Fortunately, I wasn't around at that time but my father definitely was.
He was an infantry medic during the SWPA campaign and, to his dying day, for numerous reasons, he never forgave the Japs.
He did tell me that, if one had been selected for beheading, one should have considered it a privilege.
Lesser mortals were used for bayonet practice.
At subsequent War Crimes trials, one of the most common defences offered was "military necessity".
Probably as a consequence of some of the things he told me, during my business dealings with the Japanese, I decline to bow before their menfolk.
p.s. Sergeant Siffleet, pictured above, was an Australian special operative and 'coastwatcher' who'd been operating behind enemy lines in the Aitape
area on the north coast of New Guinea.
That photo was found on the body of a Japanese officer in 1944.
.
Last edited by Stanwell; 1st Aug 2016 at 19:35.