From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Takuma Nishimura (1899–1951) was a soldier of the Empire of Japan. He rose to the rank of Lieutenant General and commanded Japanese forces in the invasion of French Indochina, in 1940. He also commanded the Imperial Guard Division during the Malayan and Singapore campaigns. He was later tried by the Allies for war crimes, and was executed. However, doubt has been cast on Nishimura's guilt.^[1]

Nishimura was a career soldier. In 1936, he was appointed commanding officer of the 9th Regiment.^[2] Between 1938 and 1939, Nishimura commanded the 1st Heavy Field Artillery Brigade. Nishimura then held staff positions until 1940.

Promoted to Major General, in 1940 he commanded the Indochina Expeditionary Army during the invasion of Indochina. In 1941, he commanded the 21st Independent Mixed Brigade, and then the Imperial Guards Division in Malaya. Troops from the division massacred 155 Australian and Indian prisoners of war (POWs) at massacre at Parit Sulong, Malaya. Following the general Allied surrender, Nishimura was in charge of the eastern half of Singapore Island, during the period in which the Sook Ching massacre, took place. He retired from the army in 1942.

In 1944, Nishimura was appointed Japanese military Governor of Sumatra, a post he held until the end of the war.

Following the war, Nishimura was tried by a British military court in relation to the Sook Ching massacre. He received a life sentence, of which he served four years. As he returned to Japan, Nishimura was removed from a ship at Hong Kong, by Australian military police and charged in relation to the Parit Sulong massacre. He was taken to Manus Island, where he faced an Australian military court. Evidence was presented stating that Nishimura had ordered the shootings at Parit Sulong and the destruction of bodies. He was executed by hanging on June 11, 1951.

In 1996, Australian journalist Ian Ward published Snaring the Other Tiger, which suggested that the Australian Army prosecutor, Captain James Godwin — a former Royal New Zealand Air Force pilot who had been ill-treated as a POW in Sumatra — had "manipulated" evidence to implicate Nishimura.^[3] Ward states that Godwin took no action on the testimony of Lieutenant Fujita Seizaburo, who reportedly took responsibility for the Parit Sulong massacre. Fujita was not charged and his fate is unknown.

1. ^ Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, "Godwin, James Gowing 1923 - 1995". Access date: February 16, 2007.
2. ^ generals.dk "Nishimura Takuma, Lieutenant-General (1899 – 1951)". Access date: February 16, 2007.
3. ^ Ian Ward, Snaring the Other Tiger (Media Masters Publishers, Singapore, 1996); Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, Ibid.