Japanese death march begins
24th January 1944: Starving, diseased Japanese troops make a desperate retreat on New Guinea

In the East the slugging battle against the Japanese continued. Even in the most desperate circumstances, they could not contemplate surrender, choosing instead suicide or, most recklessly, suicidal attempts at escape.
The Japanese 82nd Naval Garrison had been cut off and isolated at their base in Sio, New Guinea, known to them as Gali. As the Allied forces closed in it was almost impossible to resupply them. On the 22nd January they received their last shipment of rice, brought by submarine. It was not enough. Most of the men were already starving and many were suffering from tropical diseases, as well as the casualties from Allied bombing and strafing.
By the track dead bodies were scattered, reeking a horrible putrid smell. Maggots were wriggling in their eyes, ears and mouths although some soldiers were still breathing.
Tetsuo Watanabe1 was the Naval Surgeon attached to the unit. On the 23rd his last duties in the Naval hospital had been to place grenades by the pillows of his patients who could not walk. This last tearful, silent ward round was all he could offer these men, who were to be abandoned.
Then the nearly 7,000 men of the 82nd Naval Garrison set off on a march across the north of New Guinea. Tetsuo Watanabe was in a better position than most, carrying about two days worth of food, for a march that was expected to take a month.
The first group had left the day before. Yet even as they set off, many men fell by the wayside:
23 January 1944
...
At 11:00, we left Gali, Good-bye, Gali camp! The enemy might have noticed our retreat. The sound of shelling was closing in. We started the walk on a terribly muddy track.
Soon Paymaster-Seaman Okada collapsed suffering lack of blood caused by malaria. His face turned pale and bloodless. He tried to say something while in the arms of his comrade. Soon red liquid began to flow from his mouth. He bit off his tongue to kill himself. He used to tell me, ‘Surgeon, please come to my sushi bar in Shinjuku when we return to Japan’.
He knew his destiny and did not want to be a burden to his comrades. He was only nineteen years old.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to World War II Today to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.