Burma retreat
Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2007 6:53 pm
Some accounts of what Staff Sergeant Yasumasa Nishiji saw on the road of the retreat through Burma.
''I could not imagine that this was a man who had fought successfully at the battles of Hong Kong and Singapore.
He looked to be deep in thought; in fact, having been exposed to the monsoon, he had reached the limit of mental exhaustion and was merely gazing intently at the water trickling down to his feet.
Though I had prayed he would make it to the river-crossing point, he passed away at the roadside only a short distance from it.’’
‘‘One of the soldiers carrying a stretcher perished – then the soldier on the stretcher died. No one could help them and they could not help anyone. In the end everyone of them perished.
We gradually became acutely aware that there was nothing any of us could do.
Taking ones life seemed the only way out. Soldiers who had no chance of recovery were increasingly pressured to take this path.’’
''In increasing numbers our soldiers fell, physically emaciated and crippled, yet mentally alert. I had heard the locals saying that they exiled their serious offenders to this region in the knowledge that the environment would surely kill them.
We could not simply abandon our dying comrades in a place like this. In our desperation to help them we often ignored orders.
This soldier gave his money to his mates and, light heartedly, told them to buy something to eat when they got away from the front.
After awhile, he crawled to the foot of a tree, holding a grenade.
Without and sign of hesitation, he activated the grenade and ended his life.
Some of his mates who had witnessed the incident cut off a part of his body and left. They probably tried to catch up to the rest of their unit.’’
''I feel much better today, I’ll move on now; you can catch me up later.’
After saying this, the soldier went off alone.
We came across him dead. He had committed suicide in the middle of the road. Since he knew we would walk past he must have been hoping that we would attend to his body. As he had still be able to walk we all felt dismayed at his decision. However knowing his nature, he probably didn’t want to become a burden to his unit.
In tears, some of our young soldiers held on to him.
He was married, with children, and was good natured and amicable; even more so when he had been physically fit.
I had the bewildering thought that perhaps married men were more decisive than single men.
Having witnessed what had happened while resting, a sick soldier told us that he saw the man pull the trigger of his rifle with his big toe.’’
''It became a routine that a soldier who was emaciated and crippled, with no hope of recovery, was given a grenade and persuaded, without words, to sort himself out.
This soldier was so outraged at being given a grenade that he put on his boots and puttees and crawled after his officer screaming, ‘you’ve lorded over me; what have I got in return? I’ll bloody kill you.’ ''
''It often occurred that soldiers took their own lives in pairs. They embraced, placing a grenade between them. We called it double suicide.
This scene reminded me of the painting of ‘The white Tigers’ stabbing each other at Mount Limori.’’
''At dawn, at or encampment alongside the road, some rifle fire was heard. As it was most unlikely that enemy troops were nearby, I ordered one of the privates to go and check it out.
After half an hour or so, he came back. He reported that there had been a double suicide. I asked him why he was carrying a pair of boots and he told me he had taken them off one of the bodies. For quite awhile we had not been provided with any clothes or shoes so we had to manage with what we had; there was already a hole in one of my boots.
Although the private who returned with the boots was older than many of his fellow soldiers he had only been in the army for a short time. I was astonished that this quiet and unassuming man should have removed the boots off a dead comrade and, although I understood that he had done it for me and appreciated his good intention, I certainly could not bring myself to wear them. I do not recall who used them.’’
few more to come
''I could not imagine that this was a man who had fought successfully at the battles of Hong Kong and Singapore.
He looked to be deep in thought; in fact, having been exposed to the monsoon, he had reached the limit of mental exhaustion and was merely gazing intently at the water trickling down to his feet.
Though I had prayed he would make it to the river-crossing point, he passed away at the roadside only a short distance from it.’’
‘‘One of the soldiers carrying a stretcher perished – then the soldier on the stretcher died. No one could help them and they could not help anyone. In the end everyone of them perished.
We gradually became acutely aware that there was nothing any of us could do.
Taking ones life seemed the only way out. Soldiers who had no chance of recovery were increasingly pressured to take this path.’’
''In increasing numbers our soldiers fell, physically emaciated and crippled, yet mentally alert. I had heard the locals saying that they exiled their serious offenders to this region in the knowledge that the environment would surely kill them.
We could not simply abandon our dying comrades in a place like this. In our desperation to help them we often ignored orders.
This soldier gave his money to his mates and, light heartedly, told them to buy something to eat when they got away from the front.
After awhile, he crawled to the foot of a tree, holding a grenade.
Without and sign of hesitation, he activated the grenade and ended his life.
Some of his mates who had witnessed the incident cut off a part of his body and left. They probably tried to catch up to the rest of their unit.’’
''I feel much better today, I’ll move on now; you can catch me up later.’
After saying this, the soldier went off alone.
We came across him dead. He had committed suicide in the middle of the road. Since he knew we would walk past he must have been hoping that we would attend to his body. As he had still be able to walk we all felt dismayed at his decision. However knowing his nature, he probably didn’t want to become a burden to his unit.
In tears, some of our young soldiers held on to him.
He was married, with children, and was good natured and amicable; even more so when he had been physically fit.
I had the bewildering thought that perhaps married men were more decisive than single men.
Having witnessed what had happened while resting, a sick soldier told us that he saw the man pull the trigger of his rifle with his big toe.’’
''It became a routine that a soldier who was emaciated and crippled, with no hope of recovery, was given a grenade and persuaded, without words, to sort himself out.
This soldier was so outraged at being given a grenade that he put on his boots and puttees and crawled after his officer screaming, ‘you’ve lorded over me; what have I got in return? I’ll bloody kill you.’ ''
''It often occurred that soldiers took their own lives in pairs. They embraced, placing a grenade between them. We called it double suicide.
This scene reminded me of the painting of ‘The white Tigers’ stabbing each other at Mount Limori.’’
''At dawn, at or encampment alongside the road, some rifle fire was heard. As it was most unlikely that enemy troops were nearby, I ordered one of the privates to go and check it out.
After half an hour or so, he came back. He reported that there had been a double suicide. I asked him why he was carrying a pair of boots and he told me he had taken them off one of the bodies. For quite awhile we had not been provided with any clothes or shoes so we had to manage with what we had; there was already a hole in one of my boots.
Although the private who returned with the boots was older than many of his fellow soldiers he had only been in the army for a short time. I was astonished that this quiet and unassuming man should have removed the boots off a dead comrade and, although I understood that he had done it for me and appreciated his good intention, I certainly could not bring myself to wear them. I do not recall who used them.’’
few more to come