Sergeant L. G. Siffleet - M Special Unit - Beheaded

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Sergeant L. G. Siffleet - Beheaded
Sadly one of the most seen photographs of WW2.

Beheaded.jpg

Aitape, New Guinea, 24 October 1943: Sergeant L. G. Siffleet, M Special Unit, tied and blindfolded, about to be beheaded. Sergeant Siffleet, a radio operator, was part of a long-range reconnaissance unit led by Dutchman, Sergeant Staverman, operating behind Japanese lines in New Guinea. The party was betrayed and Staverman killed. Siffleet and two Ambonese companions – Reharin and Pate Wail – were taken to the Japanese base at Aitape where all three were executed by beheading on the order of Vice-Admiral KAMADA, commander of Japanese naval forces at Aitape. According to the original caption to this photograph the name of the Japanese executioner was YASUNO, who died before the end of the war. Siffleet was buried on the beach at Aitape below the tideline and his body was never recovered. The photograph of his execution was taken by a Japanese soldier and found by American forces when they invaded Hollandia in 1944. The photograph of Siffleet’s execution appeared shortly afterwards in American, and subsequently Australian, publications as an illustration of the brutality with which prisoners of the Japanese were treated. For many years in Australia the photo was captioned as if it depicted the execution of Flight Lieutenant Newton VC, Royal Australian Air Force, by the Japanese at Salamaua, New Guinea, on 29 March 1943.

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William Ellis Newton VC.jpg

Portrait of Flight Lieutenant William Ellis Newton, VC (Victoria Cross), No. 22 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force beside his aircraft. Flight Lieutenant Newton was made a prisoner of war after being shot down by the Japanese over Salamaua, New Guinea, on 17 March 1943. Despite his POW status Newton was beheaded by his captors on 29 March 1943.