Here's a link to the current player, with the downloadable audio there: BBC Radio 4 - Document, The Case of the Suez Maru The Case of the Suez Maru Document Mike Thomson presents the series using documentary evidence to throw new light on past events. He examines the events surrounding a massacre of Allied POWs by the Japanese in 1943 and peruses the document that allowed the perperators to escape justice.
LS Like to talk to the son of Kenneth Thomas. My uncle was on the ship. Somebody knows how to contact that survivor of the ship or family of him. Further may be japanese survivors.
Hello and welcome best to post what you have and make it a bit more personal in your search for information Also you have the wrong year it is 1943. The Suez Maru | COFEPOW thank you
The case of the Suez Maru 29 November 1943 The Sinking Of The Suez Maru - Dennis R Courant - Burma Star Memorial Fund Suez Maru I could imagine, member "papiermache" could contribute here still something
Probably a good time to merge threads. Not much known by me apart from the Dutch victims IJA cards bear the code "KA7", a file number which was given by the Japanese Prisoner of War Information Bureau. At what date a list of victims was provided I don't know. It is possible that the code also appears on IJA cards for British victims. A Japanese Professor provides an important Kew file reference which bears a slightly different name for the ship: " Reference: LCO 2/3002 Description: Japanese war crimes S/S "Suey Maru" As to whether trial should be held having regard to the recommendations of the Far Eastern Commission that trials should be concluded by 30th September 1949 Date: 1949 Held by: The National Archives, Kew Former reference in its original department: 3201/20 (part 56) Legal status: Public Record(s) Closure status: Open Document, Open Description" The learned professor is Hirofumi Hayashi. Hirofumi Hayashi - Wikipedia Australian Archives have files but they are not digitised. Australian investigators were very good at helping British investigators in the "maru" cases. Australian files listed: MP742/1 336/1/1965 PART 2 War crimes: Weekly reports of investigations by 2 Australian War Crimes Section - Investigation reports by Captain J Sylvester [period covered 5 December 1947 - 20 January 1950] [component 2 of 13] Access status: Open Location: Melbourne 1947 - 1950 10526046 MP742/1 336/1/2026 PART 1 War crimes - Massacre of Allied PW [prisoners of war] on sinking of SUEZ MARU [Supplementary search term: Captain Sylvester; Includes list of English prisoners of war that embarked on SUEZ MARU at Amboina] 1. MISC 39 [Component 1 of 5] Access status: Open Location: Melbourne 1949 - 1949 393391 MP742/1 336/1/2026 PART 2 War crimes - Massacre of Allied PW [prisoners of war] on sinking of SUEZ MARU [Supplementary search term: Captain Sylvester; Includes list of English prisoners of war that embarked on SUEZ MARU at Amboina] 2. Suez Maru case - Captain Sylvester - 153B Safe custody - MISC 39 [Component 2 of 5] Access status: Open Location: Melbourne 1949 - 1949 32839304 MP742/1 336/1/2026 PART 3 War crimes - Massacre of Allied PW [prisoners of war] on sinking of SUEZ MARU [Supplementary search term: Captain Sylvester; Includes list of English prisoners of war that embarked on SUEZ MARU at Amboina] 3. 153B Suez Maru case[Component 3 of 5] Access status: Open Location: Melbourne 1949 - 1949 32839305 MP742/1 336/1/2026 PART 4 War crimes - Massacre of Allied PW [prisoners of war] on sinking of SUEZ MARU [Supplementary search term: Captain Sylvester; Includes list of English prisoners of war that embarked on SUEZ MARU at Amboina] 4. War Crimes - Sanuki-Maru - 170 - date completed 11 June '48 [Component 4 of 5] Access status: Open Location: Melbourne 1949 - 1949 32839306 MP742/1 336/1/2026 PART 5 War crimes - Massacre of Allied PW [prisoners of war] on sinking of SUEZ MARU [Supplementary search term: Captain Sylvester; Includes list of English prisoners of war that embarked on SUEZ MARU at Amboina] 5. Allied translator and interpreter service [Component 5 of 5] Access status: Open Location: Melbourne 1949 - 1949 32839307
Hello - I am also a family member of a man killed in the Suez maru atrocity. I have been researching it in detail and am just finishing my PhD which covers it, and I wrote a book in 2020 about it, as well as built the Suez Maru Memorial at the NMA. I am afraid the recurring tale of Kenneth Thomas being the only survivor is fiction. There were no survivors. The story started, I don't know where, but it has been widely perpetuated by Denis Courant, on COFEPOW, as 'an amusing anecdote' that he survived and was many miles away. I seek to get rid of these references, as they are not only not amusing, but they are disrespectful to our families who lost relatives in the Suez Maru war crime. Please do come and meet about 200 of the 414 Britsh families on our Facebook group, @suezmaru, where we share lots of information and where remembrance gatherings for the men are detailed. Very best, Jacquelyn