WLL: Justice Meted Out to Japanese War Criminals

Join us for Stephen Sheaffe's talk on the post-war trials against Japanese war criminals Abstract: Before WWII ended Allied Authorities began collecting evidence of war crimes committed by the Japanese in the countries they occupied. After Japan surrendered in 1945, Australia and other nations conducted war crimes trials between 1945 and 1951. General MacArthur was appointed the Supreme Commander for the Allied powers in occupied Japan. There were three classes of trials: Class A (conspiracy to wage and start a war). The class A trials were presided over by Justice William Webb, of the Queensland Supreme Court and judges from other countries. Class B and C trials were held under the Australian War Crimes Act of 1945. They were held in Darwin, Morotai, Wewak, Rabaul, Labuan, Singapore, Hong Kong and Manus Island. In the Australian Court approximately 924 Japanese servicemen were accused, 644 were convicted, 148 were sentenced to death though some of these sentences were commuted to imprisonment. Stephen will examine some of these trials. Speaker Bio: Stephen Sheaffe is the current President of the RHSQ and a retired barrister. He has published many books on family history.