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Sergeant Siffleet's execution at Aitape, 1943
Fareastdriver (#9020),
...When I was in Borneo the local village of Sepulot in the middle of Sabah had a memorial to a Liberator crew.............This was kept in pristine condition, the barrel being regularly polished, by the local Murats...
It is touching to read of the folk memory of gratitude which these peoples cherish for the Allied aircrew who were trying to free them from Japanese brutalities in WWII.
...When you were galloping around Burma did you know at the time what happened to aircrew that were captured or was it kept away from you?...
No, it was well known that execution was probably to be our fate if we fell into Japanese hands. There was at the time, a famous photograph of a RAF Sgt-Pilot in Burma, patiently kneeling blindfolded, while a Japanese officer "addressed" his target with his sword, much as a golfer "addresses" the ball before the swing.
Above is a pic, filched from Wiki, of a similar incident in Borneo, but it is not the same one. The question was: how did these photographs, obviously taken by the Japanese, come into our possession during the war. They must have been planted as propaganda in some way.
Danny.