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wo 235/833: Ikuma Tomoshige (井熊朝重) , Tsuruha Saneo ((鶴羽真夫)
and Matsunaga Matao (松永权雄)
LABUAN
8-10 APRIL 1946
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ACCUSED
1) W.O. (Warrant Officer) Ikuma Tomoshige (井熊朝重) 2) Sgt. Maj. Tsuruha Saneo (鶴羽真夫) 3) Sgt. Matsunaga Matao (松永权雄) CHARGE(S) Involved in killing of civilians VICTIM(S) Balwant Singh Gokal Singh Leong Chung Fah DATE(S) OF CRIME(S) 9 June 1945 LOCATION(S) OF CRIME(S) Kuala Belait, Borneo (now Brunei) LOCATION OF TRIAL Labuan TRIAL DATE(S) 8, 9, 10 April 1946 PRESIDENT Lt. Col. R.L. Le Gallais, Barrister-at-Law, DJAG India* * Royal Northumberland Fusilliers MEMBERS Maj. M.H. Day, 3rd Bn., 8th Gurkha Rifles Capt. B.J.S.B. Hartsborne, Royal Engineers 92 Field Company, R.I.E. |
DEFENCE
Col. Yamada Yoshimori (山田義盛) WITNESS(ES) FOR PROSECUTION Edith Agnes Chong Mrs Leong Chung Fah Robert Chin Bagwan Singh John G. Bridger (Interpreter, No. 8 War Crimes Investigation Team) WITNESS(ES) FOR DEFENCE W.O. (Warrant Officer) Ikuma Tomoshige Sgt. Maj. Tsuruha Saneo Sgt. Matsunaga Matao Capt. Kasai Tsuguwo Petition from Col. Machiguchi Taku (Commander Borneo Kempeitai) PLEA Not guilty VERDICT Guilty SENTENCE W.O. (Warrant Officer) Ikuma Tomoshige – Death by shooting Sentence carried out at 5.57am, 22 May 1946, Labuan Sgt. Maj. Tsuruha Saneo – Life imprisonment Sgt. Matsunaga Matao – 5 years imprisonment |
The accused were attached to the Kuala Belait Kempeitai, with W.O. Ikuma as second in command, Tsuruha and Matsunaga being his subordinates. Following a report from Sgt. Sagae (full name not given), also of the Kuala Belait Kempeitai, to Capt. Kasai Tsuguwo, chief of the Miri Kempeitai, orders were issued from Kasai to Ikuma to arrest and detain the three named victims for being spies and engaging in anti-Japanese activities. The three men were arrested on/around the 10 May 1945.
Balwant Singh was Assistant Surgeon at the Kuala Belait Hospital (formerly British Military Police Hospital prior to the Japanese occupation). He was accused of allegedly “assisting bad civilians” and of stealing medicines from the hospital to treat civilians. [From testimony of Edith Agnes Chong, widow of Balwant Singh.]
Gokal Singh had previously been attached to the Kuala Belait Police and had the rank of sergeant. During the Japanese occupation, he was a watchman at the Kuala Belait Iron Work and allegedly had access to arms and men under his command. According to the Japanese, he was planning an insurrection/rear guard action in the event of Allied landings.
Leong Chung Fah was a Sanitary Inspector with the Health Department of Kuala Belait during the British administration. He was alleged to have incited anti-Japanese sentiments by organising gatherings at his residence and encouraging others not to cooperate with the Japanese.
The prosecution characterised the three men as “very loyal citizens of our Empire” and charged that no real evidence of anti-Japanese activities by the three men were proven by the Japanese. In defence of the accused, Col. Yamada Yoshinori argued that the investigation and interrogation conducted by Sgt. Sagae following the men’s arrests had concluded with the three men admitting to their subversive activities and signing confessions. (It should be noted that no written evidence confirming this was produced, likely because documents at the Kempeitai HQ were destroyed in anticipation of Allied landings.)
Balwant Singh was Assistant Surgeon at the Kuala Belait Hospital (formerly British Military Police Hospital prior to the Japanese occupation). He was accused of allegedly “assisting bad civilians” and of stealing medicines from the hospital to treat civilians. [From testimony of Edith Agnes Chong, widow of Balwant Singh.]
Gokal Singh had previously been attached to the Kuala Belait Police and had the rank of sergeant. During the Japanese occupation, he was a watchman at the Kuala Belait Iron Work and allegedly had access to arms and men under his command. According to the Japanese, he was planning an insurrection/rear guard action in the event of Allied landings.
Leong Chung Fah was a Sanitary Inspector with the Health Department of Kuala Belait during the British administration. He was alleged to have incited anti-Japanese sentiments by organising gatherings at his residence and encouraging others not to cooperate with the Japanese.
The prosecution characterised the three men as “very loyal citizens of our Empire” and charged that no real evidence of anti-Japanese activities by the three men were proven by the Japanese. In defence of the accused, Col. Yamada Yoshinori argued that the investigation and interrogation conducted by Sgt. Sagae following the men’s arrests had concluded with the three men admitting to their subversive activities and signing confessions. (It should be noted that no written evidence confirming this was produced, likely because documents at the Kempeitai HQ were destroyed in anticipation of Allied landings.)
Above: Statements from the accused. Death warrant of W.O. Ikuma Tomoshige.
On the 9 June 1945, amidst Allied bombardment of Seria oilfield and air raids, Ikuma gave the order to execute the three men. Tsuruha and Matsunaga escorted the men from the police station to the Kempeitai HQ. That evening, the men were taken one by one to some trenches near the beach, a stone’s throw from the HQ, and beheaded; Sgt. Sagae executed Balwant Singh and Gokal Singh, while Chief of Police Hashimoto executed Leong Chung Fah. Tsuruha, in his defence, testified that he had acted as look out for the execution party but had not participated in the killings. Matsunaga testified he had only been involved in escorting the men to HQ and was burning documents and records at the time the executions were carried out. (This was supported by Tsuruha’s testimony.)
Defence witness Capt. Kasai Tsuguwo’s testimony did not help the men, in particular W.O. Ikuma. He testified that he had indeed ordered Ikuma to have the men executed if they attempted to escape, or if they could no longer be held as prisoners in the event of an Allied landing, but denied that he had given a direct order for their execution. Ikuma, in his defence, cited the fraught conditions at the time, with Allied bombings and air raids, also of Allied patrol boats being sighted off Kuala Belait. As the unit had to evacuate to a post at 4th mile off Seria Road, he could not risk transferring the prisoners for fear they might escape. During cross examination, he admitted that Allied landings had not yet occurred when he gave the order for the executions.
Robert Chin, Edith Chong’s son, testified that he saw the men being taken to the “jungle near the beach” and that he had followed the execution party and the victims for a ways until he had become frightened and turned back. He claimed he had seen both Tsuruha and Matsunaga among the execution party.
In a petition to mitigate the sentence, Col. Machiguchi Taku, Commander of the Kempeitai 37 Army in Borneo, pleaded that the accused “should not be punished personally as general criminals; I, their commander, am responsible for all the actions of M.P.s under my command.” Defence counsel Yamada characterised the accused “as simple-hearted sons of farmers” who had simply followed superior orders.
On 18 January 1946, Edith Agnes Chong (widow of Balwant Singh), her son Robert Chin, Bagwan Singh (nephew of Balwant Singh), Leong Chung Fah’s widow, along with their friends, Arthur S. Connor and Lim Tek Gek, searched the area near the beach and found the bodies of Balwant Singh and Leong Chung Fah. Gokal Singh’s body was not found. The decomposing corpses were identified through personal artifacts; e.g. Balwant’s tweed jacket and a ‘Aspro’ pill wrapped in paper in his trouser pocket (his wife had sent him six of these same pills when he was held at the police station gaol), while Leong Chung Fah was found with his wedding ring (which had his wife’s name inscribed on it), a handkerchief and a crucifix. Mrs Leong described searching through “a rubbish dump… tins, broken bottles, fishing rope” until they came across a “lower jaw… arm bones… body in semi-decay state in folded position.” Leong’s hands were tied with fishing ropes, and there was evidence that he had been stabbed or bayonetted as “we found holes in the singlet and shirt.” The witnesses confirmed that the men were beheaded. When they found Balwant’s remains, his “head was below and the body on the top.”
Defence witness Capt. Kasai Tsuguwo’s testimony did not help the men, in particular W.O. Ikuma. He testified that he had indeed ordered Ikuma to have the men executed if they attempted to escape, or if they could no longer be held as prisoners in the event of an Allied landing, but denied that he had given a direct order for their execution. Ikuma, in his defence, cited the fraught conditions at the time, with Allied bombings and air raids, also of Allied patrol boats being sighted off Kuala Belait. As the unit had to evacuate to a post at 4th mile off Seria Road, he could not risk transferring the prisoners for fear they might escape. During cross examination, he admitted that Allied landings had not yet occurred when he gave the order for the executions.
Robert Chin, Edith Chong’s son, testified that he saw the men being taken to the “jungle near the beach” and that he had followed the execution party and the victims for a ways until he had become frightened and turned back. He claimed he had seen both Tsuruha and Matsunaga among the execution party.
In a petition to mitigate the sentence, Col. Machiguchi Taku, Commander of the Kempeitai 37 Army in Borneo, pleaded that the accused “should not be punished personally as general criminals; I, their commander, am responsible for all the actions of M.P.s under my command.” Defence counsel Yamada characterised the accused “as simple-hearted sons of farmers” who had simply followed superior orders.
On 18 January 1946, Edith Agnes Chong (widow of Balwant Singh), her son Robert Chin, Bagwan Singh (nephew of Balwant Singh), Leong Chung Fah’s widow, along with their friends, Arthur S. Connor and Lim Tek Gek, searched the area near the beach and found the bodies of Balwant Singh and Leong Chung Fah. Gokal Singh’s body was not found. The decomposing corpses were identified through personal artifacts; e.g. Balwant’s tweed jacket and a ‘Aspro’ pill wrapped in paper in his trouser pocket (his wife had sent him six of these same pills when he was held at the police station gaol), while Leong Chung Fah was found with his wedding ring (which had his wife’s name inscribed on it), a handkerchief and a crucifix. Mrs Leong described searching through “a rubbish dump… tins, broken bottles, fishing rope” until they came across a “lower jaw… arm bones… body in semi-decay state in folded position.” Leong’s hands were tied with fishing ropes, and there was evidence that he had been stabbed or bayonetted as “we found holes in the singlet and shirt.” The witnesses confirmed that the men were beheaded. When they found Balwant’s remains, his “head was below and the body on the top.”
ADDITIONAL NOTES
DOCUMENTS AVAILABLE ONLINE FROM INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT (ICC)
https://www.legal-tools.org/doc/5aea8c/
Abstract of evidence and charge sheet only
- It was not addressed in court as to why Chief of Miri Kempeitai Kasai had given the orders to W.O. Ikuma, who was second in command at the Kuala Belai Kempeitai, as opposed to the chief of the Kuala Belait Kempeitai, Hashimoto, directly.
- Sgt. Sagae was not produced in court as his whereabouts were unknown. According to accused testimonies, he did not evacuate with the unit.
- C.P.O. (Chief Police Officer ) Hashimoto was also not produced in court and it was not confirmed if he was among Japanese POW. (Tsuruha mentioned in his testimony that he had heard that Hashimoto was detained at the Jesselton camp. Hashimoto’s whereabouts was not considered or confirmed at trial.)
- I have not found any other war crimes trial pertaining to Sgt. Sagae and C.P.O. Hashimoto concerning this incident.
DOCUMENTS AVAILABLE ONLINE FROM INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT (ICC)
https://www.legal-tools.org/doc/5aea8c/
Abstract of evidence and charge sheet only