T He War's Over

But Has It

Ended?

Japanese and Philippine author zs have finally called off the urch for Japanese war stragglers Lubang Island, 80 miles from inila, according to a December nouncement from Tokyo.

IHE war with Japan officially ended on VJ Day, August 15, 1945, but as PIM files show, it ls a long way from being the end the war for some Japanese in the ands who refused to surrender would not believe that the war d actually ended. [n June, 1951, 18 men and one iman, survivors of a fishing ssel sunk by American air tack, gave themselves up on latahan Island, 61 miles north Saipan after a lot of aerial idspeaker and other persuasion, •ne of these later wrote a book: latahan, by Michiro Maruyama).

Next, in August, 1954, four panese airmen, still in possession all their equipment, came out of b jungles behind Hollandia, NNG, d surrendered to Dutch thorities. They were taken home the Japanese training ship \isei Maru which called at New linea that year to uplift the ashes Japanese servicemen. [n May, 1955. the Philippines thorities made efforts to round about 40 Japanese still believed be hiding on Lubang Island, icusands of leaflets were dropped er the island and low-flying mes rigged with powerful iplifiers broadcast messages in panese to the jungles below—but no avail.

However, in October, 1956, four Pantrymen surrendered. Their iforms, which they obviously had t been wearing, were in good ler, and they were in possession their rifles and eqluipment 11 ars after going into hiding.

Post Boxes Organised tn January, 1959, two Japanese ire surprised while raiding a rden on Lubang. They shot and mnded a Filipino but escaped to the jungle again. Following is incident another group of ersuaders” was despatched from »kyo in March, 1959. They set up “post boxes” in the jungle, each ntaining letters from the relatives the two men believed to be eutenant Hiroo Onada and rgeant Kinschichi Kotsuka, ac rding to information obtained }m men who had given them- Ives up in 1956 and in 1950.

Newspapers and other official documents proving that the war had ended and orders from the Emperor of Japan for the men to surrender were also deposited.

Further loudspeaking aerial sorties were also carried out, but without result.

In December, Japanese authorities said they now believed the two men to be dead and no further attempt would be made to locate them or to induce them to surrender.

A few Japanese soldiers also held out in hiding on Guam until 1950-51.