Holdout (Japanese soldiers)

Isolated Japanese soldiers of the Imperial Japanese Army in the Pacific region , who continued the fight after Japan's surrender in World War II in September 1945 , are referred to as holdout (to English hold out , `` to persevere '') or straggler (to English to straggle , `` to remain behind '') they were either unwilling to recognize the legitimacy of formal surrender or did not even find out about it because their communications links had been interrupted by the USA's island hopping strategy .

Individual holdouts continued the fight against the US troops and in some cases later against the local police for years after the end of the war. In 2005 two men were discovered in Southeast Asia who could have been former Japanese soldiers. The last credible holdout in the strict sense was Nakamura Teruo , which surrendered to Indonesian troops in December 1974.

Examples of secured holdouts

• Sakae Ōba surrendered with his unit on the Mariana Island of Saipan in December 1945 . His squad was the last organized Japanese unit to surrender to the Allies .
• Akatsu Yūichi stayed on the Philippines island of Lubang from 1944 to 1951 .
• Murata Susumu was arrested in a hut on Tinian Island in 1953 ; he didn't know about the end of the war.

• Shimada Shōichi, who remained on Lubang, died in a gun battle with soldiers of the Philippine Army in 1954.
• Minagawa Bunzō surrendered on Guam in May 1960 .
• Sergeant Itō Tadashi, Minagawa's superior, surrendered a few days later on May 23, 1960 in Guam.
• Yokoi Shōichi , who had been under Itō's command, was captured on Guam in January 1972.
• Kozuka Kinshichi was shot dead in 1972 in a gun battle with Filipino soldiers on Lubang.
• Onoda Hirō , who had remained on Lubang from 1944 to 1974 together with Akatsu, Shimada and Kozuka, only surrendered on the orders of his former commander in March 1974.
• Nakamura Teruo was discovered by the Indonesian Air Force on Morotai and surrendered to a search party in December 1974.

See also

• Operation Warrior
• Forest man

Web links

• Wanpela Holdout Database (in English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ " 'Japan Soldiers' Found in Jungle" , BBC News Online, May 27 of 2005.
2. ^ "Three Jap Stragglers Hold Out on Tiny Isle," The Lima (O.) News , April 8, 1952, p. 5
3. ↑ Bruce M. Petty: Saipan: Oral Histories of the Pacific War. McFarland & Company, Jefferson 2002, p. 40
4. ↑ “Onoda Home; 'It Was 30 Years on Duty', " Pacific Stars and Stripes , March 14, 1974, p. 7
5. ^ "Japanese Soldier Finds War's Over," Oakland Tribune , May 21, 1960, p. 1
6. ^ "Straggler Reports to Emperor", Pacific Stars and Stripes , June 8, 1960, p. 1
7. ^ "The Last PCS for Lieutenant Onoda," Pacific Stars and Stripes , March 13, 1974, p. 6
8. ↑ Beautiful soldier . In: Der Spiegel . No. 12 , 1974, p. 100 ( Online - Mar. 18, 1974 ).
9. ^ "The Last Last Soldier ?," TIME , January 13, 1975