In today’s world, in particular the western world we face obesity almost daily and on a vast scale. Everyday there are excessive amounts of food prepared, eaten and wasted.
Can we possibly imagine our world in the years leading up to 1945 and after the end of WW2, where vast regions faced between acute and catastrophic shortages of food with 20-25 million civilians dying from hunger or related diseases across Europe and South East Asia?
Did you know up to 21,000 people die daily from conflict-fuelled (war) hunger in today’s world?
Think of countries such as Sudan, Gaza, Yemen, South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Syria, Haiti, Mali and Central Sahel (Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger), Myanmar, Afghanistan and the list goes on and on, where the first victims to succumb to death are babies and young children.
Imperial Japan and Germany were not food self-sufficient prior to WW2.
As Germany and Japan ‘conquered’ countries, they systematically exploited food resources, often with brutality and loss of lives. Additionally for Japan its already held territories of Korea, Formosa (Taiwan), and Manchuria felt huge losses of foods taken by Japan for its military and home population. This led to extensive malnutrition and widespread famine conditions for the local populations.
Germany systematically stole and plundered massive amounts of food from occupied nations a policy leading to deliberate starvation and death of millions of civilians. This was a core component of the Nazi strategy for war and racial expansion.
Germany created extensive food shortages and starvation across Russia and Ukraine (later following Russia’s defeat of Germany in Ukraine – Russia depleted Ukraine of its food and crops to send to back its own population, creating extensive famine and death), Poland, Holland, Belgium, France, Austria, Italy, Scandanavia and of course for Britain which had always relied heavily on food importation from US and Commonwealth countries – Germany’s submarines regularly sank Britain’s Atlantic supply ships.
Japan was largely self-sufficient in rice, its staple food, due to intensive domestic farming and (forced) imports from its colonies, Korea and Taiwan – where they left local populations short of food.
Imperial Japan in SE Asia including Indonesia – Sumatra, Java, Borneo etc, Malaya, Singapore, Philippines, Hong Kong, etc. systematically requisitioned and exported vast amounts of food, particularly rice, to feed their home population and their war machines. Although nominal allies, Thailand ‘capitulated’ in negotiations, or rather were forced to supply Japan. By 1943, Japan commissioned over 1.1 million tons of rice from Indochina. A massive famine in 1944–1945, resulted in 1 to 2 million Vietnamese deaths.
In many pre-war S.E. Asian countries such as Singapore, Borneo, Sumatra and Java depended on importing a significant portion of its food, especially rice. The war disrupted the shipping lanes causing severe shortages of essential food items. In addition invaded countries faced collapsed infrastructure and failed crops – those working on farms were taken away for forced Japanese labour.
First and foremost, the Japanese army seized local food supplies for their own troops and forced local populations everywhere into severe rationing. Many people were forced to subsist on limited food sources such as tapioca and sweet potatoes, if they were fortunate. Everywhere local farmers would attempt to hide any food. The penalty was severe.
Borneo experienced severe food shortages almost from first moment of Japanese arrival. Rice rations were controlled by the Japanese and these rations became less and less, leading to widespread hunger. By end 1944 and 1945 there were people dying of malnutrition and severe illnesses caused by malnutrition – just as Australian & Allied POWs suffered wherever they were sent. In addition to Borneo feeding Japanese troops and sending rice to Japan to their homeland, Japan additionally brought labour from Java to work in Borneo – several thousands Romusha.
Countries such as Singapore, Java, Sumatra, Vietnam, Philippines (Urban areas), Malaysia as well as Korea, Taiwan, China and of course Japan itself.
Java’s mortality rate did not recover to its 1943 level until 1949, due to continued food shortages in several parts of rural Java. The famine in Java during and immediately after World War II (roughly 1944–1946) was a severe humanitarian catastrophe resulting from Japanese occupation 1942-1945, exacerbated by drought and extended by the Indonesian war of independence against the Dutch. Recent estimates suggest 1.8 to 1.9 million deaths and over 1.4 million missing births. And a net population loss of approx 3.3 to 3.4 million people during 1942-1945.
China suffered severe food shortages, widespread hunger, and catastrophic famines during the Japanese occupation (1937–1945). The shortages were caused by a combination of the destruction of agricultural infrastructure, hoarding by Japanese forces, hyperinflation, and environmental disasters.
In Vietnam the Japanese forced the farmers to grow jute, cotton and castor instead of rice. Jute was essential for making sandbags and gunpowder and their former supplier was Bengal, cut off from supplying Japan. It is estimated 1-2 million people died of starvation.
In the Philippines there were shortages, particularly in the urban areas. The Japanese seizure of food stocks and the breakdown of distribution networks caused high mortality in 1945.
Malaysia experienced severe malnutrition and food shortages. Rice rations, controlled by the Japanese, dropped significantly, leading to widespread hunger and the forced adoption of substitutes like tapioca.
Above: POWs of Japan.
Japanese domestic food production declined by approximately 26% during final two years of Pacific War because its government redirected resources – such as fertilizers and agricultural tools – toward its war effort. Japan’s food shortage was increased with the Allied blockade.
Singapore experienced extreme food deprivation, severe shortages, widespread malnutrition and broken supply lines during and after Japanese occupation. The people faced starvation, relied heavily on tapioca, saw black market prices soar and the death rate doubled due to hunger and related diseases.
The war disrupted normal farming cycles everywhere and many plantations and farms were abandoned or destroyed.
Large numbers of local people (Romusha from Java) were taken into labour forces for Japanese military projects, taking them away from agricultural production and often overseas to Thailand, Sumatra, Borneo, etc. They died in excessive numbers of starvation and illness. Most did not return.
Allied bombings in Borneo, particularly during the 1945 campaigns to recapture the island, totally destroyed towns, infrastructure, and agricultural land, such as the devastation of Labuan and Sandakan.
By August 1945, the Borneo situation was so dire that Allied troops had to provide immediate relief food to civilians suffering from starvation. This situation occurred across Borneo for several more years.
Japan: Estimates say 60% of Japanese military deaths were caused by malnutrition. Collapse of transportation systems meant food could not reach cities in Japan nor their troops stationed elsewhere. Japan’s final battle in Burma saw their troops without food and ammunition. The injured had to made their own way out of the war zone to safety. Major battles between US and Japan towards end of war, saw Japanese soldiers effected by starvation and without ammunition.
By end of 1945, severe hunger in Japan was compounded by millions of soldiers and civilians returning from abroad, with 100,000 deaths in Tokyo alone in late 1945.
Tokyo’s population plunged from about 4.5 million at the end of 1944 to 2.5 million in mid-1946.
Japan experienced a devastating collapse in food supply, precipitated by perhaps the most successful blockade in history—the Allied blockades of Japan’s food and raw material supplies from Asia that culminated in OPERATION STARVATION. The prospect of mass starvation helped persuade Japanese leaders to surrender.
Famine in 1946 was only forestalled by the infusion of massive amounts of US food that fed 18 million Japanese city dwellers in July, 20 million in August and 15 million in September 1946.
Thousands and thousands of Allied POWs working in Japan knew they could not endure another winter incarcerated and working slave-like hours. The US Forces realised this emergency. This task became first and urgent. To locate POW camps locations and airdrop food, medicines, clothing (and newspapers) to all the Camps in hundreds of unknown locations throughout Japan.
Roughly 27-30% of Western POWs died in captivity.
Consider the long term effects of malnutrition and disease, particularly in the poorer regions of the Pacific, such as Java’s estimated1.4 million missing births. And then the costs of medicines returning these populations to a quality of life.
In Japan the government tried to encourage city dwellers to move to the country to produce food.
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US and Australia were food sufficient prior to WW2 and provided their military Forces during the war.
Australia fed not only its own population and American personnel in the region but also exported food to Britain. Australia introduced food rationing in 1942. UK’s rationing lasted until 1954. Australia significantly aided Britain by maintaining meat rationing until 1948 to support the UK’s food needs.
The US government also used rationing at home (meat, sugar, butter) to ensure sufficient supplies for their military, and after the end of war, food desperately needed for Japan.
Australian POWs in several Japanese camps recount stories of working all day standing in water-logged land, land never previously used for crops, preparing it for food production under guard of Japanese soldiers.
SANDAKAN, 21 OCTOBER 1945
Locals gathered at Mile 1 1/2, Sandakan where relief rations are being distributed by the Australian soldiers with the assistance of the local employees. Issuing points such as this one were set up along the roads leading out from the town, often close to the dressing stations. According to ‘my’ grandfather, he saw the Australian troops distributing foods. Each person was given a large can of food, including butter, biscuits, cheese, sugar, milk powder, meat etc.
Source: Australian War Memorial
Balikpapan, Borneo. 1945-07-18.
Many cases of malnutrition were among the natives of Samboja, thirty eight miles from Balikpapan, when Australian troops captured the town. Above: a war correspondent hands food to one of the sufferers from the Japanese occupation.
MIRI, BORNEO. 1945-08-28. OVER 300 NATIVES, MALAY AND JAVANESE, ESCAPED FROM THE JAPANESE TO THE BRITISH BORNEO CIVIL ADMINISTRATION COMPOUND. SHOWN ABOVE, A GROUP OF MEN TYPICAL OF THE MALNUTRITION CASES BEING TREATED AT THE COMPOUND
Above: Starving children Vietnam. It is estimated 1-2 million people died of starvation.
EUROPE
Everywhere there were terrible shortages of food.
It is estimated the Soviet Union suffered the most deaths in World War II, with total casualties estimated between 20 to 27 million (including around 8.7-10.7 million military and up to 19 million civilians), followed closely by China, which experienced immense civilian deaths totalling around 15 to 20 million fatalities at the hands of the Japanese.
It is not just the battlefields where death takes place – the ongoing effects, especially food shortages on civilians and returning military probably resulted in greater numbers of deaths and effects several generations over decades both physically and mentally.
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HISTORY OF RICE IN BORNEO
These early cultivators were likely Austronesian-speaking immigrants potentially bringing agricultural techniques from the Asian mainland, which shifted the region from a purely hunter-gatherer society to one that practiced early farming.
Austronesian is a major language family associated with seafaring people who originated in Taiwan and expanded over thousands of years to settle a vast region from Madagascar to Easter Island, including Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, and Polynesia. Comprising over 1,200 languages (such as Tagalog, Malay, and Malagasy), it is one of the world’s most widespread language families.
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