70 years ago on this date, 24 October 1943, an Australian Commando,
Leonard Siffleet was beheaded by a Japanese Officer during World War II. I will
honor him by posting about his profile from Wikipedia.
Studio portrait of Len Siffleet, c. 1941
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Born
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14 January 1916
Gunnedah, New South Wales |
Died
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24 October 1943 (aged 27)
Aitape, Papua New Guinea |
Allegiance
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Australia
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Service/branch
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Australian Army
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Years of service
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1940–1943
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Rank
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Sergeant
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Unit
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SRD (1942–43)
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Battles/wars
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World War
II
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Leonard George
(Len) Siffleet (14 January 1916 – 24 October 1943) was an
Australian commando of World War II. Born in Gunnedah, New South Wales, he
joined the Second Australian Imperial Force in 1941, and by 1943 had reached
the rank of sergeant. Posted to M Special Unit of the Services Reconnaissance
Department, Siffleet was on a mission in Papua New Guinea when he and two
Ambonese companions were captured by partisan tribesmen and handed over to the
Japanese. All three men were interrogated, tortured and later beheaded. A
photograph of Siffleet's impending execution became an enduring image of the
war, and his identity was often confused with that of other servicemen who
suffered a similar fate, in particular Flight Lieutenant Bill Newton VC.
Early
life
Len
Siffleet was born on 14 January 1916 in Gunnedah, New South Wales. The son of
an itinerant worker of Dutch descent, his siblings included a sister and two
brothers. Siffleet made his way to Sydney in the late 1930s, seeking to join
the police force, but was prevented from doing so because of his eyesight. He
was nevertheless called up for the militia in August 1940, and attached to a
searchlight unit at RAAF Station Richmond.
Discharged
from the militia after three months, Siffleet returned to his family to help
look after his young brothers following their mother's death. He was working as
a shop assistant when he enlisted in the Second Australian Imperial Force (AIF)
in September 1941. Allotted to a signals company based at Ingleburn, New South
Wales, he was reported absent without leave on two occasions; he was by this
time engaged to Clarice Lane.
Sydney, NSW. 1941. Len Siffleet and his
fiance Clarice Lane at Circular Quay en route for a day at Manly.
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New
Guinea campaign
After
training in radio communications at Melbourne Technical College, Siffleet
volunteered for special operations in September 1942 and was posted to the
Services Reconnaissance Department (SRD) of the Allied Intelligence Bureau in
Melbourne. He joined Z Special Unit in October and was transferred to Cairns in
Far North Queensland for further operational training. Assigned to the SRD's
Dutch section as a radio operator, Siffleet was promoted sergeant in May 1943.
He moved across to M Special Unit the same month to take part in a mission to
set up a coastwatching station in the hills behind Hollandia in Papua New
Guinea. Described by Commander Eric Feldt, director of the Coastwatchers, as
"the best type of N.C.O. of the A.I.F., young and competent",
Siffleet joined a party led by Sergeant H. N. Staverman of the Royal
Netherlands Navy, which included two Ambonese privates, H. Pattiwal and M.
Reharing. Code-named "Whiting", this team was to work in concert with
another group known as "Locust", led by Lieutenant Jack Fryer.
Staverman's
reconnaissance group commenced its mission in north-east New Guinea in July,
trekking across mountainous terrain through August and September. At some point
Staverman and Pattiwal separated from the others to undertake further
exploration of the countryside, and were ambushed by a group of natives. Both
were captured and reported as killed but Pattiwal later escaped and rejoined
Siffleet and Reharing. Siffleet signalled Fryer to warn him of the hostile
natives and of Japanese patrols, indicating that he was preparing to burn his
party's codes and bury its radio. No more was heard from them after early
October. Clarice
Lane (incorrectly addressed as "Clemice" Lane) had in the meantime
received two letters from the Allied Intelligence Bureau in July and September,
stating that Siffleet was "safe and well".
Death
and legacy
After
Pattiwal rejoined Siffleet and Reharing, they attempted to make their way to
the Dutch border. They were ambushed by a hundred native villagers near Aitape
and, after a brief melée during which Siffleet shot and wounded one of their
attackers, the group was captured and handed over to the Japanese. Interrogated
and tortured, the team was confined for approximately two weeks before being
taken down to Aitape Beach on the afternoon of 24 October 1943. Bound and
blindfolded, surrounded by Japanese and native onlookers, they were forced to
the ground and executed by beheading, on the orders of Vice-Admiral Michiaki
Kamada of the Imperial Japanese Navy. The officer who executed Siffleet, Yasuno
Chikao, detailed a private to photograph him in the act. Chikao has been
variously reported as having died before the end of the war, and as having been
captured and sentenced to be hanged, with his sentence subsequently commuted to
10 years' imprisonment.
The
photograph of Siffleet's execution was discovered on the body of a dead
Japanese major near Hollandia by American troops in April 1944. It is believed
to be the only surviving depiction of a western prisoner of war being executed
by a Japanese soldier. The photo was published in Australian newspapers and in Life
magazine but was thought to depict Flight Lieutenant Bill Newton VC, who had
been captured in Salamaua, Papua New Guinea, and beheaded on 29 March 1943. It
later went on display at the Australian War Memorial. Elsewhere, despite
positive identification in 1945 of Siffleet as the soldier pictured, the image
continues on occasion to be misidentified as Newton. Siffleet is commemorated
on the Lae Memorial in Lae, Papua New Guinea, together with all other
Commonwealth war dead from actions in the region who have no known grave.
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