After the war a War Crimes Tribunal was set up and its findings were published two years later. These gave a general description of what happened in the Far East. One sobering fact they mention is ‘the extent of the atrocities and the result of the lack of food and medical supplies is exemplified by a comparison of the number of deaths of prisoners of war in the European Theatre with the number of deaths in the Pacific Theatre. Of United States and United Kingdom forces, 235,473 were taken prisoners by the German and Italian Armies; of these, 9,348, or 4%, died in captivity. In the Pacific Theatre, 132,134 prisoners were taken by the Japanese from the United States and United Kingdom forces alone, of whom 35,756, or 27% cent, died in captivity’.

In my novel I describe a little of the torture inflicted by the Japanese forces. This was not imaginary. The subsequent War Crimes Tribunal said this on the subject.

‘The practice of torturing prisoners of war and civilian internees prevailed at practically all places occupied by Japanese troops, both in the occupied territories and in Japan. The Japanese indulged in this practice during the entire period of the Pacific War. Methods of torture were employed in all areas so uniformly as to indicate policy both in training and execution. The Japanese Military Police, the Kempetai, was most active in inflicting these tortures.’

Among these tortures described in the Tribunal were:

‘The so-called “water treatment” was commonly applied. The victim was bound or otherwise secured in a prone position; and water was forced through his mouth and nostrils into his lungs and stomach until he lost consciousness. Pressure was then applied, sometimes by jumping upon his abdomen to force the water out. The usual practice was to revive the victim and successively repeat the process.’

‘Torture by burning was practiced extensively. This torture was generally inflicted by burning the body of the victim with lighted cigarettes, but in some instances burning candles, hot irons, burning oil and scalding water were used. In many of these cases, the heat was applied to sensitive parts of the body, such as the nostrils, ears, abdomen, sexual organs, and in the case of women, to the breasts.’

‘The electric shock method was also common. Electric current was applied to a part of the victim’s body so as to produce a shock. The point of application was generally a sensitive part of the body such as the nose, ears, sexual organs or breasts.’

‘The so-called knee spread was a frequent method of torture. The victim, with his hands tied behind his back, was forced to kneel with a pole, sometimes as much as three inches in diameter, inserted behind both knee joints so as to spread those joints as pressure was applied to his thighs, at times by jumping on his thighs. the result of this torture was to separate the knee joints and so cause intense pain.’

‘Kneeling on sharp instruments was another form of torture. the edges of square blocks were mostly used as the sharp instruments, the victim was forced to kneel on these sharp edges for hours without relief; if he moved he was flogged.’

‘Removal of the nails of the fingers and toes also occurred.’

‘Flogging was the most common of the cruelties of the Japanese. It was commonly used at all prisoner of war and internee camps, prisons, Kempetai headquarters and at all work camps and on all work projects, as well as aboard prison ships. It was indulged in freely by the guards with the approval and often at the direction of the Camp Commandant or some other officer. Special instruments were issued for use in flogging at camps; some of these were billets of wood the size of a baseball bat. On occasions, prisoners were forced to beat their fellow prisoners under the supervision of the guards. Prisoners suffered internal injuries, broken bones, and lacerations from these beatings. In many instances, they were beaten into unconsciousness only to be revived in order to suffer a further beating. the evidence shows that on occasions prisoners were beaten to death.’

‘Mental torture was commonly employed. After having been subjected to the various other forms of torture, they were taken one at a time and marched blindfolded a considerable distance. The victim could hear voices and marching feet, then the noise of a squad halting and lowering their rifles as if being formed to act as a firing squad. A Japanese officer then came up to the victim and said: “We are Knights of the Bushido of the Order of the Rising Sun; we do not execute at sundown; we execute at sunrise.” The victim was then taken back to his cell and informed that unless he talked before sunrise, he would be executed.’

There were other crimes mentioned but these are too graphic and dreadful to mention on this site.