Aftermath Parit Sulong Massacre

lieutenant ben hackney of 2/29th australian battalion, 1 of 2 men survive massacre.



general takuma nishimura of imperial japanese army, tried , hanged australia in relation massacre in 1951.

lt ben hackney of australian 2/29th battalion feigned death , managed escape. crawled through countryside 6 weeks 2 broken legs, before recaptured. hackney survived internment in japanese pow camps, , part of labour force on notorious burma railway. , 2 other survivors gave evidence regarding massacre allied war crimes investigators.

the commander of imperial guards, lt gen. takuma nishimura, later in charge of occupation forces in eastern singapore. indirectly involved in sook ching massacre in singapore. nishimura retired japanese army in 1942 , made military governor of sumatra. following war, tried british military court in relation sook ching massacre. nishimura received life sentence, of served 4 years. returned japan, nishimura removed ship @ hong kong, australian military police , charged in relation parit sulong massacre. nishimura taken manus island in territory of new guinea, faced australian military court. evidence presented stating nishimura had ordered shootings @ parit sulong , destruction of bodies. convicted , executed hanging on 11 june 1951.

in 1996, australian journalist ian ward published snaring other tiger, suggested australian army prosecutor, captain james godwin—a former royal new zealand air force pilot had been ill-treated pow in sumatra—had manipulated evidence implicate nishimura. ward states godwin took no action on testimony of lieutenant fujita seizaburo, reportedly took responsibility parit sulong massacre. fujita not charged , fate unknown. extensive research conducted professor gregory hadley , james oglethorpe , published in journal of military history in 2007 subsequently showed evidence purported indict james godwin later fabrication created further political causes in 1990s.