Eroding Morale (Jap WW2 Leaflet)

[Ganmain Tony]

G'day everyone,

Thought this was an interesting curiousity. A Japanese card/leaflet designed to facilitate & no doubt encourage the surrender of their opponents.

The pictures are of both sides of the leaflet. Which has been laminated, making it difficult to photograph.

[Tony Smith]

For some reason, the Japanese have omitted Step 5?

Caption: "A Japanese working party (prisoners) excavates Pit No 1 at Mass Grave No 4 site, where the bodies of 61 Australian and Dutch servicemen, executed by the Japanese in February 1942, following their successful invasion of Ambon, were interred. A member of the Australian War Graves Maintenance Unit, Private Henderson (right foreground squatting), endeavours to determine the relationship of bones found intermingled in the burial pit. In the background, other remains are being examined as a guard from the 63rd Australian Infantry Battalion looks on. In the right middle distance one of the recovered skulls has a small, almost circular, hole above the left temple. This mass grave is located south west of Tawiri Village in the Laha area, and was found by the 63rd Australian Infantry Battalion on 7 December 1945, following information received."

And: "Aitape, New Guinea. 24 October 1943. A photograph found on the body of a dead Japanese soldier showing NX143314 Sergeant (Sgt) Leonard G. Siffleet of "M" Special Unit, wearing a blindfold and with his arms tied, prior to being beheaded with a sword. The Japanese soldier to Siffleet's left is Chief Petty Officer Watanabe Teruo. A group of local men and Japanese stand and crouch in the background. The execution was ordered by Vice Admiral Kamada, the commander of the Japanese Naval Forces at Aitape. Sgt Siffleet was captured with Private (Pte) Pattiwahl and Pte Reharin, Ambonese members of the Netherlands East Indies Forces, whilst engaged in reconnaissance behind the Japanese lines. The executioner, Yasuno Chikao, died before the end of the war."