The Allied Reoccupation of French Indo-china SE6914

Japanese Surrendered Personnel (JSP) is a designation for captive Japanese soldiers (similar to

Disarmed Enemy Forces Disarmed Enemy Forces (DEF, less commonly, Surrendered Enemy Forces) was a US designation for soldiers who surrendered to an adversary after hostilities ended, and for those POWs who had already surrendered and were held in camps in occupied Ger ...

and

Surrendered Enemy Personnel Surrendered Enemy Personnel (SEP) is a designation for captive enemy soldiers (similar to Disarmed Enemy Forces). It was most commonly used by British forces towards German forces in Europe, and towards Japanese and associated forces in Asia after ...

). It was used in particular by the British Army to refer to Japanese forces in Asia which had surrendered after the conclusion of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

Military and other labour

The concept of "Japanese Surrendered Personnel" was developed by the Japanese Government and proposed to the Allies at the conclusion of the Second World War. Imperial Japan's field service code and strong social norms prohibited military personnel, including senior officers, from being taken prisoner. The Allies accepted this proposal, as it was also advantageous to them even though the status lacked a legal basis. JSP were not subject to the Prisoner of War Convention, and had no legal protections. The JSP were used until 1947 for labour purposes, such as road maintenance, recovering corpses for reburial, cleaning, preparing farmland, repairing bombed airfields, and maintaining law and order until the arrival of Allied forces to the region. Allied servicemen are known to have persecuted JSP through forced labour, without rest, in harsh conditions, forcing them to dispose of human waste, and by permitting them only animal feed and sometimes withholding meals. Japanese POW in Java during 1946

After the war the United Kingdom quickly moved to regain control of its territories in Asia that had been captured by the Japanese, and also worked to ensure that the Dutch and French could regain control of their respective territories. Due to British manpower shortages post-1945, JSP were often pressed into combat service alongside British troops in Asia.

Louis Mountbatten Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (25 June 1900 – 27 August 1979) was a British naval officer, colonial administrator and close relative of the British royal family. Mountbatten, who was of German ...

took on 35,000 Japanese troops into his command in Indonesia. Retaining their wartime organisation and led by Japanese officers they fought alongside the British, with one Japanese soldier even being recommended for the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, ty ...

as early as November 1945. The recommendation was given by General

Philip Christison General Sir Alexander Frank Philip Christison, 4th Baronet, (17 November 1893 – 21 December 1993) was a British Army officer who served with distinction during the world wars. After service as a junior officer on the Western Front in the Fir ...

for Japanese battalion commander Major Kido. Other examples of action include the Japanese company led by Captain Yamada had been deployed to

Magelang Magelang () is one of six cities in Central Java that are administratively independent of the regencies in which they lie geographically. Each of these cities is governed by a mayor rather than a ''bupati''. Magelang city covers an area of 18. ...

to assist the British forces stationed there; Japanese Kempeitai (military police) used to guard camps in

Buitenzorg Bogor ( su, , nl, Buitenzorg) is a city in the West Java province, Indonesia. Located around south of the national capital of Jakarta, Bogor is the 6th largest city in the Jakarta metropolitan area and the 14th overall nationwide.

, Japanese artillery units used for offensives in

Bandung Bandung ( su, ᮘᮔ᮪ᮓᮥᮀ, Bandung, ; ) is the capital city of the Indonesian province of West Java. It has a population of 2,452,943 within its city limits according to the official estimates as at mid 2021, making it the fourth most ...

, and the Bandoeng garrison that was reinforced by 1,500 armed Japanese. JSP troops saw action in

Semarang Semarang ( jv, ꦏꦸꦛꦯꦼꦩꦫꦁ , Pegon: سماراڠ) is the capital and largest city of Central Java province in Indonesia. It was a major port during the Dutch colonial era, and is still an important regional center and port today ...

, Ambarawa, and

. Being aware of the potential questions that would be raised if it was discovered that they were using the same troops they had just fought against as laborers and soldiers, the Allies worked successfully to conceal the extent of Japanese involvement in these post-war activities. The Allied Reoccupation of French Indo-china SE6908

The Allied Reoccupation of French Indo-china SE6908

The retention of JSP by the British forces was carried out in spite of the repeated questioning of its validity by the American forces. The US made use of up to 80,000 Japanese prisoners of war in the Philippines for the duration of 1946, at one time even lowering the area priority for shipping and rerouting shipping to the British South East Asia Command to slow the rate of repatriation (while increasing the rate for prisoners held by the British).

JSP Operations in Vietnam

Japanese Surrendered Personnel operated in the War in Vietnam of 1945–1946. They played a key role in supporting British,

British Indian British Indians are citizens of the United Kingdom (UK) whose ancestral roots are from India. This includes people born in the UK who are of Indian origin as well as Indians who have migrated to the UK. Today, Indians comprise about 1.4 mil ...

and French Imperial forces in what was the time

French Indochina French Indochina (previously spelled as French Indo-China),; vi, Đông Dương thuộc Pháp, , lit. 'East Ocean under French Control; km, ឥណ្ឌូចិនបារាំង, ; th, อินโดจีนฝรั่งเศส, ...

. The operation – Operation Masterdom as it was commonly known – was overwhelmingly successful and led to the restoration of French rule in Indochina. Casualties were estimated at at least 2,700 personnel dead for the

Viet Minh The Việt Minh (; abbreviated from , chữ Nôm and Hán tự: ; french: Ligue pour l'indépendance du Viêt Nam, ) was a national independence coalition formed at Pác Bó by Hồ Chí Minh on 19 May 1941. Also known as the Việt Minh Fro ...

and less than 100 total for the allied forces.

Relevant publications

Several memoirs and other works relevant to the issue have been published. The most famous in Japan, which has been translated into English, is that by Aida Yuji, ''Prisoner of the British. A Japanese Soldier’s Experience in Burma''.''Prisoner of the British. A Japanese Soldier’s Experience in Burma'', trs.Hide Ishiguro, Louis Allen, Cresset Press, London 1966.

References

Citations

Works consulted