On This Day: French face killing/torture after Japanese coup in Indochina - Mar. 9, 1945
Last edited Sun Mar 10, 2024, 12:49 AM - Edit history (1)
(edited from Wikipedia)
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Japanese coup d'état in French Indochina
The Japanese coup d'état in French Indochina was a Japanese operation that took place on 9 March 1945, towards the end of World War II. With Japanese forces losing the war and the threat of an Allied invasion of Indochina imminent, the Japanese were concerned about an uprising against them by French colonial forces.
Despite the French having anticipated an attack, the Japanese struck in a military campaign attacking garrisons all over the colony. The French were caught off guard and all of the garrisons were overrun, with some then having to escape to Nationalist China, where they were harshly interned. The Japanese replaced French officials, and effectively dismantled their control of Indochina. The Japanese were then able to install and create a new Empire of Vietnam, Kingdom of Kampuchea and Kingdom of Luang Phrabang which under their direction would acquiesce with their military presence and forestall a potential invasion by the Allies.
French Indochina
French Indochina comprised the colony of Cochinchina and the protectorates of Annam, Cambodia and Tonkin, and the mixed region of Laos. After the fall of France in June 1940 the French Indochinese government had remained loyal to the Vichy regime, which collaborated with the Axis powers.
The following month governor Admiral Jean Decoux signed an agreement under which Japanese forces were permitted to occupy bases across Indochina. In September the same year Japanese troops invaded and took control of Northern Indochina, and then in July 1941 they occupied the Southern half as well. The Japanese allowed Vichy French troops and the administration to continue on albeit as puppets.
By 1944 with the war going against the Japanese after defeats in Burma and the Philippines they then feared an Allied offensive in French Indochina. The Japanese were already suspicious of the French; the liberation of Paris in August 1944 raised further doubts as to where the loyalties of the colonial administration lay.
Opposing forces
In early 1945 the French Indochina army still outnumbered the Japanese in the colony and comprised about 65,000 men, of whom 48,500 were locally recruited Tirailleurs indochinois under French officers. The remainder were French regulars of the Colonial Army plus three battalions of the Foreign Legion. A separate force of indigenous gardes indochinois (gendarmerie) numbered 27,000. Since the fall of France in June 1940 no replacements or supplies had been received from outside Indochina. By March 1945 only about 30,000 French troops could be described as fully combat ready, the remainder serving in garrison or support units. At the beginning of 1945 the understrength Japanese Thirty-Eighth Army was composed of 30,000 troops, a force that was substantially increased by 25,000 reinforcements brought in from China, Thailand, and Burma in the following months.
The coup
In early March 1945 Japanese forces were redeployed around the main French garrison towns throughout Indochina, linked by radio to the Southern area headquarters. The Japanese envoy in Saigon Ambassador declared to [French Governor Admiral] Decoux that since an Allied landing in Indochina was inevitable, Tokyo command wished to put into place a "common defence" of Indochina. Decoux however resisted stating that this would be a catalyst for an Allied invasion but suggested that Japanese control would be accepted if they actually invaded. This was not enough and Tsuchihashi accused Decoux of playing for time.
[Message to negotiate not delivered]
On 9 March, after more stalling by Decoux, Tsuchihashi delivered an ultimatum for French troops to disarm. Decoux sent a messenger to Matsumoto urging further negotiations but the message arrived at the wrong building. Tsuchihashi, assuming that Decoux had rejected the ultimatum, immediately ordered commencement of the coup.
[Japanese forces move against French]
That evening Japanese forces moved against the French in every center. Japan issued instructions to the government of Thailand to seal off its border with Indochina and to arrest all French and Indochinese residents within its territory. Instead, Thailand began negotiating with the Japanese over their course of action, and by the end of March they hadn't fully complied with the demands.
[... Fighting ensues around the geography]
Once the Japanese had cut off all communications to the forts they invited General Émile Lemonnier, the commander of the border region, to a banquet at the headquarters of the 22nd division of the Imperial Japanese Army. Lemonnier declined to attend the event, but allowed some of his staff to go in his place. They were taken prisoner and soon after the Japanese bombarded Fort Brière de l'Isle, attacking with infantry and tanks. Finally, the main fortress of Brière de l'Isle was overrun after heavy fighting.
Lemonnier was subsequently taken prisoner himself and ordered by a Japanese general to sign a document formally surrendering the forces under his command. Lemonnier refused to sign the documents. As a result, the Japanese took him outside where they forced him to dig a grave along with [the] French Resident-superior. Lemonnier again was ordered to sign the surrender documents and again refused. The Japanese subsequently beheaded him. The Japanese then machine-gunned some of the prisoners and either beheaded or bayoneted the wounded survivors.
The battle of Lạng Sơn cost the French heavy casualties and their force on the border was effectively destroyed. European losses were 544 killed, of which 387 had been executed after capture. In addition 1,832 Tonkinese colonial troops were killed (including 103 who were executed) while another 1,000 were taken prisoner. On 12 March planes of the US Fourteenth Air Force flying in support of the French, mistook a column of Tonkinese prisoners for Japanese and bombed and strafed them. Reportedly between 400 and 600 of the prisoners were killed or wounded.
On the 12th the Japanese then advanced further north to the border town of Dong Dang. where the Japanese launched an attack against the town. The French resisted for three days. The Japanese were then reinforced by two regiments from 22nd Division from Lạng Sơn and finally overran the French colonial force. Fifty-three survivors were beheaded or bayoneted to death.
[U.S. provides minimal support to French]
The United States and China were reluctant to start a large-scale operation to restore French authority, as they did not favour colonial rule, and had little sympathy for the Vichy regime which had formerly collaborated with the Japanese. Both countries ordered that their forces provide no assistance to the French, but American general Claire Lee Chennault went against orders, and aircraft from his 51st Fighter Group and 27th Troop Carrier Squadron flew support missions as well as dropping medical supplies for Sabattier's forces retreating into China. Between 12 and 28 March, the Americans flew thirty-four bombing, strafing and reconnaissance missions over the North of Indochina but they had little effect in stemming the Japanese advance.
[French loss]
By mid April Alessandri, having realised he was on his own, split his force into two. Soon a combination of disease, ration shortages and low morale forced him into a difficult decision. With reluctance he disarmed and disbanded his locally recruited colonial troops, leaving them to their fate in a measure which angered French and Vietnamese alike. Many of the tirailleurs were far from their homes and some were captured by the Japanese. Others joined the Viet Minh. The remaining French and Foreign Legion units gradually discarded all of their heavy weapons, motor vehicles and left behind several tons of ammunition without destroying any of it. The division were soon reduced in numbers by disease and missing men as they moved towards Son La and Dien Bien Phu where they fought costly rearguard actions.
By this time de Gaulle had been informed of the situation in Indochina and then swiftly told Sabattier via radio orders to maintain a presence in Indochina for the sake of France's pride at all costs. By 6 May however many of the remaining members of the Tonkin Division were over the Chinese border where they were interned under harsh conditions. Between 9 March and 2 May the Tonkin division had suffered heavily; many had died or were invalided by disease. In combat 774 had been killed and 283 wounded with another 303 missing or captured.
Aftermath
The coup had, in the words of diplomat Jean Sainteny, "wrecked a colonial enterprise that had been in existence for 80 years."
French losses were heavy. 15,000 French soldiers in total were held prisoner by the Japanese. Nearly 4,200 were killed with many executed after surrendering - about half of these were European or French metropolitan troops. Practically all French civil and military leaders as well as plantation owners were made prisoners, including Decoux. They were confined either in specific districts of big cities or in camps.
Those who were suspected of armed resistance were jailed in the Kempeitai prison in bamboo cages and were tortured and cruelly interrogated.
The locally recruited tirailleurs and gardes indochinois who had made up the majority of the French military and police forces, effectively ceased to exist. About a thousand were killed in the fighting or executed after surrender. Some joined pro-Japanese militias or Vietnamese nationalist guerrillas. Deprived of their French cadres, many dispersed to their villages of origin. Over three thousand reached Chinese territory as part of the retreating French columns.
"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_coup_d%27%C3%A9tat_in_French_Indochina
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