Janice Anderson - War Crimes and Atrocities

In 1939, the US Congress allocated $2 million to the Secretary of the Navy to develop Wake Island into an efficient air station and, after its completion, it became a regular stopping point for servicing and refuelling of the famous Pan Am ‘Clippers’, four-engined flying boats. However, at the time of the Japanese attack in 1941, the development of the naval air base was still under way and far from being completed. Although a number of structures had been constructed, the defensive systems were incomplete, in that there was no radar and a number of the gun batteries lacked the height finders or the gun directors. Consequently, Wake Island was ill-prepared for the attack that was about to hit the small atoll.

The news broke about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 8 December, 1941, just as one of the huge silver-winged Pan Am Clippers roared off the water bound for Guam, a flight that was destined to never reach its destination. Major Devereux immediately ordered a ‘Call to Arms’ and assembled his officers to inform them that the war with Japan had started and that Wake could ‘expect the same thing in a very short time’. Little did he realize as he said this that it was to be a very short time indeed.

Meanwhile, the senior officer on Wake Island, Commander Winfred S. Cunningham, called Pan Am’s airport manager, requesting him to recall his Clipper. The pilot on board the Clipper was told about the outbreak of war and he immediately turned his plane around and returned to the lagoon he had left just 20 minutes earlier. Cunningham requested that the pilot carry out a reconnaissance flight and the Clipper was unloaded and refuelled with a planned take-off time of about 1.00 p.m., to be accompanied by a two-plane escort.

By midday, Japanese bombers who had taken off from Marshall Islands shortly after dawn, started to attack the small naval base. Although the base was prepared for attack, the sound of the pounding surf drowned out the noise of the approaching planes and the alarms were not sounded until the planes were just a few hundred yards from the atoll’s south shore.

The first attack concentrated on the airfield, destroying all but four of the F4F Wildcat fighter planes, the majority of the fuel tanks, aviation spare parts and oxygen, which severely diminished the effect of the US air cover. Pan Am’s facilities were totally wrecked and an attack from the Japanese bombers had set fire to the hotel in which five Chamorro employees died. Out of the 66 Pan Am staff, nine lay dead and two of the Clipper crew were badly wounded.

Many of the US pilots were trapped as the Japanese bombs turned their planes into balls of fire. The explosions rattled the windows of Commander Cunningham’s office and he quickly ordered his troops to open fire. However, their small guns were ineffective against the Japanese aircraft, and in about seven minutes they had rendered the air base inoperable.

Three days later, on 11 December, under the command of Rear Admiral Sadamichi Kajioka, the Japanese attempted to land on Wake Island. It was a small contingent of only 450 assault troops as Kajioka had thought the operation would be fairly simple.

The US troops played a waiting game and withheld their fire until the Japanese vessels were well within their range and then fired their cannons. In the ensuing battle, the US managed to sink the Japanese destroyer Hayate and seriously damaged most of the others in the fleet, including their flagship Yubari .

The US assault was sufficient to force the Japanese to abort their landing attempt. The retreating vessels were attacked by the four remaining US Wildcats, who succeeded in sinking another destroyer, the Kisaragi . This battle went down in history as the first time an amphibious assault was foiled by land-based guns.

The Japanese were determined to effect a landing on Wake Island and in the next few days they continued to bombard the atoll relentlessly in an effort to render their forces useless.

Aware that another landing attempt was imminent and that the situation on Wake Island had become untenable, naval strategists at Pearl Harbor decided to send a relief force to resupply the island with aircraft, ammunition and men. The plans were complicated, however, because the forces that were left afloat after the attack on Pearl Harbor were now widely scattered. It was decided to send USS Tangier with an accompanying oil cargo ship to be escorted by Admiral Frank Fletcher’s Saratoga Task Force 16, who were currently approaching from Hawaii. However, Task Force 16 was making slow progress and the Tangier was forced to leave Pearl Harbor with no escort, followed the next day by Saratoga and her escorts.

By 21 December, 11 days after the marines on Wake Island had managed to repel the Japanese landing, the relief force were still 965 km (600 miles) away. Wake Island was now bereft of any air defence, and the promised relief was nowhere in sight. Little did they know that Fletcher’s force were refuelling and, due to heavy seas, had sailed away from Wake. Fearing that the relief force was sailing into a trap, they were ordered to go no closer than 320 km (200 miles) of Wake Island. Tangier , who was closer and ready to land reinforcements and supplies, was ordered to evacuate. It is still a matter of conjecture why the Task Force ships and planes returned when they were so close, as they could have provided much-needed support in the second confrontation with Japanese forces.

The second landing attempt by the Japanese came at 2.30 p.m. on 23 December, and consisted mostly of the same ships from the first attempt with a few additions, including 1,500 Japanese marines. Once again the Japanese met with heavy resistance, but this time they were taking no chances. The Japanese succeeded in getting their landing crafts to the shore and a desperate battle was fought across the island, with groups of men fighting with rifles, bayonets, grenades and some simply using their fists. The fighting lasted through the night but the US troops were seriously outnumbered and were driven towards the centre of the island. Cunningham made the decision to surrender by mid-afternoon on the 24th. The Japanese took captive all the remaining men on the island, the majority of whom were civilian contractors employed by the Morrison-Knudsen Company.

The total number of casualties on Wake Island from the onset of the fighting was 81 marines, eight sailors and 82 civilian workers who had been either killed or wounded. The Japanese, however, paid a heavier price for their victory; it cost them two destroyers, one submarine, seven ships were damaged, 21 aircraft were shot down, and almost 1,000 of their men were killed.

The Japanese were angry and they took it out on their prisoners of war, both military and civilian. Fearing a counter-attack on the island, the Japanese started to build defences on Wake. The US prisoners were forced to build a series of bunkers and other fortifications. During this initial period, one civilian was beheaded to set an example to the others and one civilian died. Two others had set out in a stolen boat, however, they perished at sea.

Early in the morning on 23 December, 1,603 captives, including 1,150 civilian contractors, were taken to the northern end of the island and ordered to strip naked. Most of them had their hands tied behind their backs with wire, with an additional wire looped tightly around their necks, so that if they lowered their arms they would strangle themselves. They were then blindfolded and jammed into two claustrophobic concrete ammunition bunkers. Later that day they were all herded out onto the airstrip and made to sit, naked, in the blistering heat of the midday sun. The prisoners watched the Japanese set up machine guns close by, expecting to be shot at any minute. However, their ordeal was not over as the heat of the sun was replaced by the bone-chilling winds of night. They remained sitting on the airstrip for two days without food, water or any medical supplies.