1943: 98 American civilian contractors on Wake Island
October 7th, 2008 Headsman
On this date in 1943, after Japanese-occupied Wake Island was subjected to a withering bombardment from the United States Navy, garrison commander Shigematsu Sakaibara ordered the summary execution of 98 American prisoners of war.
Wake Island came under Japanese attack immediately after the bombing of Pearl Harbor raised the curtain on the Pacific theater — and was overrun in two weeks.
It was strategically situated halfway between Hawaii and the Philippines. That’s why the Japanese wanted it — and that’s why the Americans wanted it back.
Caught in the middle were 1,600-plus Americans captured when Wake fell in December 1941, 1,100 of them civilian contractors of construction conglomerate Morrison Knudsen there to build a naval base. Most of these, and all military personnel, were shipped to POW camps in China early in 1941; only 700 contractors would survive their four-year sojourn in Japanese captivity.
By September 1942, only 98 Americans remained* on Wake Island — all contractors, the last remnants of the prison labor force who had been forced to lattice the island with defensive fortifications against the expected American invasion.
U.S. forces bombed Wake Island repeatedly during World War II — rare respites from the monotony of forced labor — but the most intense attack was an orchestrated naval bombardment and aerial attack beginning Oct. 5. Shigematsu Sakaibara feared it was the prelude to a long-anticipated landing attempt. And he wasn’t the only one: reporting the attack, the New York Times tried to read the tea leaves of the official pronouncements:
The fact that Wake was attacked yesterday by surface bombardment as well as aeriel bombing probably indicates that a major reduction of Wake is now intended. The atoll, which is the closest Japanese base to Pearl Harbor with the exception of a few islands in the Marshalls group, is a key stepping stone on Japan’s fastest aeriel route to her other central Pacific possessions in the Marshalls and Gilberts southwest of Hawaii.
Still,
[o]ccupation by United States forces of Wake Island, which is 1,033 miles from Midway, has been predicted for some time, but there is no indication that such an operation is probable immediately.
Sakaibara, unfortunately, didn’t have a Times subscription.
Expecting a landing, and fearing the prisoners would rise up as a “fifth column” against their captors when it came, Sakaibara had the 98 prisoners machine-gunned en masse on the beach. One of them managed to survive and escape the slaughter, but was recaptured shortly after, and is supposed to have been personally beheaded by the admiral. It’s said that unidentified man carved a (misdated) testimony to the crime on a nearby coral rock known as “98 Rock”: “98 US PW 5-10-43″.
As it turned out, the landing never did come. The U.S. Navy bypassed Wake Island, allowing it to languish under a blockade as it advanced elsewhere in the Pacific, and received Sakaibara’s peaceful surrender after the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Although the Japanese had hastily exhumed the murdered POWs and reburied them in a cemetery as the end of the war approached, the cover story on the “Wake Island Massacre” soon cracked. For this day’s affair, Sakaibara was convicted of war crimes by an American tribunal, and hanged in Guam on June 18, 1947.
* The identities of the 98 are known, and are listed online here as well as on a plaque at the site.
Also On This Date
Possibly Related Executions
- 1948: Amir Sjarifuddin
- 1968: Nguyen Van Lem
- 1942: The village of Lidice, for the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich
Entry Filed under: 20th Century, Beheaded, Borderline "Executions", Capital Punishment, Death Penalty, Execution, Executions Survived, History, Innocent Bystanders, Japan, Known But To God, Mass Executions, No Formal Charge, Notable Participants, Occupation and Colonialism, Shot, Summary Executions, USA, Wartime Executions
Tags: 1943, october 7, pacific theater, shigematsu sakaibara, wake island, wake island massacre, world war ii
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11 Comments Add your own
1. thomas knowles | October 28th, 2008 at 8:53 pm
my grandfather was there, he was taken to a slave labor camp in shanghai, when he returned after the war he could barely walk, by the severity of the starvation which was imposed on him. ive heard stories of it, i just wish that more people would realise how the government treats its own people, they sent no force to rescue them, they left them for dead.
2. Phyllis Brown | December 9th, 2008 at 9:59 am
I am thankful for your family that your grandfather returned home, my grandfather was one of the unfortunate ones who died there. The search for answers has been an ongoing undertaking by a large portion of our family.
3. Gary E. Capehart | February 12th, 2009 at 9:19 am
As a baby boomer and Marine, I grew up with endless accounts of heroic American sacrifices in WW II. As such there never was any hesitation when my sister an Air Force nurse 68-71 and I 71-74 volunteered. But today who volunteers? I cannot express the gratitude I have for your deceased heroes.They did make this the land of the free and they were at home here and there the brave. God Bless their memory. Thank-you, Gary and Suzy
4. Karen Hansen Easton | March 14th, 2009 at 2:33 pm
My Step Grandfather Martin T Kelly was one of Forgotten 98″. He worked for Morrison & Knudsen and went over to Wake Island the summer of 1941. I remember when we received a telegram in Portland in 1946 that he was killed. My Grandmother was invited to attend the Memorial Services at Punchbowl Nat’ Cemetary in 1953 but was unable to attend. She received, thanks to Sen Morris, a “Widows Pension” . He was much loved by my Father and Grandmother.
5. Wayne Street | April 12th, 2009 at 9:01 pm
My uncle, Joe Mittendorf, was one of the 98. He operator equipment, I have all of his letters up to Dec. 2, 1941. He helped the marines man a .50 cal. machine gun. I also applied for his metals and received 4 plus a purple heart, Actualy I have letters to and from him from 1938 thru Dec. 1941. I also have the blue book and a Wig Wag dated July 15, 1941. When you read the letters, you find out that he was a very intersting man. My address is wstreet38@yahoo.com
6. ExecutedToday.com »&hellip | June 18th, 2009 at 2:40 am
[...] The most lastingly notable of the six was Rear Admiral Shigematsu Sakaibara, who was hanged for ordering (and perhaps in one instance, personally conducting) an infamous mass execution on Wake Island that has already appeared in these pages. [...]
7. Pat Gaskell | August 16th, 2009 at 2:49 pm
My father Ira Hawkins Boothe was one of the 1400 contractors on Wake Island during the Japanese invasion. He died on April 13, l943. I have no history of where he died or how. Was he a prisoner of war until that date.?
He is now buried at the Punchbowl in Honolulu. I have no history on him because I was only 6 when this happened. Any infomation would be appreciated. His homtown was Romulus, Alabama. He was only 28 when he died. Please inform me if you are able to find any information where he was killed.
8. Tom Browder | September 11th, 2009 at 11:56 pm
I have worked for the Defence Department for 28 years as a civilian. I have been inspired by the actions of the Navy, Marines and the civilian contractors on Wake Island for many years. The contractors were the making of the first layer of the foundation of the Navy Seabees. Something has troubled for years. The 98 Rock needs protection from the elements. The typhoons and exposure to the sea and weather it will disappear for future generations. I have contacted my Senator and he wrote me the Department of Interior is investigated it. I believe the rock should be move to the Punch Bowl in Hawaii with the 98. I would like to here comments especially from relatives of the contractors. If we can bring rocks from the moon we can move a rock from Wake. e-mail me for comments
9. Tom Browder | September 12th, 2009 at 12:12 am
e-mail tomb12345@live.com
10. Lorraine Mager Buchko | October 15th, 2009 at 12:31 pm
I am trying to find information about my grandmother’s brother, Raymond Mathiasen, who died 8/9 /43. He was a civilian contractor on Wake. Raymond was reburied In the Punchbowl on Oahu, HI.
11. Raymond E. Drozd | October 18th, 2009 at 10:25 pm
TO THE RELATIVES TRYING TO RESEARCH DECEASED LOVE ONES, I WOULD RECOMMEND LOOKING UP SOME OF THE P.O.W. SITES ON THE INTERNET, STARTING WITH THE 1ST DEFENSE BATTALION, USMC. THE BULK OF CIVILIAN CONTRACTORS WENT WITH THE MARINES TO POW CAMPS IN CHINA, AND THEN LATER IN THE WAR, JAPAN AND KOREA. I RECALL ONE WEBSITE CALLED “DOGBERRY PATCH” WHICH HAS THE WAKE CIVILIAN POW ACCOUNTS. ALSO, THE IDAHO HISTORICAL SOCIETY (MORRISON-KNUDSEN WAS BOISE BASED) HAS MATERIAL AS WELL. GENERALLY, ONE WEB SITE LEADS YOU TO ANOTHER. I WISH YOU ALL LUCK.
TO THOSE RELATIVES WHO HAVE DECEASED FAMILY BURIED AT THE WAKE MEMORIAL SITE AT THE PUNCHBOWL (HAWAII), A QUESTION; DO THE FAMILIES HAVE ANY HISTORICAL DOCUMENTATION FROM THE U.S. GOVERNMENT INDICATING HOW THEY IDENTIFIED THEIR LOVED ONES REMAINS?
I AM RETIRED MILITARY AND AM ATTEMPTING TO ACCOUNT FOR 8 INDIVIDUALS WHO, I BELIEVE, WERE NOT EXHUMED ON WAKE, AND REPATRIATED TO HAWAII POST WAR. ANY GENERIC INFORMATION YOU HAVE WOULD BE APPRECIATED.
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