When World War II ended in 1945, senior Nazi leaders were held accountable at the famous Nuremberg trials while Japanese officials appeared at the Tokyo trials. In addition, the Allies conducted hundreds of trials of Japanese soldiers who committed the atrocities, the beatings and the beheadings.

The first such trial held in Singapore was for the atrocities against Indian prisoners of war on the Palau islands north of Papua New Guinea. This trial began on January 21, 1946, when the Red Fort trials were already underway in Delhi at which the British had accused some men who had joined the Indian National Army of treason and atrocities against fellow Indian soldiers.

The British wanted to show that they were fair and defending the rights of Indian soldiers. The trial in Singapore did not get much attention in India, so did not have the effect the British desired. But it served as an important reminder of the conditions to which Indian prisoners of war had been subjected.

The court was presided over by three judges, who were also the jury. They were all military officers: two Britons and Captain RD Kohli, 2nd Punjab Regiment. When the proceedings began, the ten Japanese defendants ranging in rank from Captain Gozawa to Lance-Corporal Chima all shouted “not guilty”.

The prosecution and defense were military officers with legal experience, all British. The prosecution described what happened. On May 5, 1943, they said, 2,000 Indian prisoners of war in Singapore boarded the Thames Maru, a Japanese freighter with no facilities to carry human cargo.

Packed into the cargo holds divided into spaces three-feet high, the men could neither sit nor sleep properly. They were fed a bowl of rice with maggot-infested radish, given two cups of water a day. There were only two lavatories for all 2,000 of them. Hundreds fell sick and many died.

After 34 days, when they reached the Palau islands, only 522 Indian prisoners of war under Major Waheed Khan of the 1st Hyderabad Infantry, mostly from his battalion and the 2/12 Frontier Rifles disembarked. Their Japanese commander was one of the accused, Captain Gozawa Sodaichi. Twenty eight other Indian prisoners of war joined during their ordeal. Of the total of 550, only 437 survived.

At the Singapore trial, the first charge was that about half of the deaths occurred in the months after their arrival in the Palau islands due to conditions on board the ship. Initially shocked at being asked to defend the Japanese officers, their lawyers knew that they were obliged to do their utmost so they gained their trust and put up a strong fight. They got one of the 10 defendants off for lack of evidence. About conditions on board the ship said the man responsible was its captain and not Sodaichi.

The next charge was that on April 27, 1944, the Japanese accused the Indians of stealing sugar and beat them up in retaliation. Due to this, said the prosecution, eight men died a few weeks later. On this, the defense said that evidence was based on written affidavits on which names of the Japanese accused were misspelt. Were the Indians actually talking about the same man?

They also pointed out that the prosecution witnesses could not correctly identify the Japanese accused in court, a serious matter. Lastly, they added that the allegation that eight men had died was baseless, as they had not even been named.

The prosecution also highlighted the beheading of Sepoy Mohammad Shafi. It said that in mid-April 1945, Lance-Corporal Chiba overheard Shafi making plans to escape and took him away to the Japanese camp. A week later, he was seen tied to a tree being beaten by Chiba and Lieutenant Nakamura who had by now taken over from Captain Sodaichi.

The next morning, at around 10 am, Chiba had four Indian prisoners of war dig a trench, Shafi blindfolded and his hands tied behind back was taken there. Chiba was holding the end of the rope. Shafi was made to kneel and Nakamura beheaded him with one stroke.

Nakamura then told Major Waheed Khan what had happened. He said the men would be very concerned and some explanation must be given. Nakamura returned in a couple of hours and handed over a handwritten statement in English (in which he was fluent), saying he had read it out to men.

Nakamura’s version was quite different. He did not deny beheading Shafi. But he said that Sodaichi, who had been authorised to take any disciplinary action, even capital punishment to maintain order, had approved. He claimed that the Indians had agreed to this.

The defense said Nakamura had been following orders and Chiba had not even been accused of participating, just holding the rope, something he denied doing.

In the end, the court found eight Japanese officers guilty. Before sentencing, Sodaichi said he was surprised by the statements of the Indians who he thought were friends. He added that his men were following his orders, so only he should be held to account.

The court sentenced Nakamura to death for the beheading, Chiba to seven years for his role in it, Sodaichi to 12 years and the camp doctor to two years for “acts of omission rather than commission” unworthy of his profession. The four other men who beat the Indians for stealing sugar got three and six years.

Nakamura was hanged on March 4, 1946, at Changi prison by an Indian guard at 9 am. The other Japanese officials served their sentences in Singapore.

Gautam Hazarika is a Singapore-based author whose book on the Indian Army Prisoners of World War II is being published by Penguin India and Pen & Sword UK in 2025. He can be contacted at ghazarika70@yahoo.com.sg.