At the Crossroads: Australia's Defense in New Guinea and the Tokkeitai's Reign of Terror in WWII

by Rafi Yahya

From 1942 to 1943, the Pacific War was at a crossroads between the advancement of the Japanese Empire and the Allied defenses in the Southern Pacific. The US Navy matched the Japanese Imperial Navy (IJN) ships in the Solomon Islands at the Battle of Coral Reef in February 1942. The stalemate between Japan and the allies had enabled the Japanese to establish communication lines across the Pacific. American reports from the Dutch East Indies express the strategic significance of the island of Java in Indonesia for regional plans against Japan. In addition, Australian island New Guinea was a highly contested territory between Imperial Japanese (IJA) soldiers and the Australian soldiers. This tension incited the establishment of a defensive line between the occupied East Indies (present-day Indonesia) and the Australian coast. This post aims to contextualize the military struggle between Australia and Japan for Papua New Guinea, as well as the legal and political implications that went along with it. ​

A poster produced by the Australian Beaufort Division (1943). The poster argues for the production of the Beaufort aircraft to ensure Australia's protection from Japanese warships and emphasizes New Guinea as a point of defense against Japan. Source: Australian War Memorial

According to Japanese newspapers in occupied Kalimantan (Borneo Barat Shimbun), by October 1942, the IJN destroyed 17 Australian convoys. This information not only conveys the threat of the Japanese Navy but also demonstrates how much effort the IJN put into flaunting their reputation. Whilst Japan consolidated its gains in the former British Malaya and Dutch East Indies, Australia focused on building defenses against Japan, specifically in New Guinea. This defensive settlement arose from Australia’s fear of invasion in February 1942. 

Despite fierce opposition from British Commonwealth forces, the Malay Peninsula was lost in 70 days and Singapore in only a week. British Commonwealth and Dutch colonial forces were overwhelmed by their Japanese opponents, and were forced to retreat to Australia. The last Dutch colonial forces defended Timor and West Guinea until February 1943. Afterwards, allied defenses against the Japanese were relegated to New Guinea, and was the only buffer between Australia and the rest of Japanese-occupied Southeast Asia. Allied Commanders such as American General Douglas MacArthur and Dutch General Simon Spoor withdrew from Southeast Asia to Australia as well, and would later contribute significantly to the Allied strategy in 1944 and 1945. Overall, the Australian defensive battlement at New Guinea and the efforts of Allied forces throughout the Pacific War were a cooperative effort to dislodge Japanese forces. 

In one such defensive effort, there was a commando force noted as ‘M group’ that was tasked with establishing a radio station as a communication line within the contested Japanese territory in New Guinea. The M group only consisted of three soldiers part of a commando contingent in the Australian army and the joint Dutch-British-American force that retreated to Australia. However, this effort was thwarted by Japanese-aligned locals that gave up the group. Former Dutch Indies soldiers Private Pattiwahl and Pte Reharin and Australian Sergeant Leonard Stiffleet were executed by Japanese soldiers on a  Papua New Guinea beachfront called Aitape Beach on the 24th October 1943. The soldiers were sadly photographed before meeting their tragic end. These photos were later found in 1945 and displayed during the trial of Japanese Vice-Admiral Kamada, who ordered the executions of the soldiers. This evidence not only proved the crimes of the Admiral for the execution of the POWs but also demonstrated the brutality of Japanese war crimes. Kamada was tried and executed for war crimes in 1947. 


According to trial records of Vice-Admiral Michiaki Kamada from the military tribunal in Pontianak, Kalimantan, the Vice-Admiral was charged with unlawful killing because he ordered the execution of victims without trial [Habeas Corpus]. Michiaki held notable commands during the IJN efforts in New Guinea such as the 22nd Base in Balikpapan in Kalimantan. He was noted in administering particular brutalities across IJN holdings in Sulawesi, Kalimantan, as well as New Guinea. Michiaki ordered the killing of POWs (such as Stiffleet) and civilians that he accused of plotting to sabotage Japan. In 1944, Michiaki authorized the killing and torture of Chinese civilians under the context of a suspected “Chinese conspiracy” in West Kalimantan. 

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Translation from Indonesian: Article extract titled “Australia Routed for Good” from Borneo Barat Shimbun dated October 1st, 1942- “From the battlefield, on September 25, 27, and 28th Japanese planes ferociously hit East and North Australia…In good formation”. This demonstrates the dire circumstances of the Australian war effort. Source: Leiden University Libraries Digital Collection.

Execution of Leonard Stiffleet in Aitape, New Guinea 1943 Source: Australian War Memorial

For the purpose of establishing order in the Japanese-occupied East Indies, the IJN had their own secret police force in the East Indies known as “Tokkeitai” or “Kebitai” which served the interests of the IJN across their East Indies holdings. Led by Michiaki, Imperial Japanese police force Tokkeitai brought terror to Kalimantan through various means. For instance, Michiaki ordered the killing of 150 Chinese civilians in December 1944 due to accusations of conspiracy against Japan. Overall, the Tokkeitai used brutal force and boasted of IJN victories through newspapers across the seas of the East Indies, IJN officers waged war on the Allies and Indonesians alike. In the aftermath of the war, Vice-Admiral Michiaki Kamada was tried and executed by a Dutch war-tribunal in Pontianak, Kalimantan under unlawful killings by the standards of international law. 
The photograph of Sergeant Stiffleet’s execution became one of many symbols of war crimes during the Second World War. Sergeant Stiffleet, Private Pattiwahl and Private Reharin, were some of the many soldiers that devoted themselves to the Allied front against the Empire of Japan. Allied efforts eventually led to the collapse of Japanese domination in Southeast Asia.  The International Military Tribunal’s interrogation and inspection of the IJN officers stationed in the New Guinea Campaign proved the atrocities and war crimes of the IJN. Not only was the IJN responsible for the brutal executions of Allied soldiers but they were also accountable for the subjugation of the Indonesian and Chinese civilian populations inflicted by the Tokkeitai.

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Bibliography: 

Primary Sources
“Americans in Netherlands Indies,” Pacific Asia War Archive, accessed June 22, 2024, https://pacificatrocitiesedu.reclaim.hosting/admin/items/show/1039.
“Borneo Barat Shinbun 1942-1943 [West Borneo Paper]- 12-8-1942”. Leiden University Libraries Digital Collection. Personally translated from original Indonesian. http://hdl.handle.net/1887.1/item:3222244. 
Northfield, James. “Ringed With Menace!”. Photolithographic on paper, Beaufort Division of Aircraft production, 1943. Australian War Memorial. www.awm.gov.au/collection/C256561.


Second Sources
Borch, Fred L., 'Trials for Mass Murder and Unlawful Executions’, ‘Prosecutor V. Michiaki Kamada’. Military Trials of War Criminals in the Netherlands East Indies 1946-1949. Accessed 22nd June 2024. (Oxford, 2017; online edn, Oxford Academic, 19 Oct. 2017),  https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198777168.003.0007. 
Materials of IJN (Naval Academy Class 39). Accessed 23rd June 2024.   admiral31.world.coocan.jp/e/px39.htm#v011. 
1942 - Overview of the Battle for Australia - ANZAC Day Commemoration Committee. anzacday.org.au/ww2-1942-an-overview-of-the-battle-for-australia.
Post, Peter. "4. Occupation: Coercion And Control". The Encyclopedia of Indonesia in the Pacific War. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2010. https://doi.org/10.1163/ej.9789004168664.i-684.30 Web.
“Sergeant Leonard George (Len) Siffleet.” Australian War Memorial, www.awm.gov.au/collection/P10676744.

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