John “Skip” Bailey

10.2
Conditions at Naval POW Camp Rabaul

A document dated 31st August 1945 (two days before the end of the war) and entitled “The Conditions of Prisoners of War and Civilian Internees who were and are Under the Protection and Care of The Imperial Japanese Navy” was produced by the Headquarters of the South Eastern Japanese Navy. (This covered Rabaul.) The document sought to exonerate the Japanese for their treatment of their prisoners.

The document starts by the Navy taking no responsibility for captives held after April 1944 as the Naval POW camp was closed due to Allied bombing and the Army took charge of all prisoners. It also states all prisoners were treated in compliance with International Law which was not true. Further in the document, they said they regretted that many prisoners died from Allied air-raids and Japanese ships being sunk. They did not mention that they murdered many prisoners by starvation, their brutally, and execution by bayoneting or be-heading.

The Japanese did make attempts to transport prisoners to Japan in 1943 and 1944. The last Army transport sailed in December 1943 and the last navy transport in January 1944. The Navy convoy sailed in January 1944 but with disastrous consequences.

Two transports carrying POWs, the “Kenyo Maru” and the “Nihonkai Maru”, escorted by the destroyers “Hayanami” and the “Shimakaze”, left Rabaul on 13th January 1944. The “Kenyo Maru” was torpedoed the next day and the “Nihonkai” a few days later. There were no survivors from the “Kenyo Maru” and few from the “Nihonkai”.

Another ship did sail from Rabaul on 20th February 1944. It was the “Kokai Maru” and had 27 POWs on board. It was torpedoed on 21st February 1944 and only a few POWs survived. [34]

One POW listed as being transported to Japan on the “Kokai Maru” was a 1st Lieutenant Philip Louis Bek (Beck). (He was documented in the “The Conditions of Prisoners of War and Civilian Internees who were and are Under the Protection and Care of The Imperial Japanese Navy”).

Philip Bek falsely listed on passenger list of “Kokai Maru” [35]

Bek was born on 5th June 1920 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S.A.. On 9th August 1942, he departed for Melbourne, Australia, where he was assigned to the 65th Bombardier Squadron, 43rd Bombardier Group. During his tour of duty, he flew 23 sorties for a total of 180 combat hours. On 13th June 1943, Lieutenant Bek was shot down flying B-17F “Georgia Peach”, over Rabaul, New Britain, and taken prisoner by the Japanese Army. [36]

However, Philip was not on the “Kokai Maru” and was executed by the Japanese near Rabaul on 25th November 1943. The Japanese deliberately lied to the Allied searchers of missing POWs to hide the atrocities they had committed.

1st Lieutenant Philip Louis Bek USAF [37]

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[34] POW Research Network Japan
[33] National Archives of Australia
[36] Pacific Wrecks
[37] Pacific Wrecks