Several Japanese Officers were in charge of Outram Road Gaol’s administration and control of the prisoners, including:
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General Tomoyuki Yamashita:
He commanded the 25th Army during the Malayan Campaign and was responsible for the overall control of the Japanese forces in Singapore, including the Outram Road Gaol.
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Colonel Masanobu Tsuji:
He was a key figure in the Japanese occupation, serving as the Chief Planning and Operations Officer of the 25th Army under Yamashita. He was known for issuing orders that led to the massacre of civilians and the mistreatment of POWs, including those at Outram Road Gaol.
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OUTRAM ROAD WAR TRIALS SINGAPORE, the following Japanese were on trial
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Major General HIDAKA MINOO, Chief of Judicial department at Singapore beginning June 1943, and as such was in Command of the Military Prison. Hidaka had been recently traced and arrested.
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Major GeneraL OTSUKA MISAO took over April 1944 from HIDAKA until Surrender.
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Major KOBAYASHI SHOZO was Commandant of prison from August 1942 until Surrender, except for four months during 1944 when Major KAMIYA HARUO acted for him.
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Capt MASATOMO IWAI and Lt. SUGIHARA KENO were medical officers and the rest were prison warders. Including:
two (2) judicial warrant officers, 4 sergeant majors, 20 sergeants, two corporals and 10 good conduct prisoners.
Civilian prisoners suffered harsher conditions and brutality than POWs – the above Japanese caused the deaths of about
13 British POWs died
4 Dutch POWs died
22 Civilians died
and long lasting physical and mental injuries to most other inmates.
44 Japanese officers were convicted of war crimes committed at Outram Prison and 3 generals executed.
OUTCOME
All the 44 defendants were involved in the running of the Military Section of Outram Road Gaol, Singapore, some were high ranking officers while most were regular guards. They were charged with the ill-treatment of Allied POWs and civilians who were in the Gaol resulting in many deaths during the entire period of the Japanese Occupation. Most were found guilty and given prison terms with some being sentenced to death. This case was heavily publicised at the time as the Gaol was infamous for its terrible living conditions and harsh treatment by the Japanese Guards.
The defendants were all charged with the neglect of the prisoners under their care resulting in the death of about thirteen British POWs, about four Dutch POWs and about twenty-two civilians, and physical suffering to many other British, Dutch, Australian and American POWs and civilians. Most were found guilty and some were sentenced to death by hanging.
We acknowledge and thank Singapore War Crimes Trials
for further information please go to https://singaporewarcrimestrials.com/case-summaries/detail/072
General Tomoyuki Yamashita:
He was executed by hanging 23 Feb 1946 in Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines. He was found guilty of war crimes, including the Manila massacre, and other atrocities committed by the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II.
Colonel Masanobu Tsuji:
He was the most notorious Japanese who evaded prosecution for Japanese war crimes. At the end of the war Colonel Tsuji hid in Thailand. He returned to Japan in 1949 and was elected to the Diet as an advocate of renewed militarism. Through the 50’s he worked for American intelligence alongside Takushiro Hattori. In 1961, he disappeared on a trip to Laos.
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