| Kalagon massacre | |
|---|---|
| Part of the Burma Campaign of World War II | |
 Japanese prisoners in the dock during the first war crimes trial to be held in Rangoon, Burma. These men were charged with the murder of 637 civilians in the village of Kalagon (1946). | |
| Location | Kalagon, Burma |
| Coordinates | 16°32′57″N 97°43′46″E / 16.54917°N 97.72944°E |
| Date | 7 July 1945 |
| Target | Villagers |
Attack type | Massacre, war rape, torture |
| Deaths | 600–1,000 |
| Perpetrators | Imperial Japanese Army
|
| Motive | Punishment for aiding British commandos |
On 7 July 1945, the Kalagon massacre was committed against inhabitants of Kalagon, Burma (present-day Myanmar), by members of the 3rd Battalion, 215th Regiment and the OC Moulmein Kempeitai of the Imperial Japanese Army. These units had been ordered by Major General Seiei Yamamoto, chief of staff of the 33rd Army, to sweep the area for guerrillas reportedly teamed with British paratroops.
The Japanese occupied the village and rounded up all the inhabitants, some to the local mosque and others to different buildings, for questioning. Women and children were raped and beaten. After it was confirmed that they had aided British commandos, Major Ichikawa Seigi ordered the entire village to be massacred. The inhabitants were taken in groups of four to ten people to nearby wells, blindfolded, and bayoneted, and their bodies were dumped in the wells. The village was then burned to the ground. An estimated 600 to 1,000 villagers died in the massacre.[1]
The Japanese kidnapped 10 female survivors who agreed to act as "spies", albeit it is believed that they were instead used as comfort women. Two of them escaped, but the others disappeared.[1][2]
- ^ a b Lingen, Kerstin von (2016-11-04). War Crimes Trials in the Wake of Decolonization and Cold War in Asia, 1945-1956: Justice in Time of Turmoil. Springer. ISBN 978-3-319-42987-8.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
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