AIRMAN BEHEADED

Manawatu Standard, Volume LXV, Issue 235, 3 September 1945, Page 5

AIRMAN BEHEADED

AUSTRALIAN V.C. WINNER. - EXECUTION IN NEW GUINEA. . . MELBpURNE, Sept, 2. The Japanese at Salamaua, New Guinea, beheaded Eli”;ht-Lie u tenant William Newton, V.C., with a Samurai sword. Flight-Lieutenant Newton’s execution, it is now revealed for the first time, occurred in March, 1943, 11 days after his plane had crashed. His remains were identified after the Allies had captured Salamaua and were buried in the Air Force cemetery there. In October, 1943, the Government announced that Allied troops had found evidence that an It.A.A.F. officer had been beheaded, but did not identify the victim as Newton. The Japanese held Flight-Lieutenant Newton prisoner for 11 days, during which the authorities believe he was inhumanly tortured and finally beheaded. Flight-Lieutenant Newton was awarded the Victoria Cross before the authorities knew the Japanese had beheaded him. His remarkable dive-bombing exploits earned him the decoration. The award was announced posthumously only because of routine delays in making such announcements. The Commonwealth Government has cabled to the Dominions Office its dissatisfaction that no Japanese, war criminals have been arrested and asks that action be taken immediately. Officials of the External Affairs Department stated that Australia would not be satisfied unless action, was taken immediately to arrest every Japanese who had been named as a war criminal or a suspected war criminal.