CO129-590-25 Accounts of events leading up to surrender and subsequent treatment of prisoners- etc 23-4-1942 - 28-9-1943 — Page 78

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JAPANESE KRALL. UIEM NA ETC.

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Japanese soldiers' morale is extremely high, and I have been given to understand that this is more the result of respect and fear for NCO's and officers then bravery. I was told by a Japanese that they must have a few to get the ball rolling in all attacks. Apparently they are not permitted to surrender, end when given a point go after it. However, it appears that they are & little scared of uncertainty. That is to asy, if they know where they are going and have kno:ledge of the exact location of the foe they go like men possessed. Collectively they are good but individually they rate different. That is why the hinese guerillas have met with such success their strategy being to pick off isolated groups, and not to face any main concentration of troops. It was very amusing for me to hear from a Japanese of a campaign in which he participated in Kwangsal. information has come forward that a mass concentration of about 200,000 troops (hinese) had taken place at certain point. The Japs immediately prepared for an offensive, but when they arrived at the given point no soldiers wer: to be seen, they had dispersed in comparatively small groups. A few days later they appeared in small groups all round the Jap concentration. Japanese bayonet fighting is terrific they practice hours daily, using a head shield type of bamboo waistcoat and a wooden gun &pproximating the weight of their rifles. Added to this they seem to take & great joy in killing with steel, and are taught to look forward to killing in this manner. I knot it to be true that in North oint all the British soldiers captured before the surrender of Hong on were decapitated by the sword. Their hands tied behin. their backa and they were put in a kneeling position I saw an actual photograch taken by a Jap, and learned from the -ilitary jolice in Canton that before they attacked Hong Kong their orde 8 were to kill all "white" soldiers but to spɛre the Indians.

The Japa have been treating the Indians particularly well, and they take very occasion to give concrete evidence of their desire to make friends. They recently released Indin prisoners of war (I cannot say whether all were released or not) and are training them ostensibly for use as street guards. It is apparent also that the treatment being secorded them is going to some to their heads, and unhappy as the thought is, we must expect that some of them will become willin: toola of the enemy. la far es the fighting by the Indians was concerned, I did not have the opportunity of witnessing their powers, but from a Jap acurar learned that there was wholesale surrender long Tai Ting Road (I cannot vouch for the veracity of this story).

The Jap soldiers equipment contains one or two items which might be of interest. Their fighting uniforms are covered with stitches of strong cotton for use in camouflage the leaves and twigs being easily arranged. They use the Jap nese rubber boots for night fighting when possible. It enables them to walk softly. The boots are short topped, about the height of an ordinary English boot made of black canvas upper and the shape of the foot allows for a separate portion for the bi toe. Their steel helmets are always covered with a khaki cover, the idea being to prevent any possible reflection from the aun. The infantry seem to have a great liking for their rifles hich are light in weight but which ere reputed to be extremely accurate, «s are the automatics còrried by the officers, which they claim are accurate to many times the distance of ordinary revolvere.

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