One way might be to indulge in a numbers game. If we do that, the Allies are quickly seen to come out worse than the Germans and Japanese. A key work here is Sven Lindqvist's A History of Bombing [Granta, 2001; reviewed in Taipei Times Nov. 11, 2001]. The bombing of civilians in the cities of Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Tokyo, Dresden and Hamburg (and there were many other Japanese and German cities fire-bombed and carpet-bombed) resulted in massive death-tolls, compared to which the German blitz on London almost seems like sniper-fire. And the US never suffered any bombing of its cities at all, the nearest being the Japanese attack on its fleet in Pearl Harbor.
To apportion blame after wars, in other words, even if it were desirable, is all but impossible. The inevitable pain suffered on all sides in any conflict positively shouts out to be mitigated by supportive myths, in this case those of sadistic Japanese guards, stiff upper-lipped Britons, matey Australians and relaxed, gum-chewing Americans. It's all grossly simplistic. A job had been ordered by Tokyo, the Japanese considered a posting to the Thailand camps as an insult reserved for the incompetent, the climate made illness following lack of sanitation and malnutrition much more likely than in colder regions, the Westerners at that date were in the habit of considering themselves as masters of the Asian peoples, and so on. Nevertheless, far more Asians -- around 1 million -- labored on that railway than did Westerners, and around 100,000 of them died (compared to some 12,000 Western deaths). The fate of these Asians has received scant historical attention.
This new book consists mostly of interview and diary material from former British prisoners, now, if still living, in their 80s and 90s -- the memories of men who, in any analysis, suffered terribly from the climate, the shortages of food and medicines, and the work they were expected to accomplish, as well as the cruelty of some of their captors. But it needs to be put into perspective. This other books do, less vividly, perhaps, but in the event with more skepticism, as well as through viewing lenses with a less exclusive focus than this one's.
Publication Notes:
Surviving the sword
By Brian Macarthur
438 pages
Random House
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