A British 14th Army veterans war souvenirs from Burma WW2.

[timjonheath@gmail.com]

The photograph shows the recently re-discovered war souvenirs that British 14th Army veteran Mike Wagster brought back with him from the fighting against the Japanese in Burma in WW2. Amongst his own items are photographs taken with his mates, a manual on Japanese Notes For Forward Units, an official leaflet given to him when he joined up for the Army and a magazine detailing the victory over the Japanese in Burma. His experiences in the jungles of Burma were probably like those of many of the veterans-pretty unpleasant against a brutal and cruel enemy where no quarter would be given an enemy that preferred a suicidal final charge to surrender. Many thought all the horror stories about the Japanese were propaganda but once in theatre soon realized the stories were true. The folded Rising Sun flag is perhaps one of the classic souvenirs and many were brought back some having prayers and messages written on them as good luck tokens. This flag was taken from a dead Japanese and it had been stuck over the end of his rifle hence the small tear in its centre. Also in the picture are two brass data plates which were taken from the inside of a Japanese tank, a nice early model Arisaka rifle bayonet, a gas mask filter which was found in a Jap Command post along with the Sake (Rice Wine) bag. Also pictured are Japanese and Allied occupation banknotes, there is also part of an un-used insignia tab originally found attached to a piece of card. I hope to get the flag, photos, data plates and banknotes all framed up at some point as they will make an amazing display . Cheers Tim.

[Bil4338]

A brilliant collection with ultimate provenance.great to see a departure from the norm, not much Japanese memorabilia came back, understandable probably under the circumstances.love that Arisaka bayonet especially...how's the blade, should be in good nick going by the hilt and scabbard.

[timjonheath@gmail.com]

I recall one old boy named George many years ago when I started my first job at Evesham Foods in our town. Id bought a t-shirt with a rising sun symbol typical of the ones that came out back in the mid 80's. When George saw it his face twisted in anger came up to me and said "if youd seen some of the things id seen what the Japs did youd throw that shirt in the bin"! I was naturally quite shocked and asked him about the things hed seen. He said "i was part of a patrol entering a village where the Japs had been through, theyd killed everyone, the women, children, men and livestock and that theyd sliced the breasts off the women and stuck things in their genitals. We never took a single Jap prisoner, we killed them all and that was our way". After that I did buy some books and the one most chilling was Lord Russels book on Japanese War Crimes and Jack Edwards "Banzai You Bastards". The brutality of the Japanese even today is beyond the comprehension of most. Flags always seemed to be the most popular souvenirs usually taken from bodies as the Japs didn't just hand these over as they had tremendous symbolic power to them almost divine. I also have a named water bottle named to a soldier Kikuchi. The bayonet is a nice example and will post some pics of the blade which is in superb condition. The hooked quillon on the blade is slightly bent so has had some obvious use. I hope to get all these items properly displayed when we move to a bigger flat soon and I will also have a man cave for the other stuff which will be so nice

[timjonheath@gmail.com]

Heres the Arisaka bayonet out of its scabbard.

[Bil4338]

Very nice bayo! One I'd love to have in the war room. although bayonets aren't my area of collecting, I like to have at least one representative item.

I had a pal who's father was a prisoner of the Japanese.don't think he talked much of the war.hated the Japs with a passion, must've seen lots of atrocities if anything I've read is anything to go by.he wouldn't touch anything Japanese-made either, just would not buy anything made in Japan.can't blame him either.I didn't feel justified asking her to elaborate as there was probably no point, again completely understandable..

[timjonheath@gmail.com]

The Japanese were certainly not shy in taking snap shots of their deeds. The photograph here is one such piece of damning evidence of their sheer brutality and this was one of a great many found and used afterwards by the Allies in the trials against Japanese War Criminals. Sadly only a handful of thousands were actually prosecuted for the terrible things they did. Bear in mind this photo is pretty unpleasant-but this is exactly why the Atomic Bomb had to be used and was a perfectly justifiable weapon for the circumstances of the time I think.

Spoiler

Edited April 2, 2016 by Lenny
Pic hidden due to member concerns... click "Reveal" to view pic.

[Bil4338]

That's why I cringe when I see people on various forums equating the Japanese soldiers' bravery with those of every other combative nation in WW2. brave warriors? Savage barbarians more like. You have to wonder what kind of men led the Japanese nation and how and why they sanctioned this type of behaviour, then you think of whether the atomic bomb was truly justified...and then you see photographic evidence like this and the question's already fully answered....

 

[Davejb]

I found out at an early age just how inhuman Japanese soldiers could be, I had just started to work at an abrasives factory at 15 years old, my dad had worked there before and after the war, so there were a lot of ex soldiers who had served almost every where, one such guy was the gate security man, Old Alf we called him., he was always a bit strange,as if he was vacant every now and then. Anyway I got talking to him one day and he was saying what a great gent my dad was and how he had got his job through my dad. He then went on to say especially because of his troubles during the war. He had been captured by the Japanese, tortured, ,beaten daily, bound up and beaten on his feet, he also had toe nails and finger nails pulled out and he showed me his fingers,to be honest I was nearly sick, not only did he not have finger nails, his fingers were all crooked. He had had every finger broken and they were never set correctly. When the Japanese surrendered the camp was taken over by the prisoners, as far as they could anyway, most were extremely ill and some local people came and helped out with looking after them. There were reprisals despite the senior officers trying to keep order. There were three very brutal guards who mainly carried out the beatings, Alf, who was a tough old bugger killed all three with a bayonet before collapsing with malaria and dysentry and he nearly died. He woke up on the back of a lorry with a load of other very ill soldiers, but all the beatings and torture did something to him and he was never the same person, even his wife left him when he eventually got home, and the only job he could do was something like a gate guard because of his hands and feet. A few years later, after I joined the police my dad told me he had committed suicide.He never really told anyone else what happened to him, i dont know why he told me, perhaps because of my dad. But he hated Japanese people with a passion and got into trouble a few times after spitting on any he met in the street. A tragedy really

[timjonheath@gmail.com]

On ‎30‎/‎03‎/‎2016 at 22:28, Bil4338 said:

That's why I cringe when I see people on various forums equating the Japanese soldiers' bravery with those of every other combative nation in WW2. brave warriors? Savage barbarians more like. You have to wonder what kind of men led the Japanese nation and how and why they sanctioned this type of behaviour, then you think of whether the atomic bomb was truly justified...and then you see photographic evidence like this and the question's already fully answered....

 

It is certainly hard to understand and comprehend how an individual or group of individuals could commit such heinous acts of sickening violence, rape murder and brutality without compassion whatsoever, I certainly cant think how any human could. This is why when our boys caught Japs alive they ripped out their gold teeth and killed them slowly like they had done to so many and took anything off them of souvenir value. So few Jap war criminals were brought to justice and most Japs remained unrepentant for the things they did in WW2 and it is widely believed that most Jap soldiers within operational areas of WW2 had committed at least one atrocity which could constitute war crime, think of such a statistic! The A-Bombs were entirely justified and it makes me mad when these Ban the Bomb idiots try to tell us all how Nuclear Weapons are evil look at Hiroshima and Nagasaki they squeak. There are many photos like the one of the two Japs playing bayonet catch with the Chinese baby, some just too revolting to include here- I think they certainly received their just punishment but had it been me id have pushed for further Atomic Bombs to be dropped on Japan.