Death on the Hellships: Prisoners at Sea in the Pacific WarNaval Institute Press, 2001 - 366 pages "Gregory Michno draws on American, British, Australian, and Dutch POW accounts as well as Japanese convoy histories, recently declassified radio intelligence reports, and a wealth of archival sources to present for the first time a detailed picture of what happened. More than 126,000 Allied prisoners were transported in the hellships with more than 21,000 fatalities. While beatings, starvation, and disease caused many of the deaths, the most, Michno reports, were caused by Allied bombs, bullets, and torpedoes. He further reports that this so-called friendly fire was not always accidental - at times high-level decisions were made to sink Japanese ships despite the presence of POWs. The statistics led Michno to conclude that it was more dangerous to be a prisoner on the Japanese hellships than a U.S. Marine fighting in the campaign. |
From inside the book
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Page 18
... corporal in the 27th Brigade , stood in line . He was already thirty - six years old , had a wife and two children , and probably shouldn't have joined the army . The Depression , though , had hit him hard , especially work- ing as a ...
... corporal in the 27th Brigade , stood in line . He was already thirty - six years old , had a wife and two children , and probably shouldn't have joined the army . The Depression , though , had hit him hard , especially work- ing as a ...
Page 37
... corporal from New Mexico , Jesus Silva of the 200th Coast Artillery . Silva had a pair of dice , and after negotiating a deal , they began to run a craps game . Over the days they won a good sum of money , before another soldier with a ...
... corporal from New Mexico , Jesus Silva of the 200th Coast Artillery . Silva had a pair of dice , and after negotiating a deal , they began to run a craps game . Over the days they won a good sum of money , before another soldier with a ...
Page 61
... corporal H. Robert Charles managed to come aboard with his bud- dies , James W. Gee and James McCone , all survivors of the Houston . McCone , called " Packrat , " lived up to his name by hauling aboard a water - filled five- gallon ...
... corporal H. Robert Charles managed to come aboard with his bud- dies , James W. Gee and James McCone , all survivors of the Houston . McCone , called " Packrat , " lived up to his name by hauling aboard a water - filled five- gallon ...
Other editions - View all
Death on the Hellships: Prisoners at Sea in the Pacific War Gregory Michno No preview available - 2001 |
Death on the Hellships: Prisoners at Sea in the Pacific War Gregory F. Michno No preview available - 2016 |
Common terms and phrases
aboard Allied allowed American Army attack August Australian began boat bombed British built Burma called camp captain cargo carried civilians coast commander convoy crew Cross death deck destroyer died dropped Dutch East escape escorts feet finally fire five Force four given guards guns half harbor hatch headed heard Hell hellships hold hundred Island Japan Japanese Java killed later Lieutenant lives loaded looked Manila March Marine Maru miles months moved Naval never night November October officers once Operations ordered Party passed picked placed POWs prisoners pulled Railway reached received remaining rescue returned rice sailed Sandakan sent September ship side Singapore sinking soldiers submarine supplies survivors taken thought thousand tons took torpedoed transport tried trip Truk turned United voyage waited