The Wilmington morning star., 1945-09-14
TRY TO C0NVlNcE
THESE JAPANESE
THEY WERE LICKED
BY CHARLES A cn,

BRITISH have tackled ono "a aIlhs
o biggest St peacetime jobs in u so onelr
eass ASA ASIA - convincing the , Tsnn'
u Even before Admiral Lord 1oui,
naou!la e sEAC comma nGal'
received the surrender Of i Ian'
sol armies Sept. IL, the sg Br;.
Isl, ,so oevlslon of psychological u w.r'
fare was busy with plans 70 h war
surrendered Japanese soldier D'ins
to date On recent world bistor up
Mountbatten, speaking lust l's stts.
the formal surrender, took not a.'e e,
the problem when ne told HI.
troops: 'O'o MS
I'm the new area YOU viii,
occupying, the japanese have W. W.
been defeated in battle. Thev n,a Nv,
behave arrogantly. (Theyj AZ,
finding it very hard to ACCEPT d.
feat and may try to wriggle out
VI lAe Terms OF surrender
While the SEAC Commander Az.
thorized the sternest methods :,
deal with apanese "obstinacy, inn
pudence or non-cooperation," h.
simultaneously was trying persia.
sion to bring the erstwhile enem,
back to the ways of peace.
The staff of Domei. Janane,.
News agency, was put to work
Is after the occupation of singa.
pore translating news into Jana.
nese for printing and distribution
to the $4,000 soldiers and sailor,
surrendered there.
simultaneously, plans were laid
to extend the service to 5OOOO0
others in Java, Sumatra, Thailand
and other areas held for three
years or more by the Mikado,
men.
Even before the British arrived
the 10 Domei newspapermen said
they planned to rebel against the
news blackout that 1t. Gen. Sci.
shire Itagaki, commanding the
Seventh Army, had sought to i'm.
pose on Japans surrender.
Text of the imperial rescript Or
dering surrender was received
Aug. Is, they said, but Itagah held
up its publication. This the news.
papermen called disloyalty to the
Emperor, and they held an edi.
torial conference which ended with
decision to publish the rescript
anyway. However, after four days,
Itagaki relented and authorized
publication.
The Domei staff is working
under the direction of A. Kennard,
longtime British resident of Japan
and former Kobe newspaper pub.
Usher.
Inspection of the news report dis
closed that it is "angled' 10 fit
the psychological warfare mission
aries efforts to convince the Jap.
anese that they have been beaten,
that war is bad and that peace
is good. However, propag anda con-
tent is fairly light.
The British say they are finding
some japanese violently antl-mlll'
taristic. Most of these are unlVer'
sity graduates of the years before
1892. Later graduates apparently
have been thoroughly inculcated
with the will to war which the
Japanese military clique sought 10
inspire in the entire nation.
1t was presumably to the former
group, as well as to weary Japa'
nese soldiers, that Mountbatten re-
ferred when, in his order OF the
day at the surrender ceremonies
he said: ,,
MANY of them have had little
desire for long time now to con-
tinue to fight, and are only 100
thankful that it is all over, Prison
ers of this kind must be humane
Nv treated. 1 may even CONSIDER II
necessary to protect them, perhaps
by separating them from the ID
natics among their own county
men.
In making the surrender d.
engagements, the British dld eVe .;s,
thing they could consistent WIN .sa
dignity to regain some OF 'ns
"face"-important in the Far III ha d.
they lost with the $4,000 OoU III
habitants of the southeast Asa ~
gions Japan so quickly conqref'u
in 1941-42. ,b.t
They complained, however lll st
the Japanese-headed by Mal sdsr
Count Juichi Terauchi, comnan '',so
of Japanese southern armies, S S..
regretted" that illness at MS . oat
CON. Indo-China, headquarters hI Iiv
him from surrendering persoilsair r
were using every means 10 ultD
- 40 british triumph