Dysentery was rife, and now without access to the latrines, PoWs suffering from the condition had no choice but to relieve themselves over their fellow prisoners lying on platforms below them. In addition, the ship was also armed with two guns, which made it a justifiable target for the captain of the Grouper, who believed it to be a troopship. News Corp is a network of leading companies in the worlds of diversified media, news, education, and information services. The vast majority of Indian soldiers captured when Singapore fell to Japan in February 1942 belonged to the Sikh community. The comments below have been moderated in advance. Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Heedless of the advancing Japanese, Desmond Doss went about the work of sending the wounded to safety. Some were unable to swim, and decided to cling onto the ship, which was now rapidly sinking. Carnage ensued over the next 24 hours as Dennis and the other prisoners, who were left trapped below deck, tried to escape and swim. The only death that can therefore be laid at the door of the Americans is that of the soldier who was killed at the moment of impact. Ping! Leonard G. Siffleet is executed by a Japanese soldier in World War II. Japanese soldiers executing Chinese civilians. Instead, they used the sinking as an opportunity to commit mass murder. Water started to pour into the bilges below us.’. ‘They used body language to show they were hungry — rubbing their tummies. What happened next is not clear as some of the accounts conflict, but it appears that soldiers from either the Royal Scots or the Royal Artillery made a dash at the Japanese soldiers on the bridge, and killed them. In total, 1,006 men survived the sinking of the Lisbon Maru. Japanese soldiers shot at the men in the water, only ceasing fire when local unarmed Chinese fishermen began rescuing nearly 400 of them from the sea. No help was to come for the British. The day after an early execution, a Japanese major had flesh of the executed prisoner prepared for a feast. During WWII, many Japanese commanders forbid the maneuver, aware of its futility. Published: 19:51 GMT, 14 January 2021 | Updated: 19:51 GMT, 14 January 2021. I spurted on, and another bullet splashed beside me.’ It was obvious to the prisoners now coming onto the deck that the Japanese guards needed to be dealt with. The Japanese treatment of prisoners of war in World War II was barbaric - but photographs have emerged showing just how bad they treated their captives. Although the Lisbon Maru would take 25 hours to sink, the Japanese not only refused to rescue their prisoners, but, shockingly, even locked them in the ship’s holds to drown. Reports of that day tell of Japanese advancing with rifles and bayonets to within a few feet of the medic, slowly lowering his men to safety, before one of the wounded could kill the enemy before they shot Doss. Suspecting that the torpedoes were either faulty or running too deeply, a determined McGregor ordered a fourth torpedo to be fired. Australian Sgt. Again, nothing. This service is provided on News Group Newspapers' Limited's Standard Terms and Conditions in accordance with our Privacy & Cookie Policy. A far better memorial would be for the world to learn what happened 75 years ago and for some vital questions to be answered. Mr Morley survived and after being rescued from the sea remained a prisoner of war of the Japanese until Christmas Day 1945. ‘I was lying on my straw mat in a hold way down near the bilges when I heard a torpedo whir across the ship’s bows,’ said Jack Etiemble of the Royal Artillery. If the men were not killed by sharks, then the currents swept many out into the East China Sea to their deaths by drowning. The following morning, some 24 hours after the torpedo had hit the ship, Lieutenant Howell managed to cut his way out of his hold using a bread knife that one of the PoWs had managed to smuggle aboard. Benjamin Lewis Salomon was a Jewish American dentist and soldier. Others had their heads kicked in and were then thrown back into the water. Most would spend the next three years in Japanese captivity — and many would, of course, die at the hands of their jailers. ‘So I swam towards one, and as I was about halfway there they started shooting at us in the water. The others disappeared, their files sealed by the U.S. government until decades later. Boris Johnson defends 'tree-hugging tofu munchers' in attack on climate change... Boris Johnson claims he quit journalism for politics because he felt guilty for 'abusing people'. The men behind the masks: As dance duo Daft Punk split after 28 years, we reveal how two publicity-shy... Has your child got forgotten savings? But the memory of the wounded young lieutenant Glenn found and finished off behind a … George H.W. Soldier getting shot to death liveleak “This video. Leonard Siffleet, who was captured in New Guinea about to be beheaded by a Japanese officer with a gunto, 1942, Emaciated Australian and Dutch prisoners of war held by the Japanese at Tarsau in Thailand, Korean sex slaves are rescued after being forced to act as 'comfort women' for brutal Japanese soldiers during World War Two, death cult ISIS before its evil “caliphate”, Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO). As the ship took over a day to sink, they were perfectly capable of rescuing all of the PoWs, whom they had a moral and legal duty to protect. He went under.’. 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