Hung By Hands With Bayonet Against Head

Northern Advocate, 13 August 1942, Page 3

Hung By Hands With Bayonet Against Head

(Special) SYDNEY, August 12. Grim details of the tortures inflicted on him by the Japanese have been told by a Dutch civil servant here. He was bound hand and foot and for two days and two nights hung by his hands from a wooden fence with a rope around his neck and a bayonet pressed against his forehead to prevent sleep. When the Japanese landed on a small East Indian island where the Dutchman was serving, they immediately took him before the commander. He was kept standing for many hours when the Japanese naval officer sud--denly decided that standing by a European was out of place in Japanese company, and knocked him down. He was then tied in the manner described. Each time he complained he was hit on the face and back with a horsewhip. Other men were also tied to the fence and the Japanese soldiers kicked them as they passed. On the third day the Dutch official was permitted to join his wife at the local hospital, where they lived for four months on a meagre diet of rice before they were able to escape with the help of friendly natives.