In 2024 Don Farrell published
Seabees and Superforts at War.
Beginning on page 438 is a sentence that I will edit :
( permission granted by Don )
" The Japanese War ministry issued an order on August 1
that will live as the
Second Day of Infamy ..."
Kill all prisoners.
___________________________
During July and August 1945, there were 55 deaths at
Osaka.
Remains were recovered in three different locations.
******
Forty-one were executions
Eight were from injuries
Six were by poisoning to ' relieve suffering '
source: Case History 328 documents in
SSgt Woleslagel's Individucal Deceased Personnel File
*******
One of these locations was the Jonan Rifle Range,
located inside Osaka Castle.
14 POW's were executed there on
15 August 1945.
Nine were from the Newell Crew.
One of these was SSgt Howard Russell Woleslagle,
the 55th POW within the
73rd Bomb Group POW Honor Roll.
_______________________
From the Mansell Pacific Roster :
Mansell
Pacific POW Roster
In Japan, 36 POWs were executed on this date.
SSgt Woleslagle's name in the below roster is underlined.
__________________
Order to Kill all POWs,
dated 1 August 1944
follows
__________________________
Next are two tables
Number of Allied Aircraft that Crashed in Japanese Mainland
and
Number of Captured Airmen and Their Disposition
Tobu: Eastern Army District, Headquarters, Tokyo
The number of executions ( 14 ) is for the POWs
who attempted to escape the fire at the
Tokyo Military Prison
on 26 May 1945.
62 POWs died.
Chubu: Central Army District, Headquarters, Osaka.
____________________
Following the table is one page from
SSgt Woleslagle's Individual Deceased Personnel File.
Within the first paragraph are the words:
" ... fifty-five remains that were recovered following
the Osaka executions ."
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