Takuma Nishimura | |
|---|---|
 General Takuma Nishimura | |
| Native name | 西村 琢磨 |
| Born | (1889-09-12)12 September 1889 Fukuoka,Japan |
| Died | 11 June 1951(1951-06-11) (aged 61) Manus Island,Territory of Papua and New Guinea |
| Cause of death | Execution by hanging |
| Allegiance |  Empire of Japan |
| Service |  Imperial Japanese Army |
| Years of service | 1910–1942 |
| Rank | Lieutenant General |
| Commands | Indochina Expeditionary Army,Imperial Guard Division |
| Battles / wars | World War II |
| Other work |
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Takuma Nishimura (西村 琢磨,Nishimura Takuma, 12 September 1889 – 11 June 1951) was a Japanesearmy general in theImperial Japanese Army duringWorld War II, active in theinvasion andoccupation ofBritish Malaya. After theJapanese surrender, he was tried and convicted inBritish Singapore as awar criminal for his role in theSook Ching massacres. After four years imprisonment he was handed toAustralian authorities for trial on theParit Sulong Massacre andexecuted by hanging by the then AustralianTerritory of Papua and New Guinea.
A native ofFukuoka prefecture, Nishimura was a graduate of the 22nd class of theImperial Japanese Army Academy in 1910, and subsequently attended Army Engineering School. He graduated from the 32nd class of theArmy Staff College in 1920. He served most of his career in various staff and administrative posts within theImperial Japanese Army General Staff.
Nishimura served as presiding judge at thecourt-martial of army officers responsible forthe assassination ofPrime MinisterInukai Tsuyoshi in 1932. The defendants all received light sentences. For this he was apparently rewarded later with command of theImperial Guards Division, a prestigious post.[citation needed]
From 1936 to 1938, Nishimura was commander of the 9th Infantry Regiment, and from 1938 to 1939 commanded the 1st Heavy Field Artillery Brigade. He becameChief of Staff of the Eastern Defense Army from 1939 to 1940.[1] Promoted toMajor General in 1940, Nishimura was commander of theIndochina Expeditionary Army in theinvasion of French Indochina in 1940. He was promoted toLieutenant General in 1941.
During 1941, Nishimura commanded the 21st Independent Mixed Brigade, and then theImperial Guard Division during theMalayan campaign. During theBattle of Muar, the Imperial Guards killed 155 Australian andIndianprisoners of war in an event known as theParit Sulong Massacre.
Following thesurrender of Allied forces in Singapore, Nishimura was in charge of the eastern half of Singapore Island, during the period in which theSook Ching massacre took place. Nishimura himself was often at odds with the commander of the25th Army, GeneralTomoyuki Yamashita, at times engaging in conduct that seemed deliberately insulting.[2] As a result, his division was denied the Emperor's Victory Citation, and he was recalled to Japan and forced to retire in April 1942.
From June 1943 – February 1944, Nishimura was appointed governor of theShan States in northernBurma. From February 1944, Nishimura was appointed Japanese military Governor ofSumatra, a post he held until the end of the war.
After the end of the war, Nishimura was tried by a Britishmilitary tribunal inSingapore for the events related to theSook Ching massacre. He was found guilty of war crimes, and was sentenced tolife imprisonment, of which he served four years in Singapore before being sent back toTokyo to complete his sentence.
As he was being repatriated toJapan, Nishimura was forcibly removed from a ship atHong Kong by Australianmilitary police and brought before an Australian military tribunal onManus Island, where he was investigated with events in connection to theParit Sulong Massacre. Although Lt. Hackney who had survived theParit Sulong Massacre was shown Nishimura's photo, Hackney could not determine that Nishimura was the culprit. Nowadays in Japan, Nishimura's photo as a war criminal is often insisted to be probably one of another person. Hiroshi Kato, a former Japanese journalist, claims that this error seems to have already occurred at the Manus Island camp.[3] It is unclear if this photo was the same one Hackney saw, but it is possible that Hackney saw a photo that was already wrong. After all, other evidence was discovered stating that Nishimura had ordered the shootings at Parit Sulong and the destruction of bodies. Nishimura was charged, found guilty and was executed byhanging on 11 June 1951.
In 1996, Australian journalist Ian Ward suggested that theAustralian Army prosecutor,CaptainJames Godwin—a formerRoyal New Zealand Air Force pilot who had been ill-treated as a POW in Sumatra—had "manipulated" evidence to implicate Nishimura. Ward's impressions were prompted by fabricated evidence from a U.S. lobbyist seeking compensation for Japanese POWs.[4][5] Ward also claimed that Godwin took no action on the testimony of Lieutenant Fujita Seizaburo, who reportedly stated that he was directly responsible for the Parit Sulong massacre. Fujita fled and was not charged. Fujita's fate is unknown.
Extensive research conducted by Professor Gregory Hadley and James Oglethorpe and published in theJournal of Military History in 2007 subsequently showed that the evidence that purported to indict James Godwin was a later fabrication created to further political causes in the 1990s.[6]
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