1951 Japanese Surrender
A group of stranded survivors of a Japanese vessel sunk by the American military found their way to the island of Anatahan, 75 nautical miles north of Saipan.
The island’s coast line is precipitous with landing beaches on the northern and western shore and a small sandy beach on the southwest shore. Its steep slopes are furrowed by deep gorges covered by high grass.
This brooding cone jutting from the sea floor is a large, extinct volcano with two peaks and a grass covered flat field, the final resting place for a B-29 Superfortress that crashed upon returning from a bombing mission over Nagoya, Japan on January 3, 1945 killing the aircraft’s crew.
By 1951 the Japanese holdouts on the island refused to believe that the war was over and resisted every attempt by the Navy to remove them.
This group was first discovered in February 1945, when several Chamorro from Saipan were sent to the island to recover the bodies of the Saipan based B-29, T square 42, from the 498th Bomb Group, 875th Squadron, 73rd Wing under the command of Richard Carlson Stickney, Jr.
The Chamorro reported that there were about thirty Japanese survivors from three Japanese ships sunk in June 1944, one of which was an Okinawa woman.
Pamphlets had been dropped informing the holdouts that the war was over and that they should surrender, but these requests were ignored. They lived a sparse life, eating coconuts, taro, wild sugar cane, fish and lizards. They smoked crushed, dried papaya leaves wrapped in the leaves of bananas and made an intoxicating beverage known as “tuba”, (coconut wine).
They lived in palm frond huts with woven floor matting of pandanus. Their life improved after the crash of the aircraft. They used metal from the B-29 to fashion crude implements such as pots, knives and roofing for their hut. The oxygen tanks were used to store water, clothing was made from nylon parachutes, the cords used for fishing line.
The springs from machine guns were fashioned into fish hooks. Several in the group also had machine guns and pistols recovered from the aircraft. Personal aggravations developed as a result of being too long in close association within a small group on a small island and also because of tuba drinking. The presence of only one woman, Kazuko Higa, caused great difficulty as well. Six of eleven deaths that occurred among the holdouts were the result of violence.
One man displayed thirteen knife wounds. Ms. Higa would, from time to time, transfer her affections between at least four of the men after each mysteriously disappeared as a result of “being swallowed by the waves while fishing.”
In July 1950, Ms. Higa went to the beach when an American vessel appeared off shore and asked to be removed from the island. She was taken to Saipan aboard the Miss Susie and, upon arrival, informed authorities that the men on the island did not believe the war was over.
Meanwhile, officials of the Japanese government became interested in the situation on Anatahan and asked the Navy for information “concerning the doomed and living Robinson Crusoes who were living a primitive life on an uninhabited island”, and offered to send a ship to rescue them.
The families of the Japanese holdouts on the island of Anatahan, were contacted in Japan and requested by the U. S. Navy to write letters advising them that the war was over and that they should surrender.
In January 1951, a message from the Governor of Kanagawa Prefecture was delivered. The letters were dropped by air on June 26 and finally convinced the holdouts that they should give themselves up.
Thus, six years after the end of World War II, “Operation Removal” got underway from Saipan under the Command of James B. Johnson, USNR, aboard the Navy Tug USS Cocopa. Lt. Commander James B. Johnson and Mr. Ken Akatani, an interpreter, went ashore by rubber boat and formally accepted the last surrender of World War II on the morning of June 30, 1951 which also coincided with the last day of the Naval Administration of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.
Click on images to enlarge.
From: AR Gunners.com By Pierre Kosmidis
################################################################################################################
Military Humor –
################################################################################################################
Farewell Salutes –
Dorothy (Carter) Ahearn – Detroit, MI; Civilian, Red Cross, WWII, ETO
Hazel Boyas – North Royalton, OH; Civilian, WWII, drill press operator
Edward Cowen Sr. – Gadsden County, FL; US Army, WWII & Korea
Robert Lents – Bridgewater, IA; US Navy, WWII, PTO, USS Perch, POW, Chief torpedoman, 2 Bronze Stars, 2 Purple Hearts
Renee (Lupton) Rattet – New Beford, MA; US Army WAC, WWII
Gary Myers – Grand Lake, CO; US Army, Vietnam, 8/1st Air Cavalry Division, Bronze Star, Purple Heart
Charlie Pride – Sledge, MS; US Army / Country singer
Matthew A. Reluga (101) – Philadelphia, PA; US Army, WWII, ETO, rifleman/Intelligence, Silver Star, 5 Bronze Stars
Lyle Tefft – Lawrence, KS; US Navy, USS Bandera
Robert W. Young – Lewistown, MT; US Navy, WWII, PTO
#######################################################################################################################################################################################################################################
Posted on December 14, 2020, in Post WWII, Uncategorized, WWII and tagged History, Japan, Military, Military History, Pacific, Pacific War, USA, veterans, war, WW2, WWII. Bookmark the permalink. 143 Comments.
Good story. It should be updated: The last Japanese soldier surrendered in 1974 !
https://www.historynet.com/hiroo-onoda-the-japanese-officer-who-refused-to-surrender-decades-after-wwiis-end.htm
LikeLiked by 1 person
I did a post on Mr. Onoda.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I read a book titled The Survivors around 1970 (dont remember the author) about a newsman who tracked down at least 3 surviving Japanese soldiers in the Philippines and actually got them to surrender. In an epilogue, the author said he had information about a couple of more survivors that he was going to try to contact on his next trip. Unfortunately, he died soon after. Try to wrap your mind around how long the war would have lasted if we had actually had to invade Japan itself, 80% heavily wooded mountains with a large dedicated civilian population! We’d still be at war there today.
LikeLiked by 1 person
After reading the plan for Operation Downfall, I saw where my father’s unit was scheduled to go into Japan and when – to be sure – I would never have been born. They were indeed a formidable enemy.
LikeLike
Thank you so much for this historical account. I wondered how they did when they got back home.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, Geri.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great Read.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you very much.
LikeLike
Thank you very much.
LikeLike
I’m amazed the woman didn’t become pregnant.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I was wondering about that myself.
LikeLike
This has always been such a fascinating chapter in that war…It speaks to the dedication and loyalty of soldiers in general… Did anyone ever follow up on those Japanese soldiers to see how they adapted after being brought back to the world?
LikeLiked by 1 person
There are some stories out there and all I have read had good reactions. It doesn’t seem that they were treated badly for any reason.
I’m happy to see you were so interested.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you.
LikeLike
Pingback: 1951 Japanese Surrender | Pacific Paratrooper – Additional survival tricks