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British & Commonwealth Occupation Force |
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Planning for an occupation force for Japan had begun to be considered as Japan's defeat loomed closer. The idea of a Commonwealth occupation force did not sit well with Australian authorities who wanted an independent Australian force involved. This mirrored the arguments for independent command that had dogged the Australian military earlier in the war. Australia had been ignored in the planning of strategy for the South West Pacific operations and it wanted to press its claims for an independent voice into the peace. As a concession, the British allowed the responsibility of command and administration to be allocated to Australia. The Australian Joint Chiefs of Staff, with British, New Zealand and Indian representatives, met in Melbourne to oversee the operations of BCOF. Commonwealth contingents did not begin to arrive in Japan until February 1946, six months after the first US troops. The Commonwealth presence was largely a token one and was confined to the devastated region of Hiroshima. The more important roles of government and democratisation of Japan fell to General Douglas MacArthur. The initial commander of the force was Australian Lieutenant-General John Northcott until he was replaced, following his appointment as the governor of New South Wales in April, by Lieutenant-General H. C. H. Robertson, another Australian, who retained command until 1951. BCOF totalled about 36 000 men and women. It comprised the 34th Australian Infantry Brigade Group, the 9th New Zealand brigade Group, a British and an Indian Brigade forming a division (Brindiv), an airforce of two wings, and shore-based naval personnel. The role of BCOF was essentially one of demobilisation and demilitarisation. Tasks included the repatriation of Japanese soldiers to their home islands and the destruction and/or removal of stockpiles of war materials including chemical agents and ordnance. Intelligence agencies also kept tabs on Japanese veterans groups who it was thought might harbour ideas of insurrection. A negative in the forces occupation was a high rate of venereal disease in the first year of service incurred through fraternisation with Japanese women which was, of course, a moral concern for those back home. By 1947 most of BCOFs work had been completed and the force began to scale down. First British troops were withdrawn, followed by the Indian contingent. In October 1948, New Zealand withdrew its troops leaving BCOF a largely Australian affair. Service in BCOF remained unacknowledged for many servicemen until the issue of the Australian Service Medal in 1994 for service between 1945-47. |
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