Death Death of Subhas Chandra Bose

1 death

1.1 last months indian national army
1.2 last days , journeys
1.3 death in plane crash

death
last months indian national army

map of central burma showing route taken subhas chandra bose , indian national army (ina) group of 500 rangoon moulmein. group traveled in japanese military convoy until reached river sittang. after crossing river, walked remaining 80 miles. @ moulmein, bose, party, , ina group of 500, boarded japanese trains on death railway (which had been constructed earlier british, australian, , dutch prisoners of war) arrive in bangkok in first week of may 1945.

during last week of april 1945, subhas chandra bose along senior indian national army (ina) officers, several hundred enlisted ina men, , hundred women ina s rani of jhansi regiment left rangoon road moulmein in burma. accompanied lieutenant general saburo isoda, head of japanese-ina liaison organization hikari kikan, japanese military convoy able reach right bank of sittang river, albeit slowly. (see map 1.) however, few vehicles able cross river because of american strafing runs. bose , party walked remaining 80 miles (130 km) moulmein on next week. moulmein terminus of death railway, constructed earlier british, australian, , dutch prisoners of war, linking burma siam (now thailand). @ moulmein, bose s group joined 500 men x-regiment, ina s first guerrilla regiment, arrived different location in lower burma.

a year , half earlier, 16,000 ina men , 100 women had entered burma malaya. now, less 1 tenth number left country, arriving in bangkok during first week of may. remaining 9 tenths either killed in action, died malnutrition or injuries after battles of imphal , kohima. others captured british, turned in, or disappeared. bose stayed in bangkok month, after arrival heard news of germany s surrender on may 8. bose spent next 2 months between june , july 1945 in singapore, , in both places attempted raise funds billeting soldiers or rehabilitating them if chose return civilian life, of women did. in nightly radio broadcasts, bose spoke increasing virulence against gandhi, had been released jail in 1944, , engaged in talks british administrators, envoys , muslim league leaders. senior ina officers began feel frustrated or disillusioned bose , prepare quietly arrival of british , consequences.

during first 2 weeks of august 1945, events began unfold rapidly. british threatening invade malaya , daily american aerial bombings, bose s presence in singapore became riskier day. chief of staff j. r. bhonsle suggested prepare leave singapore. on 3 august 1945, bose received cable general isoda advising him urgently evacuate saigon in japanese-controlled french indochina (now vietnam). on 10 august, bose learnt soviet union had entered war , invaded manchuria. @ same time heard atomic bombings of hiroshima , nagasaki. finally, on 16 august, after being informed of unconditional surrender of japan, bose decided leave saigon along handful of aides.

last days , journeys

the last airplane journeys of subhas chandra bose. paths of completed flights shown in blue. on 16 august 1945, left singapore bangkok, siam (now thailand). on either 16th or on 17th morning, flew bangkok saigon, ho chi minh city. on 17 august afternoon, flew saigon tourane, french indo-china, da nang, vietnam. next morning @ 5 am, left tourane taihoku, formosa, taipei, taiwan. @ 2:30 pm on 18 august, left dairen, manchukuo, dalian, china, plane crashed shortly after take off, , bose died within few hours in japanese military hospital. had crash not occurred plane have dropped off bose @ dairen , proceeded tokyo along flight path shown in red.

reliable strands of historical narrative bose s last days united point. however, separate briefly period between 16 august, when bose received news of japan s surrender in singapore, , shortly after noon on 17 august, when bose , party arrived @ saigon airport saigon city board plane. (see map 2.)

in 1 version, bose flew out singapore saigon, stopping briefly in bangkok, on 16th. after arriving in saigon, visited field marshal hisaichi terauchi, head of japanese forces in southeast asia, , requested him arrange flight soviet russia. although until day before, russia had been belligerent of japan, seen, @ least bose, increasingly anti-british, and, consequently, possible base of future operations against british raj. terauchi, in turn, cabled japan s imperial general headquarters (ighq) in tokyo permission, denied. in words of historian joyce chapman lebra, ighq felt unfair of bose write off japan , go on russia after receiving japan. terauchi added in talking bose unreasonable him take step opposed japanese. privately, however, terauchi still felt sympathy bose—one had been formed during two-year-long association. somehow managed arrange room bose on flight leaving saigon on morning of 17 august 1945 bound tokyo, stopping en route in dairen, manchuria—which still japanese-occupied, toward soviet army fast approaching—where bose have disembarked , have awaited fate @ hand of russians.

in version, bose left singapore party on 16th , stopped en route in bangkok, surprising ina officer in-charge there, j. r. bhonsle, made arrangements bose s overnight stay. word of bose s arrival, however, got out, , local members of indian independence league (iil), ina, , thai indian business community turned @ hotel. according historian peter ward fay, bose sat half night holding court—and in morning flew on saigon, time accompanied general isoda ... arriving in saigon, late in morning, there little time visit field marshal terauchi, in dalat in central highlands of french indo-china, hour away plane. consequently, isoda himself, without consulting higher ups, arranged room bose on flight leaving around noon.

in third sketchier version, bose left singapore on 17th. according historian christopher bayly , tim harper, on 17 august issued final order of day, dissolving ina words, roads delhi many , delhi still remains our goal. flew out china via french indo-china. if else failed wanted become prisoner of soviets: ones resist british. fate them .

the mitsubishi ki-21 twin-engine heavy bomber (allies code name sally) subhas chandra bose , habibur rahman boarded @ saigon airport around 2 pm on 17 august 1945.

around noon on 17 august, strands again reunite. @ saigon airport, mitsubishi ki-21 heavy bomber, of type code named sally allies, waiting bose , party. in addition bose, ina group comprised colonel habibur rahman, secretary; s. a. ayer, member of cabinet; major abid hasan, old associate had made hazardous submarine journey germany sumatra in 1943; , 3 others. dismay, learned upon arrival there room 1 ina passenger. bose complained, , beleaguered general isoda gave in , hurriedly arranged second seat. bose chose habibur rahman accompany him. understood others in ina party follow him on later flights. there further delay @ saigon airport. according historian joyce chapman lebra, gift of treasure contributed local indians presented bose board plane. 2 heavy strong-boxes added overweight plane s full load. sometime between noon , 2 pm, twin-engine plane took off 12 or 13 people aboard: crew of 3 or four, group of japanese army , air force officers, including lieutenant-general tsunamasa shidei, vice chief of staff of japanese kwantung army, although fast retreating in manchuria still held manchurian peninsula, , bose , rahman. bose sitting little rear of portside wing; bomber, under normal circumstances, carried crew of five.

that these flights possible few days after japan s surrender result of lack of clarity had occurred. although japan had unconditionally surrendered, when emperor hirohito had made announcement on radio, had used formal japanese, not entirely intelligible ordinary people and, instead of using word surrender (in japanese), had mentioned abiding terms of potsdam declaration. consequently, many people, in japanese-occupied territories, unsure if had changed, allowing window of few days japanese air force continue flying. although japanese , bose tight lipped destination of bomber, assumed bose s staff left behind on tarmac in saigon plane bound dairen on manchurian peninsula, which, stated above, still under japanese control. bose had been talking on year importance of making contact communists, both russian , chinese. in 1944, had asked minister in cabinet, anand mohan sahay travel tokyo purposes of making contact soviet ambassador, jacob malik. however, after consulting japanese foreign minister mamoru shigemitsu, sahay decided against it. in may 1945, sahay had again written shigemitsu requesting him contact soviet authorities on behalf of bose; again reply had been in negative. bose had been continually querying general isoda on year japanese army s readiness in manchuria. after war, japanese confirmed british investigators , later indian commissions of inquiry, plane indeed bound dairen, , fellow passenger general shidea of kwantung army, have disembarked bose in dairen , have served main liaison , negotiator bose s transfer soviet controlled territory in manchuria.

the plane had flown north. time near northern coast of french indo-china, darkness had begun close in, , pilot decided make unscheduled stop in tourane (now da nang, vietnam). passengers stayed overnight @ hotel, , crew, worried plane overloaded, shed 500 pounds of equipment , luggage, , refueled plane. before dawn next morning, group flew out again, time east taihoku, formosa (now taipei, taiwan), scheduled stop, arriving there around noon on 18 august 1945. during two-hour stop in taihoku, plane again refueled, while passengers ate lunch. chief pilot , ground engineer, , major kono, seemed concerned portside engine, and, once passengers on board, engine tested repeatedly throttling , down. concerns allayed, plane took off, in different accounts, 2 pm, , late 2:30 pm, watched ground engineers.

death in plane crash

clipping japanese newspaper, published on 23 august 1945, reporting death of bose , general tsunamasa shidei of japanese kwantung army in japanese-occupied manchuria.

just bomber leaving standard path taken aircraft during take-off, passengers inside heard loud sound, similar engine backfiring. mechanics on tarmac saw fall out of plane. portside engine, or part of it, , propeller. plane swung wildly right , plummeted, crashing, breaking two, , exploding flames. inside, chief pilot, copilot , general shidea instantly killed. rahman stunned, passing out briefly, , bose, although conscious , not fatally hurt, soaked in gasoline. when rahman came to, , bose attempted leave rear door found blocked luggage. decided run through flames , exit front. ground staff, approaching plane, saw 2 people staggering towards them, 1 of whom had become human torch. human torch turned out bose, gasoline-soaked clothes had instantly ignited. rahman , few others managed smother flames, noticed bose s face , head appeared badly burned. according joyce chapman lebra, truck served ambulance rushed bose , other passengers nanmon military hospital south of taihoku. airport personnel called dr. taneyoshi yoshimi, surgeon-in-charge @ hospital @ around 3 pm. bose conscious , coherent when reached hospital, , time thereafter. bose naked, except blanket wrapped around him, , dr. yoshimi saw evidence of third-degree burns on many parts of body, on chest, doubting live. dr. yoshimi promptly began treat bose , assisted dr. tsuruta. according historian leonard a. gordon, interviewed hospital personnel later,:

disinfectant, rivamol, put on of body , white ointment applied , bandaged on of body. dr. yoshimi gave bose 4 injections of vita camphor , 2 of digitamine weakened heart. these given every 30 minutes. since body had lost fluids upon being burnt, given ringer solution intravenously. third doctor, dr. ishii gave him blood transfusion. orderly, kazuo mitsui, army private, in room , several nurses assisting. bose still had clear head dr. yoshimi found remarkable such severe injuries.

soon, in spite of treatment, bose went coma. died few hours later, between 9 , 10 pm.

bose s body cremated in main taihoku crematorium 2 days later, 20 august 1945. on 23 august 1945, japanese news agency domei announced death of bose , shidea. on 7 september japanese officer, lieutenant tatsuo hayashida, carried bose s ashes tokyo, , following morning handed president of tokyo indian independence league, rama murti. on 14 september memorial service held bose in tokyo , few days later ashes turned on priest of renkōji temple of nichiren buddhism in tokyo. there have remained ever since.

among ina personnel, there widespread disbelief, shock, , trauma. affected young tamil indians malaya , singapore, men , women, comprised bulk of civilians had enlisted in ina. professional soldiers in ina, of whom punjabis, faced uncertain future, many fatalistically expecting reprisals british. in india indian national congress s official line succinctly expressed in letter mohandas karamchand gandhi wrote rajkumari amrit kaur. said gandhi, subhas bose has died well. undoubtedly patriot, though misguided. many congressmen had not forgiven bose quarreling gandhi , collaborating considered japanese fascism. indian soldiers in british indian army, 2 , half million of whom had fought during second world war, conflicted ina. saw ina traitors , wanted them punished; others felt more sympathetic. british raj, though never threatened ina, try 300 ina officers treason in ina trials, backtrack in face of own end.