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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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