Ocean Island massacre

Ocean Island massacre
Part of the Japanese occupation of the Gilbert Islands
LocationBanaba, Kiribati
Date20 August 1945 (1945-08-20)
Victims150–200
Perpetrators67 Naval Garrison Unit, IJN
  • Suzuki Naoomi

The Ocean Island massacre occurred on 20 August 1945 when between 150 and 200 civilians were killed in a mass execution by members of a Japanese naval garrison unit. The civilians, all originally inhabitants from other parts of the Gilbert Islands, had been brought to Ocean Island as slave labour.[1][2] Perpetrated five days after the official Japanese announcement of surrender at the end of the Second World War, the nature of the massacre was only revealed four months later due to the emergence of a sole survivor, Kabunare Koura of Nikunau, who had remained in hiding until December 1945.[3][4] Initially, the commander of the unit, Suzuki Naoomi, claimed that the civilian population had been killed during a rebellion, but the revelation of Kabunare's testimony and subsequent confessions from lower ranking participants led to war crimes prosecutions by the Australian military. In total, 21 Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) personnel were convicted, of whom eight, including Naoomi, were executed, for their roles in the mass atrocity.[5][6]

  1. ^ Macdonald 2001, p. 148.
  2. ^ Pappas 1998, pp. 163–167.
  3. ^ Macdonald 2001, p. 149.
  4. ^ Field 2005, p. 72.
  5. ^ Morris 2019.
  6. ^ Sissons 2020, p. 107.

Ocean Island massacre

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