Japanese soldiers used as polcie by the British.

HavingCrack

I just finished watching the World at War there a few days ago and in the 2nd last episode Mountbatten describes how he was obliged to use the Japanese army for internal security in places like Malaya and what was the Dutch East Indies due to a sufficient lack of Allied troops. I found it really interesting.

Does anyone know of any good reading material that deals with this in a little bit more detail as it's the first time I've ever heard reference to it.

thecommietommy

HavingCrack wrote: »

I just finished watching the World at War there a few days ago and in the 2nd last episode Mountbatten describes how he was obliged to use the Japanese army for internal security in places like Malaya and what was the Dutch East Indies due to a sufficient lack of Allied troops. I found it really interesting.

Does anyone know of any good reading material that deals with this in a little bit more detail as it's the first time I've ever heard reference to it.

They were also used in Vietnam to police/beat down Vietnamese nationalists, it's in the excellent The 10,000 Day War by Michael McClear.

Manach

Offhand, it might have been the case of better the Devil you know. From "Band of Brothers", the US occupying forces used German army MPs to keep order in some cases whilst the situation was being stablised. Ditto in a book I'm reading at the moment about post WWI, where the allies were propping up their former enemies against other forces (extreme nationalists, communists etc).

Delancey

While it seemed an extraordinary thing to do Mountbatten did explain that the Japanese capitulation caught him somewhat by surprise and given the huge potential for serious crime / unrest in places like Malaya he had no choice but to use the Japs as ' Special Constables ' until sufficient numbers of Commonwealth troops arrived to relieve them.

On a related note , at the end of the 1982 Falklands War the British permitted captured Argentine officers to keep their sidearms to ensure order and discipline was maintained among those captured.

Morlar

I don't think this is too uncommon.

The Americans famously used Feldgendarmerie to guard German POW's at war's end, also manning checkpoints routing traffic etc. Postwar many Polizei were retained /re-employed as civil police.

I think in the european context it solved the problem - it employed a lot of men who had skills that might not have been transferrable. The alternative to employing them would have been to create a national police force from scratch overnight in order to handle a destroyed economy with a lot of hardened men experienced in violence floating around the place at a loose end. The Polizei men, many of whom were in their 40's and 50's, had years of Policing and legal experience and knowledge. I think many would also have had the respect of the public to some degree, certainly it does not seem to have ever been a problem that I am aware of.

In a sort of similar vein German Generals were milked for their memoirs by the americans in order to gain in depth information about how the russians fought. Scientists of course were also highly sought after by both sides.

HavingCrack

thecommietommy wrote: »

They were also used in Vietnam to police/beat down Vietnamese nationalists, it's in the excellent The 10,000 Day War by Michael McClear.

Never heard about this, must have a read of the book

Delancey wrote: »

While it seemed an extraordinary thing to do Mountbatten did explain that the Japanese capitulation caught him somewhat by surprise and given the huge potential for serious crime / unrest in places like Malaya he had no choice but to use the Japs as ' Special Constables ' until sufficient numbers of Commonwealth troops arrived to relieve them.
.

Do you have any idea how long a period we're talking about here? Was it a few weeks, months, year before Commonwealth troops relieved the Japanese.

I do find it a bit odd the Japanese did it so willingly considering how hostile they were to the Allies.

Stovepipe

The Japanese expected to be shot or imprisoned so it was a pleasant surprise for them to be kept on hand policing, albeit under the wary eye of the Allied forces, until the interim governing of the populace got underway. They knew full well that the shoe was on the other foot and that, if they did as they were told, they'd get home safely in the end.

regards
Stovepipe