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PRISONER -
For a Japanese soldier the greatest
disgrace was to fall into the hands of the enemy. This was a tradition
of old Japan, and it remained a firmly rooted conviction about which
there was no room for argument. The 'troopers obliged them. But they soon discovered
that they weren't just dealing with the Japanese, though - the Japanese
had special labor units and self-sufficiency battalions whose job it would be to
gather foodstuffs, and if the time allowed, to grow supplies. The
Japanese had
farming and fishery battalions. These groups, and there were lots of
others, may not have been
exclusively Japanese - there were many conscripted from Taiwan, and
Korea - and in the Wewak and Hollandia areas, several service companies
of British Indians. Consequently, prisoners sometimes called to us as they
came, "Me Taiwan!" or "Me Korea!" in the hope that it would afford them
safety.
Official Japanese statements concerning the strength of
personnel in this area basically excluded the number of Asian personnel,
even though the units always appeared in the order of battle of the
Japanese 8th Area Army.
More
Pacific Wrecks contains a letter
recounting the experiences of a Korean conscript, who says he was the
sole survivor of 5000 Koreans in eastern New Guinea. In all, there are
estimates that over 10,000 'other Asian' personnel were in the area.
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