Names

Guide to the Papers of Athol Randolph Moffitt

IDs

AWM00047

http://www.awm.gov.au/findingaids/private/Moffitt.xml

Descriptions

Collection of papers relating to War Crimes Trials, British North Borneo 1945-1946, and to the Sandakan POW camps. Captain Athol Randolph Moffitt was an Army legal officer assisting with the investigations of war crimes against prisoners of war (mainly Australian) by the Japanese forces and their collaborators during the Second World War. As a member of the British Borneo Civic Affairs Unit, and later attached to the HQ 9th Division AIF (Labuan), Capt Moffitt gathered the evidence for, and conducted the prosecution of Captain Hoshijima, the commander of Sandakan POW camp from mid-1942 to May 1945. The trial of Hoshijima was conducted in January 1946. The records include an indexed typed transcript of Moffitt's diary, September 1945-February 1946; Japanese War Crimes Trial typescripts; original charts compiled by Japanese officers concerning the first Sandakan 'death march'; maps relating to Sandakan POW camp and the 'death marches'; research documents collected by Moffitt for the book Project Kingfisher (1989); a copy of Project Kingfisher autographed by survivors of the Sandakan 'death marches'; and contemporary papers.

SERIES 1: Diary, 1944-1946 - The diary primarily covers Moffitt's service from the time of his transfer to Borneo at the end of August 1945 as a Captain with BBCAU, and then attached to HQ 9th Division Labuan from late December 1945. ; SERIES 2: Production material and a copy of Moffitt's book Project Kingfisher,1989-1993 - A signed commemorative copy of the book Project Kingfisherby Athol Moffitt (Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1989) and documents related to production of the book.; SERIES 3: Records pertaining to Project Kingfisher, 1944 - 1945 - Records pertaining to the background and development of the operation code-named 'Project Kingfisher' collected by Moffitt and used as source material for his book Project Kingfisher.; SERIES 4: Borneo war crimes trial transcripts and related material, 1945-1946 - Original Prosecutor's carbon copy typescripts and copies of typescripts of several war crimes trials at Labuan and Rabaul 1946, related to the Sandakan POW camp, the 'death marches', and treatment of POWs at Rabaul. The series includes original documents by Japanese officers in charge of POWs on the first 'death march'.; SERIES 5: Rabaul war crimes trial of Lt Gen Baba ,1947 - Copy of typescript and exhibits of Rabaul war crimes trial of Lt Gen Baba, 37 Imperial Japanese Army, Borneo 1947.; SERIES 6: Borneo and Sandakan research material,1945-1947 - Research material used by Moffitt, including original maps, copies of maps and official papers, newspaper cuttings, original letters and records of interview.; SERIES 7: General research material: published sources,1945 -1981 - Research material used by Moffitt and derived from published sources relating to the conduct and characteristics of the Japanese in the Second Woeld War, and the content, basis and justification for war crimes trials and what can be learnt from them.; SERIES 8: Other papers related to Sandakan and Borneo ,1943-1945 - Other papers, some acquired since Project Kingfisher was published in 1989, related to Sandakan, Borneo, the Japanese, and war crimes trials. Includes photographs, letters, accounts and newspaper cuttings.; SERIES 9: Papers written since 1995,1995-2000 - Moffitt raises questions that remain unanswered about Sandakan and Borneo. Includes the early plans, title and draft for his book.; SERIES 10: Moffitt's comments on the arrangement and contents of the collection, 1999 - SERIES 10: Moffitt's comments on the arrangement and contents of the collection, 1999.

The papers of Athol Moffitt held at the Australian War Memorial document Borneo in the Second World War and the experience of POWs at Sandakan in particular, as well as the conduct of the Japanese and of civilians in areas under Japanese occupation.The papers are arranged in nine series based on nine packets donated by Moffitt. Researchers are referred to Moffitt's comments on the arrangement and contents of the collection (Series 10). Central to the material donated are the two volumes which Moffitt included in Packet 1. They are an indexed typescript copy of Moffitt's diary (Series 1) and a copy of Moffitt's book Project Kingfisher (Series 2) signed by Australian survivors of the Sandakan 'death march'. The diary was written in Borneo in September 1945-February 1946, and records the investigations and prosecutions carried out by Moffitt. Papers related to the bookProject Kingfisher include production material (Series 2), source material (Series 3-8), and the early plans, title and draft (Series 9).Sandakan was the site of a Japanese POW camp established in July 1942, occupied initally by 'B' Force composed of 1496 Australian POWs from Changi Prison in Singapore. In time, the prison population in Sandakan increased to 2750, composed of about 2000 Australian and 750 British POWs. In 1945 the Japanese began to move prisoners from Sandakan to Ranau, about 160 miles away. Of the 470 prisoners who left Sandakan on the first march in January, only about half survived to reach Ranau. Of the remaining POWs, about 1400 died at Sandakan in 1945. Of these, 1100 died before a second march to Ranau that began on 27 May 1945, following the Australian landings at Tarakan earlier in May. Captain Takakuwa took command of the POWs, including on the march and at Ranau. The Sandakan camp facilities were destroyed; 536 prisoners left on the second march. Only 183 reached Ranau. Three hundred prisoners were left behind at Sandakan because they were too sick to travel; they died or were shot. The survivors of both marches died or were shot at Ranau; the last fifty were shot shortly after the Japanese surrender in mid August 1945.Eight Australian Sandakan POWs escaped in 1943 (including Rex Blow); these men joined US and Filipino guerillas, and two were killed in action. Of the about 1000 prisoners marched off to Ranau, six Australian POWs survived; there were no British survivors. Two Australians survived the second 'death march' by escaping en route (Owen Campbell and Dick Braithwaite); four survived by escaping from Ranau (Bill Moxham, Nelson Short, Keith Botterill, and Bill Sticpewich, the last to escape in July 1945). Moffitt prosecuted Captain Hoshijima in January 1946. Bill Sticpewich gave oral evidence at the trial; his evidence was supplemented by statements from Japanese soldiers obtained by Moffitt. Hoshijima was found guilty of murder and executed at Rabaul on 6 April 1946. (General Masuo Baba, commander of Japanese forces in Borneo, was also tried in May-June 1947, was found guilty, and was executed on 7 August 1947.)In 1947, a Parliamentary debate was held on the failure to rescue the Sandakan POWs which ordered an inquiry into the matter. However, Moffitt found that the records of the inquiry did not properly deal with a planned paratroop rescue of the Sandakan POWs. Further research, including archives related to the operation code-named 'Project Kingfisher', and an interview with Sir John Overall, then Commander of the 1st Australian Paratroop Battalion, revealed details of the planned rescue. Much of the material in this collection is derived from Moffitt's research. Also included are various papers written by Moffitt after 1995 (Series 9).

Contact Senior Curator, Private Records, Australian War Memorial.

Open - Contact Senior Curator, Private Records, Australian War Memorial.

Selected additional and related material available at http://www.awm.gov.au/search/collections/ using the search terms described under 'subject _local'. Copies of many items from the Memorial's collections may also be purchased @ http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/sales/.

Subjects

Athol Randolph Moffitt

Borneo; Prisoners of War; Sandakan; Second World War

Correspondence; Diaries; Transcripts

Prisoners of War; World wars

Coverage Spatial

Borneo

Coverage Temporal

1943

2000

Related Collections

Dates

2012-05-30 23:43

2011-06-08 12:32