The Manchurian Myth (Rana Mitter)

A little after 10.30 pm on September 18, 1931, a bomb went off at a section of the railway line belonging to the Southern Manchuria Railway. Although located in Manchuria, the railway was the property of the Japanese, having secured it from the Russians after the Russo-Japanese War. The event was the brainchild of two army officers from the Kwantung Army, Ishiwara Kanji (石原莞尔) and Itagaki Seishiro (板垣征四郎). Their intention was to create an excuse for the Kwantung army to send their troops into Mukden (now Shenyang) as part of their plan to occupy Manchuria. This is today known as the Mukden Incident or Manchurian Incident (9-1-8 Incident as known to the Chinese, 九一八事变). This incident would launch the 15-Year War with China, as it is known in Japan.

Manchuria was made up of the Three Eastern Provinces of China (东三省) and was the power-base of Zhang Xueliang (张学良), popularly known as the 'Young Marshal' (少帅). Zhang had a good-size army, but was told not to resist the Japanese. Zhang himself was not in Fengtian, the capital of Shenyang when the incident took place and neither were his deputies. In a short time, the Kwantung Army occupied Fengtian and in a few months, the rest of the three provinces.The Incident would precipitate a long list of discussion topics and scholarly research including the effectiveness of the League of Nations, the motivation of Chiang Kaishek, then leader of China, the stain on Zhang's reputation hence, and so on. Few, however, ventured into the lives of the Chinese caught in the unexpected turmoil, fewer have explored their attitudes towards the occupation.

In this book, Professor Rana Mitter attempted just that. But more, he wanted to explore why many in the occupied provinces even collaborated with instead of resisting the Japanese. This is dangerous grounds to tread. No Chinese today today would admit to not resisting or at least hating the Japanese during the occupation. As such, the author could only look to official documents, newspapers, records and also known events to reconstruct the climate in Manchukuo, as the three occupied provinces were known after they were made a puppet state by the Japanese. Prof Mitter's research question was this: how was the Kwantung Army, with relatively few troops in the area, able to control an area over 350,000 square miles with a population of 30 million with it own strength alone? Did they enlist the help of the local population since help was unlikely to come from Japan given the Japanese government's extreme disapproval of the incident?

Indeed the Kwantung Army was able to enlist widespread collaboration of many Chinese including the elites (pg. 6), local leaders (pg. 72), local warlords like Ma Zhanshan, and one might even argue, Chiang himself, for his assent to the Tanggu Truce was tacit agreement to the Japanese occupation. The commoners were however, largely indifferent; this applies to those from either side of the border separating intramural China (关内) from the three eastern provinces. The elites and students in intramural China were indignant to the occupation but the commoners were not really concerned.

This is a complex problem. Although in contemporary China, everyone considers the three eastern provinces as integral to China, this was not always the case. While the Qing Dynasty was by then no more, the Manchus, who originated from the three eastern provinces, after differentiating themselves deliberately from the Han Chinese, made it difficult for the Han Chinese in the 1920s and 30s to see the three provinces as part of China proper. The occupation of the provinces did not appear to many Chinese as a violation of their own country (pg. 187). Even among those living in the occupied provinces, who by then were overwhelmingly Han Chinese (pg. 23), there was little evidence of active resistance. This might be down to two principal reasons. Firstly, the fear of reprisal. The Japanese were ready to take extremely brutal measures against those suspected of engaging in subversive activities (pg. 112-113). Secondly, non-resistance could mean that life went on as usual and in some cases, life even got better than under Zhang (pg. 56, 119, 122, 124). Adding to this was the fact that only a small portion of the locals had enough knowledge to understand what was going on (pg. 99), it therefore comes as no surprise that Manchukuo was more or less peaceful in its years. This state of affairs was similarly depicted by Cordes (2013) in his travelogue where he described the indifference he witnessed among the Chinese in Manchukuo, painfully living their cheap lives which could be taken away from them at any moment. This was also more or less how Chi (2004) depicted the lives of the Chinese in her novel. Some were resentful of the Japanese, but they largely went on living their lives by avoiding the Japanese where possible.

Which goes counter to the contemporary narrative from China about the determined resistance and even uprising against the Japanese. And if there was indeed resistance, it was mainly through propaganda efforts made by the elites and students in intramural China, far away from Manchukuo. Armed resistance was carried out by bandits who were ever ready to plunder the commoners when necessary and at times they would think nothing of switching sides (pg. 175). Organised armed resistance was dominated by people with nothing to lose, the bankrupt peasants and bandits (pg. 197).

But lest one thinks that Chinese were generally unpatriotic and would gladly identify with the Japanese, it must be stressed that they were never in doubt of their identity. Against the reality of the non-resistance policy of Chiang, what could a commoner do? Help was not forthcoming from the own government (KMT) nor from their most recent ruler (Zhang) and even less likely from an noncommittal League of Nations (see the findings of the Lytton Commission). Life had to go on, so most went about it pragmatically, fully aware of the Japanese presense and brutality but finding a way to cope.

Prof Mitter can be an engaging writer. This is evident from his other book, Forgotten Ally: China's World War II, 1937-1941 (Mitter 2013). But the book under review is adapted from this PhD thesis and I must say that theses are seldom written to engage. While I'm sure this book has been edited for readability, the thesis undertone is still widely felt. Having said that, one must recognise the value of the work. If nothing, it presents the complexity of nationalism in China then. In contrast to what is popularly brandished about today, Chinese in all strata of the society were able to adjust and accommodate the reality of Japanese occupation. We are not talking about a few black sheeps, we are talking about a whole society. This is unlikely to be palatable to the Chinese government of today. They have conscientiously sought to portray that part of history as one of Japanese brutality and Chinese resistance. Some strategies they have used include blaming Chiang for his policy of non-resistance (correctly in my view) and instead using his army to pursue the Communists, and fervently referring to Manchukuo as 伪满洲国 (fictitious Manchukuo) to stress its illegitimacy (compare the title of Chi's novel in the Chinese and the Taiwanese editions). The truth, at least at the commoners' level, is more of ambivalence on one side of the border and trying to maintain life as usual on the other.

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Chi, Z. J. (迟子建) (2004). 伪满洲国. Beijing, China, 人民文学出版社.

Cordes, E. (柯德士) (2013). 沉睡的与惊醒的“满洲国”. Liaoning, China, 辽宁人民出版社.

Mitter, R. (2013). Forgotten Ally: China's World War II, 1937-1945. NY, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

父亲与我 （尤今）

You Jin (尤今) is a prolific Singaporean author whose genre spans short stories, fiction, travelogues and autobiography, among others. She is not a historian and did not claim to write this book as a piece of scholarly historical work. This is a book that is divided into two parts, the first about her father and his days as a member of Force 136, and the second on the life of her parents.

The first part is her arrangement of her father's (Tham) diaries and documents left from his days in Force 136, a branch under the Special Operations Executive (SOE) that operated in Malaya behind the enemy lines during the Second World War. Tham was an important member of Force 136 that was given training in special operations in China and India before returning to Malaya with fellow operatives in 1943.

The purpose of Tham's return to Malaysia was to set up a communications channel with the British Command, then in India in preparation for an eventual British landing in Malaya. But it was not the intent of this book to explore this issue in depth, rather, Tham's diaries provide readers with a very good peek into occupied Malaya between 1943 and 1945 particularly how the anti-Japanese militias with which Force 136 co-existed, lived and evaded capture. Ironically, this group of comrades would become the Malayan Communists Party after the war and would be pursue with deadly force by the British.

Personally, I feel that the most interesting parts of the books were on the few interactions Tham and members of Force 136 had with the populous. First of all, there was this divide between the Chinese and the other races. The Malays more or less went about life as usual and in fact viewed the Chinese with suspicion (pg. 60). Whether it was because of natural enmity or for fear that the Chinese would bring trouble to them because the Japanese tended to treat Chinese more cruelty is unclear. However, one experience with the Indians is instructive. On one occasion, in order not to arouse suspicion, Tham and his colleagues had to pretend that they were Japanese, shouting unintelligible Japanese, cowing the local Indians into silence (pg. 57). The enmity might therefore have also sprouted from the fact that the Malays and Indians could not tell Chinese and Japanese apart. Secondly, among the Chinese there also seemed to be people who were able to get on with life rather undisturbed by the Japanese, this is contrary to the more common narrative of popular Chinese resistance.

In fact knowing now that the British did not make any serious attempt to retake Malaya, one has to wonder about the agency of Force 136. What exactly did they achieve as operatives in Malaya? The current historical narratives surely make quite a big deal of them. There is no doubt their life was hard and fraught with danger and on many occasions they had to suffer deprivation and pain. But in the end did they matter? This would be an interesting area to explore in future.

Leading the team of operatives was John Davis, CBE, DSO. This Englishman, who could speak Cantonese, not only struck up a good relationship with the members of Force 136, on many occasions he provided strong leadership to the group. Whether it is going off to look for water in hostile territory (pg. 16) or getting everyone out of a the jungle when the local guides were lost (pg. 60), one can see that it was he who the rest of the team looked up to. His story is told in Margaret Sheenan's (2008) book Our Man in Malaya.

The story of Force 136 has been recounted in several books (see for example Chen & Tan, 1995; Taylor, 1989; Trenowden, 1983) and this one adds in a small way to that body of literature. But its contribution is more of a first-hand account of the operatives' life in Malaya. Although it was a bit too brief for me, this serves as a good introduction to a topic that a reader may want to delve deeper into in future.

(Find this book at Goodreads) 

Chen, C. and Tan, C. T. (1995). Force 136: Story of a WWII Resistance Fighter. Singapore, Asiapac Books Pte, Ltd.

Shennan, M. (2008). Our Man in Malaya: John Davis, CBE, DSO, Force 136 SOE and Post-War Counter-Insurgency. UK, The History Press.

Taylor, C. G. (1989). The Forgotten Ones of South East Asia Command & Force 136. NY, Hyperion Books.

Trenowden, I. (1983). Malayan Operations Most Secret Force 136. UK, Heinemann.

民國史抗戰篇：烽火八年 (唐德剛)

This book is a selection of Professor Tong Te Kong's works. Some are papers published in journals, others are his papers presented at conferences and a few were his editorials in the newspapers; there are even a couple of letters he wrote in reply to people who wrote in with comments about his works.

Professor Tong was born in China in 1920 and was in his teens in the tumultuous years when China was resisting Japan. He attained his PhD in Columbia University and stayed on in the US, becoming a naturalised citizen. This background is important because being an American citizen, he had the freedom to write without having to take sides, Chinese or Taiwanese. This is an important quality when one writes about China's modern history, for both sides (less the Taiwanese nowadays) try to narrate the story from their own perspectives, leaving one an incomplete if not biased picture of the history not made up by the narrative from the other side. 

Although a collection of essays, Prof Tong's position is a consistent one and the chronoligcal arrangement of the essays makes following the events easy. To the author, once the Japanese were given a foothold on the Asian mainland, opportunities were abundant for all kinds of conflict with the Chinese armed forces, and the Japanese (especially the Kwantung Army) made use of it to the fullest (pg. 21), culminating in the Marco Polo Bridge Incident that kicked-off the Second Sino-Japanese War proper. However, the situation following the incident was not only a series of battles, there were also political intrigues and double-crossing. The most famous of these no doubt is Wang Jingwei's defection from the KMT setting up an alternative government in the fallen Nanjing. A good number of chapters dealt with this and since one of the players was Prof Tong's father-in-law, his account of the incident has added weight. The value of these few chapters is not just in the special insights he was able to give, but his good analysis of why Wang is today considered the traitor of the first order. And it is just as well that a significant part of this book is on this treachery for if there is a thread running through the book, it is that of duplicity.

Besides Wang's own betrayal, there was also Chiang himself dabbling in such some rather dubious episodes when the need arises. His own management of the situation with the Japanese is a case in point. On the one hand he whipped up the nationalistic fervour among the students but on the other he sent his agents to talk peace with the Japanese (pg. 30). A similar ploy was employed when he was dealing with the Americans. At that stage though he was deep in the war with the Japanese, when it suited him, he would intentionally give the Americans the impression that he might seek a separate peace with the Japanese (pg. 303) just so that he could continue to blackmail the Americans.

However, the most chilling instance of betrayal of all was how Stalin might have dealt with China. It is not generally known, but it was said in the book (pg 261) that Stalin contemplated a deal with Japan in which they would split China into two, much like how he and Hitler split Poland. This is not something beyond Stalin, and if it happened, the history of China and indeed, the Second World War would be different. In the end, the only ones that seem to be straight-dealing are the Germans. (There is a story about the Oskar Trautmann, ambassador of Germany to China that bears reading, pg. 170).

Having been brought up on a diet of Western scholastic journals, I was rather amused by the style of Prof Tong. The Chinese language, like English, has been increasingly 'simplified' to make it 'user-friendly'. Prof Tong however, continued to write in a more traditional way and while sacrificing
'user-friendliness', he has shown me how the Chinese language, when used correctly, can be  economical but elegant. Yet at the same time, he used words that one would never see in Western scholastic work, such as the Chinese version of 'bullshit' (pg. 257).

Prof Tong gave a balanced in writing this book, being a scholar who must have intimate contact with colleagues from China, Taiwan and Japan, he has honed the skills required to carefully present his case while avoiding unnecessarily upsetting anyone. Despite that, when he thinks that his case is strong, he would not hesitate to say it for what it is. As an example, he was not afraid to give an unflattering description of the KMT soldiers (pg.13) or to smash the common CCP narrative of how much they contributed in resisting the Japanese (pg. 270). Yet at the same time, where credit is due, he would not be stingy about it (pg. 174). Similarly, while he obviously had great respect for the Young Marshal Zhang Xueliang (whom he had a chance to interview), he was quite ready to say that Zhang was naive (pg. 183) and even rash (pg. 353) in .

The author was obviously learned, just a clarification on whether the Marco Polo Bridge was supposed to be 《卢沟桥》 or 《芦沟桥》could be the subject of a paper that quoted very good examples. His own experience as a teenager in the war, his relations to people who were important players in those days, and his work as an oral historian all contributed to his huge base of knowledge. Add to this his very interesting and engaging style, I find his books well-worth reading and cannot wait to start on his other books in my collection.

"The reporter knows nothing but probes persistently hoping to hit the sweet spot which will induce the interviewee to start talking. The researcher, on the other hand, starts with a hunch. He probes in the hope of hitting the sweet spot which will cause the interviewee to bottle up, and that's it, the hunch is confirmed."
- Prof Tong on the difference between a reporter and a researcher (pg. 105)

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Guns of February (Henry Frei)

The Malayan Campaign involved three major parties: the allied forces, the Japanese army, and the civilians caught in the crossfire. The story from the allied perspective have been told in numerous books, spanning the view at the strategic level (Kirby, 1980; Allen, 1977) right down to the tales of the ordinary soldiers fighting the Japanese on land (Chapman, 1949) and in the air (Cull & Sortehaug, 2003). Similarly, the civilian side of the story has been richly documented, if not in English, then translated (Shinozaki, 1992; Chew & Lim, 1992). The story of the Japanese, on the other hand, tends to be less heard of. Besides one important albeit self-serving account that was written by the Chief Planner of the campaign, Col. Tsuji Masanobu (1988) that has been translated, little else has emerged.

Conspicuously missing is an account from the ordinary Japanese soldier. It appears that the dearth is not just a result of the lack of translation, but the Japanese soldiers seems rather reticent about their experience in the Malayan Campaign compared to their western counterparts. This book, Guns of February: Ordinary Japanese Soldiers' Views of the Malayan Campaign & the Fall of Singapore 1941-42 is an attempt to fill this gap. Collated from diaries of those who were there, archival materials, and also interviews, this book presents a picture of the Japanese that is generally unknown.

The Japanese war machine at its peak between the end of 1941 and the middle of 1942 appeared almost invincible with soldiers like mechanical and robotic cogs acting mindlessly in unison in the big machinery. Perhaps not known to us are that many of these soldiers are individuals who like soldiers in all other conscripted armies are prone to attitudes ranging from fanaticism, to obedience, to indifference. And then there are also those who bully others, malinger, and others who just think that the whole enterprise was stupid.

The characters covered in this book range from junior officers (Onichi) to NCOs (Tsuchikane) right down to the private soldier (Miyake), each unsurprisingly, displaying an amount of fervour commensurating with their ranks. But wherever they were in the hierarchy, it was difficult for them to kill unarmed people at the first. Along the way however, they learned to justify their acts, for how does one know whether those running away in the dark were combatants or civilians? Yet when it came to Sook Ching there was universal agreement that it was on the insistence of Masanobu that it was carried out. This stain would forever stay with the Japanese army, and would not be erased by their victory over the British against huge odds. What is creditable is that they all admitted that the event took place, and even having taken part in it.

The late Prof Henry Frei was an academic and this book can be taken as a scholarly work but written in the style of a novel. It is short, easy to read and importantly, it succeeds in putting a face to the Japanese soldier, whether they are judged man or beast, machines they are not. They also experience the camaraderie that exists between men in war and this came out strongly in the final scene of the battle for a certain Hospital Hill (which I suspect is Alexandra Hospital where a massacre would take place after it was overrun). I shall not spoil it for readers who are interested in picking up the book.

The Japanese side of the story is probably written quite extensively but in Japanese. Historians and enthusiasts alike who cannot read Japanese miss out on an important dimension of this history. It is my wish that more of such works would appear and we will all benefit from a more holistic understanding of the war.

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百年家族-张学良 （李翠莲）

This is yet another book on the Young Marshal, Zhang Xueliang, this time written by a Chinese scholar (as compared to Taiwanese). Although most of the book is on the Young Marshal, the first quarter of it is on his father, Zhang Zhuolin. The inclusion of the elder Zhang is useful, for it gives the reader the background of the Young Marshals' life, his upbringing and in particular how his father has influenced the direction of his life.

Any book on Zhang Xueliang would not miss the Xi'an Incident, and to a lesser extent, the Manchurian Incident, this book is no exception. However, the author took a broader view of Zhang's life and so did not give a disproporationate amount of attention to just these two incidents. Instead, she focused on the various important events that took place throughout his life, including his more than half century of internment and more importantly, the different people that are important in his life: his father, his first wife Yu Fengzhi, his second wife Edith Zhao, his siblings and most all, Chiang.

Although there was no chapter dedicated to Chiang, he was mentioned throughout the book and invariably in a bad light. All decisions made cast him as a devious, selfish and crafty leader, unworthy of a loyal and somewhat naive Zhang. As a book published in China shortly after the Cultural Revolution, it is not surprising that the author took on such a position and tone. Unfortunately this makes the book come across as biased and may lead the reader to devalue it as a resource. Zhang made several decisions that could be interpreted in different ways, and he was vague about them in later life in various interviews. But while the author made him look patriotic and compassionate throughout, sometimes even naive against the indespicable Chiang, one must remember that Zhang is not incapable of duplicity. For example, how does one interpret his back-channel and eventually direct communications with the Communist while serving as the deputy to Chiang who had overall command of the KMT army? How does one look at Zhang's hedging of bets during the Central Plains War (中原大战) as he twiddled his thumbs and decalred that he would support Chiang if Chiang could take Jinan (济南) (pg 185)?

Having said that, this book is actually packed with good facts and information, especially with regards to the dates and events. This shows good research which unfortunately is weakened by an overly anti-Chiang interpretation on the author's part.

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昭和史第二部（上）(半藤一利/林錚顗)

This is the first volume of the second set of Showa Shi by Kazutoshi Handō. The first set dealt with Japan's decent into the Second World War, this set, particularly the first volume, deals with the few years after Japan's surrender and occupation by the USA. The major threads in this book are the life of the Japanese in the immediate aftermath, the drafting of Japan's new constitution, the Tokyo Tribunal, and the Korean War and its effects on Japan.

It is important to stress that the author was there when it happened, he was a thirteen year old boy who was too young to be enlisted when the war was going on, and so he was instead made to work in an ordnance factory. Being  old enough to experience the life after Japan's defeat, his story has the element of realism to it, not to mention that the author is also a persuasive one. Although what he said represented his own feelings, it gives the reader a sense of how others might have felt as well. The immediate end of the war brought tears (pg 12), which came from a mix of relief, regret, and just uncertainty. After years of war, some, especially the those in the army, would not accept that this was the end (pg 16). Civilians, on the other hand, had wanted it to be over for a long time. Yet when it came, the uncertainty that surrounds the cessation of the war threw many of them into despair.

But there were also those who were quick to switch their tone. Shortly before the war, the army was still encouraging everyone to sacrifice for the Emperor. Immediately after the surrender, the establishment was dissolved almost without incident (pg 19), it makes one wonder what was really in the mind of  Japanese Army brass and the common soldiers near the end. The biggest irony was how, in order to protect the women from the American occupying force, the police actually persuaded some to become prostitutes (pg 20). They expected the worst from the occupying force, that, can be taken as a reflection of themselves as an occupying force in other countries. But the general condition of the people was tough, and after many years of oppression, even the weather forecast on the radio was greeted with welcome, it was a small step towards normality (pg 22).

With that described, the author then moved on to a few important themes that were important to the aftermath of the war. The first of these is the meeting between General MacAurthur and the Emperor Hirohito.

From the Japanese perspective the Emperor certainly admitted his guilt to MacAurthur, and small actions, prevalent in a society as nuanced as Japan, can reflect this position. For example, Hirohito did not drink the coffee offered to him, that's a show of accepting his submissive position as a loser of the war (pg 41). Beyond this meeting, there were many occasions when the author tried to show that the Emperor was ready to face the consequences of surrender but many other Japanese were terrified of what the occupying force would do to him. They were almost obsessive about trying to ensure that he would not be tried by the allies. In fact, it appears that MacAurthur never intended to put the Emperor on trial, and the earlier worries were all unfounded.

The second theme was on the drafting of a new Japanese Constitution. In the first place, the Japanese were not even able to interpret the word as the Americans meant. To them, Constitution meant the make-up, or an organisation (pg 110), not as understood by the Americans. This confusion would extend to even the tone used in the recording of minutes (pg 170) and how seemingly unrelated events were interpreted by the Japanese. There were times when in the middle of discussions, B25s would fly overhead, the Japanese would take it to be a warning (pg 173) to relent to the Americans' position or be bombed again. And then there would be times when the Americans' would joke about using atomic energy to get some warmth and this, obviously insensitive even to me, was naturally taken to refer to the atomic bombs, a reminder again to the Japanese that the Americans held absolute power over them.

The exercise to redraft a new constitution was fraught with difficulties. Two groups of people were trying to draft the new constitution, one was appointed, one was self-appointed (pg 115). There were also people who thought that they should just do what the Americans wanted them to and then after the Americans leave, they could re-draft the whole constitution (pg 119). There were other difficulties, no one wanted to touch the issue of the position of the Emperor and so they procrastinated and delayed (pg 128). MacAurthur eventually lost patience and thought that the Americans should do the job (pg 160) but they did not tell the Japanese, leading to huge consternation among the Japanese.

While the constitution was being drafted, there was already a huge re-education exercise going on. The belief then was that Japanese education has indoctrinated everyone with militarism, leading them to fanatically fight a devastating war and so the whole curriculum must be revamped. Unfortunately with all wholesale obliteration exercises, the good are removed with the bad. There were actually good things about the original curriculum in moral education, but since the idea was to remove all the vestiges of the old, those that had thought good values were also removed (pg 135, 138).

This also extends to the position of the Emperor who hitherto had been like a God to the populace. After the Emperor abdicated from this position, people were wondering what to do, how to position their Emperor. Could they now just write to him and ask him to solve the problem of their hunger? Where would they write to, the palace? There are also social impacts. The democratisation of gender and age, giving all the same rights fundamentally changed the Japanese society. The older ones who would have been given more rights suddenly found themselves left with nothing much (pg 199). When it came to the removal of people linked to the war from their jobs, most of the head of organisations were removed. Although many were to later re-emerge as important people in the cabinet or in business, for a while most organisations were left with second-tier people and many, in order to escape persecution, turned other people in (pg 141).

One more humourous incident related by the author was on the textbooks used by the students. While all curriculum was to be revised, in the meantime the government was not able to pay for the printing of new textbooks, so the students had to continue using the old textbooks. But it is the policy that certain words relating to militarism must not appear. So these were painted over in black. But since there were so many of them in the textbooks, after the exercise, the whole textbook has become black (pg 62).

The part of the book that was most informative was on the Tokyo Tribunal. I have not read another book on this topic but have always assumed it to be a very serious affair and while the author did not try to trivialised it, one could not help noticing somehow that there were some rather dumbfounding moments. Most people would know that there were 28 accused in the tribunal, but few knew that  the Russians wanted to add another 2, and since there were only 28 chairs, two of the 28 in the original list were removed (pg 28).

The author gave his views of the purpose of the tribunal, first by stating his understanding of the its purpose. 1. To judge Japan's modern history, 2. As a ceremony for revenge, 3. As a part of re-education of the Japanese. The irony was the prosecution wanted to pronounce the defendants guilty, but the defendants themselves wanted to protect the emperor and were not averse to admitting guilt and so the motivations were aligned. Notwithstanding that, the author was particularly unhappy about the first charge - "As leaders, organisers, instigators, or accomplices in the formulation or execution of a common plan or conspiracy to wage wars of aggression, and war or wars in violation of international law". To him, unlike Germany, Japan's cabinet changed numerous times during the war, it was therefore difficult to accept that there was a conspiracy. This charge was fine for the Nuremburg Trial, but it was used forcefully in the Tokyo Tribunal because it was a precedence and a convenient one to sentence the accused to death. Since the Japanese did not agree to this charge, they honour the 8 convicted defendants in the Yakusuni Shrine (靖国神社).

Two other interesting points were raised by the author. Firstly, he speculated about what would happen if the cases were judged by the Japanese. Given the general aversion to war and the military then, more could have been sentenced to death. Secondly, and more tragically, the north-south divide in Korea and Vietnam all came about because of the need to let the Japanese surrender to the allies. In both cases, it was decided that the Japanese on the north of a certain latitude would surrender to the Russians, and those on the south would surrender to either the Americans or the British. None would be able to foresee the tragic consequences.

How did the Japanese view their guilt? The concept of 一億总忏悔, one hundred million people feeling guilty together, lulled the rest of the world into thinking that the Japanese really took a serious view of their war guilt. But since 'one hundred million' shared the collective guilt, everyone felt less guilty (pg 27). In addition, while the re-education of the Japanese made many wonder - did we really do this? (pg 93), it also gave them a chance to think, like the Germans, that they themselves were not so bad, It was the army that was bad (pg 94).  And really, to wonder about one's war guilt when he is hungry to the point of starvation is just unthinkable, most are more interested in filling their stomachs (pg 96).

This is an educational book written by an author who is not afraid to call to task his own people for perpetrating much suffering to victims of their atrocities. Yet where he felt that history has misunderstood the Japanese people, he would not hold back from correcting these views. His most valuable contribution comes from explaining the views of the Japanese people, their feelings, and bring to light their subtlety in everyday interactions and how this shaped how Japan became in the aftermath of the war.

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伪满洲国(迟子建)

This is a story about the lives of a cross-section of people in Manchukuo when it existed between 1932 and 1945. The author gave a very broad sweep of people from various social classes to give readers an idea of how people in the different strata of society lived their lives in a state that functioned more like a Japanese colony. All were affected in some ways, the poor more than the rich as the rich inevitably have better connections. But besides being more adversely affected, the poor were also affected much earlier than the rich. For the rich, as long as the Japanese were winning the war, life carried on more or less as it used to be. For the poor though, many were already forced enlisted into the many labour teams used by the Japanese to build the facilities and infrastructure that they needed. The labourers joined up either because they were deceived by the promises of food and lodging or because they had nowhere to hide from the militias going after them. Villagers who were not enlisted fared worst; what was left of their grains were forcibly taken and many were killed indiscriminately.

What makes the book truly a compelling read is how individuals were depicted in the book. Structured into 14 chapters (over the 14 years of Manchukuo's history), each carrying 6 sections, and each section focusing on one person or a group of people as they lived through the years, one can see how lives of different people changed along with the destiny of Manchukuo, or more accurately, Japan. The lives of some of the characters crossed path, while those of others did not, but everyone has a story and collectively,  their stories tell the story of Manchukuo.

With great nuance, the author explored the individuals and how they felt about life then. People like 王亭业 (pg 3) and 张容彩 (pg 26) harboured animosity towards the Japanese, but were careful about expressing their feelings publicly. Pragmatic ones among the populace would cooperate if not for actual rewards which can come in the form of extra food, (see pg 371), then just to stay out of trouble, happy to let others do the resisting (pg 35). But there were others who collaborated, yet where they could, they tried to help their own (pg 434). Of course there were also those who took up arms by joining the militia. Unfortunately in this book, their plight invariably involved a life of hardship, deprivation and in many cases, betrayal leading to torture and death.

Most intriguing to me has got to be the way the author depticted specific Japanese characters. Although there is a general negative portrayal of the faceless Japanese military man, when it came to individuals, the author was a lot more nuanced. There was one that did research on living and dead humans in the notorious Unit 731 (北也南次郎) and had no compunction about watching his subjects suffer the most inhuman treatment, all because of his passion for his research. But he too was to exhibit some feelings especially after establishing a curiosity about Patient 26 (王亭业). His friend 羽田, on the other hand, is perhaps more paradoxical. As a Japanese military personnel, he defied that general image of cruelty and arrogance to always save his feelings for that one special girl who gave him that lucky scarf. Throughout his time in Manchukuo, he did not participate in any of the excesses commonly associated with Japanese soldiers. It makes one wonder about the motives of the author in her inclusion of this character.

One particular character stood out ironically despite his relative immunity from the political and military upheavals. 胡二 started off as a bandit, but after an operation that went wrong largely because of him, he escaped into the mountains with his abducted wife. From then on, his life would have its ups and downs mainly due to his inability to control his libido. This is an interesting character that would be usually missed out in books depicting lives of people in those times for his life was unscathed despite the great political turmoils and human sufferings. For that I credit the author for being able to give the story of Manchukuo a wholesome treatment, almost missing out no one. But more, I credit the author for so skillfully placing this character in the reader's heart. One that would be easy to dislike, if not hate, yet through his love for his family, especially his son, his big-heartedness in his business dealings, and his generousity towards a Japanese fugitive at the end of the story, he redeems himself in the eyes of the reader making the reader feel for him, and if it carries some reluctance, there is a lot more forgiveness.

At the start of the story, an old man gave his two grandsons two halves of a mirror just before they left home to pursue their own careers. They were to reunite the two halves of the mirror as a commitment to their own reunion. Alas, the two halves of a mirror were united, only that they were in the hands of two other people. Like the story of China and Manchukuo, the three north-eastern provinces would eventually reunite with the rest of China, but it would be through a long and tortuous path. And despite all the sufferings and death in the book, one hopes for live to be better.

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A Comparison of Two Books: All Hell Let Loose (Sir Max Hastings) - The Second World War (Antony Beevor)

What does one do after years of research, having collected piles of documents from the archives, stacks of scholarly and journalistic articles, gigabytes of interview records on different aspects of the same war? A logical thing to do would be to put them all down in a book that gives the reader an overview of the whole war. This was precisely what two prominent and important British authors have done. Both Sir Max Hastings and Antony Beevor are well-known for their scholarly research and clear and engaging writing. Both published their books on the Second World War in close succession and are therefore bound to attract comparisons.

But in a genre that is already well-served over the past 70 years, what can these authors add notwithstanding their respective knowledge and appreciation of the war? Here they are both clear about what they would bring to the table. Sir Hastings tries to depict the experiences of the common people in the war, be they soldiers or civilians, while Beevor offers a higher level view of the war, in an effort to show how the world was involved and affected in this war, and why it was aptly called the Second World War.

Sir Hasting's books are always interesting to read. As a non-native English speaker, I always find much to learn from his books. Not just in terms of the contents, but also from his command of the English language which is economical and precise. He is always able to find the right words which would lead the reader into the world he is trying to describe, and to feel the emotions he is depicting (unfortunately for the French, in this book they came out the worse for it.)

The author is successful in bringing out the story of the common man, military, civilian or victims. From French soldiers feeling bored as they waited for any kind of action to take place (pg 27), to British soldiers feeling frustrated that nothing seem to go right (pg 55). From the elation of victory felt by the German soldier when they were seemingly invincible (pg 133) to the fear and resignation when they finally got pushed back to the ruins of Berlin (pg 601). From a Japanese soldier's idealism that they were the chosen ones to die for their Emperor (pg 643) to their indifference to cannibalism of their own in order to stay alive. From the American soldier's feeling of extreme loneliness stranded on some pacific island (pg 260) to the revenge that the Russian soldier is determined to exact in Germany (pg 617).

The civilians had their own experiences, be it the Polish exasperation at why they were rounded up (pg 21), or the British life of deprivation throughout the years as they stood alone. The Leningraders' disillusionment with their leaders while they starved in the middle of the 3-year long siege (pg 173), or the Berliners' enduring nightly bombardment wanting the war to just be over (pg 513).

Antony Beevor succeed equally admirably in his book in giving his readers an appreciation of the geopolitical situations on the different continents which eventually amalgamated into this one big war. However, Beevor would not leave it at this level, this is one big war but at the same time has parts that are related but not necessarily linked, and in some cases, what happened before the war can ultimately have a great impact on the outcome of the war once it is fought.

His introduction of the individual, a Korean by the name of Yang Kyoungjong, fighing in a Wehrmacht uniform, shows the link that spanned across different theatres in that war. Yet his reference to Nomonhan (pg 15) and on the same page, to Polish opportunism bring home the intricate connection of events related to the Second World War across time and space. Despite that, the outcome or the lives lost in one theatre seems almost inconsequential to those in another. The Americans fighting and dying in a brutal battle in the Pacific would find victory in Europe irrelevant (pg 618). The Chinese, dying by the millions, would eventually find their story fitting but tenuously in the grander World War Two narrative (pg 552).

Beevor's approach allowed him to make some generalisations and conclusions about countries and their people (pg 400). Sir Hastings did not aspire to that, he wanted to go down to the individual, many of whose lives appear cheap beyond description, to see how they lived, coped, and in many cases died because of decisions made by people whom they would not get to meet.

Perhaps one way to differentiate between the two books is to say that while Antony Beevor showed his readers that though related, the parts of the Second World War do not form a coherent story all the time, Sir Max Hastings, showed that as different as the ideologies, motivations and terrains in the different regimes and theatres, the individuals' experience is not that different. Everyone involved would suffer deprivation, fear, loneliness, pain, both physical and emotional, elation, and despair. Both books are good companions of each other, even where the same sources or quotations were used, the two authors used them to highlight different aspects of the war. For that, it is not enough for one to say that he or she has read one, and so need not read the other.

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Being Singaporean, I am always interested in the Asian side of the war. While not as well researched as the American-related theatres in the Pacific War, the fall of Singapore is nevertheless adequately covered by many writers and scholars. China, however, enjoys no such attention (but see Paine 2012 and Mitter 2013). The rather scanty coverage on China in these 2 books (although Beevor gave it a more in-depth treatment that Sir Hastings) does not occur to me as an omission. I interpret it as evidence of the awkward situation China was in at that time.

Although people were dying in huge numbers, some in the hands of the Japanese, others from the civil war, and many others from starvation, it would not be until the end of 1941 when China was treated as an ally simply because she was fighting the enemy of the Western democracies. Yet very shortly her role would again be relegated to one of secondary at best and irrelevant at worst. When the Chinese army lost most of its engagement with the Japanese, when the Red Army hardly featured in any meaningful way against the Japanese, when China's leader and the regime he ran was known widely to be corrupt, when the strategy of pitting overwhelming numbers against the Japanese like the Russians did against the Germans did not produce comparable results, when the American Navy alone was able to strangle Japan, this outcome is to be expected.

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(Find The Second World War at Goodreads)

Kranji War Memorial

The Kranji War Memorial bears the names of more than 24,000 casualties of the Commonwealth forces who died during WW2 in the South-East Asian Theatre. Of these, 4,500 were buried and Kranji.

The road leading to the memorial

Gardeners maintaining the cemetery, a bunch of students in the background

The buildings faintly visible in the background are in Johor, where Japanese came to Singapore from

It is one thing to read from books about the different regiments that fought here. 8th Division of the 22nd Brigade sounds very real when one sees it inscribed on a headstone. It is hard to put my head around the many British Regiments that fought in the defence of Singapore. Here are examples, starting with the Australian forces.

Australia

Royal Australian Air Force

2/18 Infantry Battalion (Australian Imperial Force)

Royal Australian Naval Reserve

Great Britain

Air Vice Marshal Pulford - Royal Air Force

HMS Prince of Wales

HMS Repulse

HMS Sultan

HMS Indomitable

Royal Army Chaplain

Army Catering Corps

Royal Army Medical Corps

Royal Army Ordnance Corps

Royal Army Service Corps

Royal Artillery

The Border Regiment

Craftsman

The Pioneer Corps

18th Reconnaissance Corps

The Cambridgeshire Regiment

The East Surrey Regiment

The Gordon Highlanders

135th Hertfordshire Yeomanry

The Leicestershire Regiment

The Loyal Regiment

The Manchester Regiment

The Royal Norfolk Regiment

The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers

The Queen's Royal Regiment

The Sherwood Foresters

The Suffolk Regiment

The Sutherland Highlanders

The West Yorkshire Regiment

Canada

Royal Canadian Air Force

New Zealand

Royal New Zealand Navy

Malaya

Federated Malay States Volunteer Force

Singapore Volunteer Corps