Blood on Their Hands

Japanese Military Atrocities 1931–1945

Cecil Lowry

• Publisher: Pen and Sword Military
• Year: 2024
• eBook ISBN:
  9781399037891
• Topic: Politik & Internationale Beziehungen
• Subtopic: Japanische Geschichte

From its invasion of Manchuria through to the Allies' victory in 1945 the Japanese Imperial Army was guilty of widespread atrocities against its enemies and, in particular, the civilians of occupied countries. Massacre, human experimentation, starvation, forced labour and even cannibalism were commonplace during that period. It has been estimated that the number of deaths which resulted from these atrocities range from anything from three to fourteen million people. Using this appalling record the author explains in graphic detail the cruelty of Japanese military forces, drawing attention to the impact on ordinary people. He explores the possible reasons why people committed such horrendous acts. Seventy-eight years have passed since the surrender, yet the Japanese government has never squarely acknowledge their crimes, nor has it made an official apology. Over the years since, a handful of extreme right-wing elements in Japan has depicted the war and the atrocities as 'the liberation of backward nations.' They have attempted to reinterpret bloody massacres as 'a self-defensive holy war.' As his father Hugh Lowry suffered grievously as a Prisoner of War on the infamous Thai/Burma Railway, the author knows first-hand of the lasting psychological and physical wounds suffered by victims of Japanese brutality. This disturbing book should serve as a warning that such extreme and widespread behaviour should never be repeated.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• List of Images
• Map
• Preface
• Introduction
• Chapter 1 Unit 731
• Chapter 2 The Rape of Nanking
• Chapter 3 Murder in the Philippines
• Chapter 4 The Hong Kong Massacres
• Chapter 5 The Singapore Chinese Massacre (Sook Ching)
• Chapter 6 The Bangka Island Massacre
• Chapter 7 The Alexandra Hospital Massacre, Singapore
• Chapter 8 The Bataan Death March
• Chapter 9 The Thai–Burma Railway
• Chapter 10 Atrocities at Sea
• Chapter 11 Murder of Aircrews
• Chapter 12 The Sandakan Death Marches
• Chapter 13 Other Atrocities
• Chapter 14 The Kempeitai
• Chapter 15 War Crimes Tribunals, 1946–1951
• Chapter 16 Conclusion
• Bibliography