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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