americans
will give you their best attention and
kindness until you are returned
to our country .
The letters were dropped
by air on June 26 and finally convinced
the holdouts that they should
give themselves up. Thus, six years after
the end of World War II,
"Operation Removal" got underway from Saipan
under the Command of James
B. Johnson, USNR, aboard the Navy Tug
USS Cocopa. Lt. Commander
James B. Johnson and Mr. Ken Akatani,
an interpreter, went ashore
by rubber boat and formally accepted the last
surrender of World War II
on the morning of June 30, 1951 which also
coincided with the last
day of the Naval Administration of the Trust
Territory of the Pacific
Islands.
The men, with their few
possessions neatly placed in woven pandanus
bags along with several
implements from the metal of the B-29, boarded
the Cocopa and sailed
for Guam. One week later they arrived in Tokyo
aboard a U. S. Navy aircraft.
Sources:
Richard,Dorothy E., United
States Naval Administration of the
Trust Territory of the
Pacific Islands, Office of the Chief of Naval
Operations, 1957 and
James B. Johnson, U.S. N. Retired, the American
officer who accepted
the last surrender of World War II.
Photos courtesy of:
U.S. National Archive,
Trust Territory Of The Pacific Islands
Top |