At war’s end, recovered Indian prisoners of war were interrogated as was usual with all liberated prisoners. Prisoners were questioned about the circumstances of their capture, the places they had been held and moved to, the food and treatment they had received, the work they had performed. An important aspect of the interrogation related to the ways in which he and other prisoners had been treated, and they began the collation of evidence which eventually formed the basis of charges brought against particular Japanese officers and men in war crimes trials.
In the light of the defection to the Japanese of thousands of Indian troops, the interrogations also served to establish the loyalty or disloyalty of individual Indian soldiers. The Indian Working Parties sent to the South-West Pacific Area already comprised men who had resisted Japanese appeals and very few if any soldiers joined the Indian National Army (INA) after their arrival in New Guinea. The files holding the records of interrogations and much first-hand individual testimony are held in the series AWM 54, sub-section 1010, in the Australian War Memorial.
Indian POWs:
Overview text Longer text Readings Captured Indian units Indian National Army Indian POW mortality Indian POWs war crimes Jemadar Chint SinghClick images to enlarge.
AWM 098229
