Figure 1.-- |
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None of the World War II combattant countries employed their stock piles of poison gas in World War II. The only exception was the Japanese who used both poison gas and biological weapons in China. The Japanese used Pows and Chinese civilians to test these weapons.
Only limited information is available on the Japanse use of poison gas during World war II. One Japanese source reports that between fiscal 1937 and 1941 a total of 839,956 chemical shells were shipped overseas. Of these, 571,946 were sent to China and the remaining 268,010 went to Southeast Asia. Even larger quantities may have been shipped in 1942 and 43, but records are not available. [Tsuneishi] The Japanese appeare to have used poison gas extensively in China. Reports fron the Nanking Masacre indicate that this was one of the ways prioners were killed after the fall of the city (1937). Recent historical research suggests that in 1945 the United States was preparing for the introduction of chemical weapons ro support Operation Olympic, the planned invasion of Japan. [Allen and Polmer] The weapons, however, were never employed. At the time the United States was fire bombing Japanese cities causing massive civiloan casualties. Atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki (August 1945) finally causing Japan to surrender (September 1945). After the War, the Imperial Japanese Army usually buried chemical weapons stockpiles when they evacuated from China.
Japanese medical units in Manchuria experimented with biological warfare. More than 400 villagers died of bubonic plague in China's eastern Zhejiang province during September 1942. Japanese planes with bombs prepared by medical Unit 731 dropped germ
bombs. The Japanese work was conducted at Unit 731 was stationed on the outskirts of Harbin--the capital of the rich agricultural and coal region of Hailongjiang Province in what was known as Manchuko at the time. The Japanese are believed to have killed 3,000 mostly Chinese and infected 300,000 in their experiments. Some Alloied POWs were also used as experimental subjects. Subjects at the Unit were disected allive without anesthetic. Apparently the Japanese army doctors believed that this method produced the highest quality organs. There were also reports of cremations of live subjects after the experiments were completed. The unit was active until August 1945 when the Soviet Union entered the war by invading Japanese-occupied Manchuria. The unit is known to have introduced typhus into the water supply flowing into Manchuria. The commander of the Unit was Shiro Ishii. He and most of his staff escaped back to Japan when the Soviets invaded. Ishii was apparently protected by Americam military officials in exchange for the data he collected. (This was a secret arrangement and it unclear how much the officers masking the deal knew about Unit 731 or how high up the chain of command the decession went. The Chinese and Soviets managed to arrest and try about a dozen members of he staff each. China has turned the buildings into a museum as a memorial to the people killed there.
After the War, Japanese officals have generally attempted to limit public discussiion of the use of poison gas and biological weapons as well as other Japanese attrocuties during the War. Some Japanese educators believe that there should be a fuller discussion. Prime Minister Kozume as well as Chinese and Japanese courts are currently wrestling with this issue. The Chinese are demanding that Japan compensate Chinese for injuries sustained because if these weapons and not only pay for the destruction of weapons found, but also assist Chinese authorities to locate other sites where the weapns were buried and pay for their disposal. [Tsuneishi]
Allen, T.B. and N. Polmar, "Poisonous invasion prelude," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (August 4, 1995). [New York Times special features].)
Tsuneishi, Keiichi. "Disposing of Japan's World War II Poison Gas in China" Asahi Shimbun (November 10, 2003).
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