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On 18 December 1945, the Allied powers
decided upon this historic event and important event of British Forces to
participate in the occupation of Japan following the unconditional
surrender of that nation to bring the Second World War to an end.
In 1946 Australian Armed Forces and support
Arms as part of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force joined with
United States of America Forces to begin what was to become a long and
distinguished history of occupying the homeland of a former enemy. The
occupation continued for over six years, with Australia providing the
major component of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force, known
colloquially as B.C.O.F. Together with forces of the United States, the
role of the occupying powers was to demilitarise and to initiate the
rebuilding a vanquished nation in a way which exemplified the calibre of
the occupiers and the superiority of the democratic way of life.
The Army provided the major part of the Australian Component of B.C.O.F.
Troops of 34 Infantry Brigade, with appropriate Headquarters and support
groups, were initially volunteers from various units serving in the South
West Pacific Area when war ended on 15th August 1945. Preceded by advance
parties, the main body of troops landed in Japan on 13 February 1946 at
the port of Kure near Hiroshima, from the troopship 'Stamford Victory'.
Royal Australian Air Force personnel arrived some ten days later to form
81 Fighter Wing, with three Squadrons of Mustang Fighter aircraft, and
were stationed initially at Iwakuni. Ships of the Royal Australian Navy
from the East Indies theatre arrived in early February as part of the
allied naval Task Force with Headquarters at HMS (later HMAS)
Commonwealth, and by the end of the month had taken over the operations of
the Kure Port.
By the end of April, the Australian Component had increased to about
12,000, soon increasing to the full strength of 16,500 including
headquarters and logistic support personnel. Together with the New Zealand
Component, the area of occupation covered the Prefectures of Hiroshima and
Yamaguchi with a population of some 20 Million people. The
Commander-in-Chief of B.C.O.F was Australian Lieutenant-General John
Northcott CB MVO who, on being appointed Governor Of New South Wales was
succeeded on 24 June 1946 by another Australian, Lieutenant-General H.C.H.
Robertson CBE DSO. At this time, in addition to Australians, B.C.O.F.
comprised units of all three services from the United Kingdom, India and
New Zealand.
The immediate tasks of the occupation force was the destruction of all
Japanese war equipment and stores which involved extensive patrolling and
searching, processing over 500,000 returning Japanese military personnel,
repatriating forced labourers to Korea, Formosa (Taiwan) and the Ryukyu
Islands, controlling the distribution of food, smuggling and the
supervision of the first democratic elections in May 1947. Relief from
these duties were the regular ceremonial parades including mounting guard
at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo.
Details of the Royal Australian Navy ships, the Australian Army Order of
Battle and the Royal Australian Air force Squadrons are set out under the
separate website button. Support with supply and replacement personnel
from Australia was carried out mainly by merchant ships operating under
Navy control such as Manoora, Manunda, Merkur, Duntroon, Westralia and
Kanimbla.
Reductions in the forces began in late 1947 with the withdrawal of Indian
troops following the granting of independence of India and partition with
Pakistan. In February and March 1948, the United Kingdom Component
withdrew due to the Malayan Emergency, and when New Zealand withdrew in
July 1948, only the Australian Component remained. Reductions continued
until interrupted by the outbreak of the Korean War on 25 June 1950, which
resulted in redeployment of the remaining Australian forces.
In November 1951, Lieutenant-General E W Bridgeford CBE MC took command.
On 28 April 1952, the British Commonwealth Occupation Force ceased to
exist with the ratification of the San Francisco Peace Treaty. B.C.O.F.
Headquarters was then replaced by Headquarters British Commonwealth Forces
Korea.
The occupation of Japan began after six long years of war, and many
veterans of the Occupation have felt that an apathetic Australian public
understandably intent on resuming their peacetime lives, largely ignored
its importance and outstanding success. Yet duty was well done in this,
Australia's first time occupation of a defeated nation. There were
difficult conditions and considerable dangers with the loss of many lives.
Corporal J R Sewell was awarded the George Medal in October 1946 for
exceptional bravery, only to be killed one year later while delousing a
mine. Some 82 Australian B.C.O.F. personnel are buried in the Commonwealth
War Cemetery at Yokohama.
In the final assessment, Australians demonstrated their high standards of
drill and discipline to their Allies, to Australian
as well as the Japanese people. Those who
participated in this great venture are proud of the significant Service
traditions they carried on, and to the new ones they forged.
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The aim of this page is to educate the general public and students about
the history and function of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force,
particularly the Australian Contingent. This also applies to the younger
generation Japanese who are avid users of the internet.
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