Evening star., 1944-02-20
Sur|y Jap Prisoners
Warn Yankees Tojo
Will Take REVENGE
BY NELSON M. SHEPARD.

BY NELSON M. SHEPARD.
wait til TOTO hears about this"
q surly Jap marine prisoner told
his American captors after the 7th
Army Division rudely seized Kwaja-
lein Island in the Marshals.
But TOTO never had q chance to
hear about his loss Of face from
Japanese sources at the time.
I'VE had knocked out his only
radio communication station at the
very start" Col. Syril B. Faine, one
of the first Army observers to re-
turn from the Marshalls, laughed
yesterday. "Tojo probably doesn't
know the military technique en-
ployed to this day"
Col. Fame, a staff officer at Army
Ground Forces in Washington, told
= press conference the only Japa-
nese radio station was on a small
atoll of Kwajalein and it had been
blasted by the preinvasion lombard
ment.
Col. Fame was certain no Japs
escaped from Kwajalein to send It'd
lngs to TOTO. The Navy established
patrols Of search boats between all
the atolls to pick up any possible
survivors, so the Marshalls were
blocked off from the rest of the
world.
Jap Admiral Disguised.
The japanese commander on
kwaJalein, an admiral, had dis
guised himself as an army private
just before the end of the battle, ;"
Col. Faine quoted prisoners as
saying. THE admiraps orderly was
taken prisoner and he was sent in
search of the body, but it was never
identified"
The Army colonel, who halls from
New Straitsville, Ohio, said little
more than 200 prisoners comprised
few Jap soldiers, but the bulk
numbered marines and naval men.
Most OF the prisoners were badly
wounded or dazed from the bonn
bardments," he said. THE marines
were the biggest Jap I ever saw, all
picked men, surly and belligerent."
One OF the prisoners, he said. had
expressed complete chagrin because
the Jap navy and air force failed
to show up during the fight.
Col. Fame declared the Japs ap-
parently had no prior knowledge of
the invasion for no enemy recon-
Nuisance plane had been sighted.
Ihere were evidences, however. that
the island defenses were being REIN
1orcd against possible attack for
great quantities of cement were
stored in warehouses and new con-
struction work found.
"All the equipment and arms
found on Kwajalein were Japanese.
he said. None had been brouph,
IN from Singapore, as in the case
of Tarawa."
Ihe Army observer said it was
like killing rats in hole" in mop
ping up the island.
Japs Crawled Underground.
The Japs, by hundreds, had crawl
eo Underground. Behind the rows
OF more than $50 concrete pillboxes
they had dug small rabbit holes SO
cleVerly camouf1aged that the first
waves of American infantrymen
passed over them.
Each hole had a Jap in it. The
trick worked well until we caught on
to 1t. They would come out of the
holes and fire at us from the rear"
he explained.
What the japanese high COM
mand would like best to know. he
SAID. was the technique employed
by the Army and Marine Corps di-
visions. This has become general
public property by this time.
Land-based artillery fire on small
atolls f1anking the larger islands of
Rol and Kwajalein made a sham
bles OF Japanese installations. Com
bat engineers finished up the Job
using 400 tons of dynamite on two
islands alone, leveling everything
on them.