Japanese troops executed Australian prisoner of war John R. Gray at Rabaul




 On this day 20th February 1942. 

For not revealing the whereabouts of his commanding officer Lieutenant Colonel J. J. Scanlan, Japanese troops executed Australian prisoner of war John R. Gray at Rabaul, New Britain by slashing his chest open and removing his heart while he was still alive.

The Battle for Rabaul was a complete success for the invading Japanese forces.

Of the over 1,000 Australian soldiers taken prisoner, around 160 were massacred on or about 4 February 1942 in four separate incidents around Tol and Waitavalo. Six men survived these killings and later described what had happened to a Court of Inquiry.

The Australian government concluded the prisoners were marched into the jungle near Tol Plantation in small groups and were then bayoneted by Japanese soldiers. At the nearby Waitavalo Plantation, another group of Australian prisoners were shot. The Allies later placed responsibility for the incident on Masao Kusunose, the commanding officer of the 144th Infantry Regiment, but in late 1946 he starved himself to death before he could stand trial.

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