Leonard Siffleet

Leonard Siffleet

(Leonard Siffleet in 1941.)

Leonard Siffleet was born on January 14, 1916 in Gunnedah, New South Wales, Australia.

He had a Sister and two Brothers.

In the 1930s he went to Sydney to try and become a Police Officer, but was denied because of poor eyesight.

In September 1939 World War 2 began in Australia.

In August 1940 Siffleet joined the Australian Army Reserve and was attached to a Searchlight Unit at the RAAF (Royal Australian Air Force) Station Richmond.

He was Discharged after 3 months to take care of his younger Brothers after his Mother’s death.

In September 1941 he joined the Second Australian Imperial Force and was based at Ingleburn, New South Wales.

It was at this time that he became engaged to Clarice Lane.

In December 1941 Australia declared War on Japan after their Attack on the US Territories of Guam, the Philippines and Hawaii and the British Territories of Malaya, Singapore and Hong Kong.

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 the Z Special Unit in October and was transferred to Cairns in Far North Queensland for further Operational Training.

In May 1943 Siffleet was promoted to Sargent.

That same month he moved to the M Special Unit to take part in a Mission to set up a Coast Watching Station in the hills behind Hollandia in Japanese-Occupied Netherlands New Guinea (Present Day: Jayapura, Indonesia) and in Japanese-Occupied Aitape, Australian- Papua New Guinea (Present Day Aitape, Papua New Guinea.)

In early October 1943 Siffleet was captured by some Local Natives and handed over to the Japanese.

Siffleet was tortured and interrogated by the Japanese for 2 weeks.

On October 24, 1943 Siffleet was blindfolded and beheaded in front of the Japanese Soldiers and Native Population on the orders of Vice-Admiral Michiaki Kamada of the Imperial Japanese Navy.

Leonard Siffleet was 27 years old.

Yasuno Chikao, the Japanese Soldier who beheaded Siffleet asked a Japanese Private to photograph the beheading as a Souvenir.

 

(Leonard Siffleet about to be beheaded by the Japanese in October 1943.)

The photograph was found on the body of a dead Japanese Soldiers in Hollandia in Japanese-Occupied Netherlands New Guinea (Present Day: Jayapura, Indonesia) in April 1944 by American Soldiers.

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.

Vice-Admiral Michiaki Kamada of the Imperial Japanese Navy was captured by the Allies in 1945 and tried by a Dutch Court for War Crimes and hanged on October 14, 1947 in Pontianak, Dutch East Indies (Present Day: Pontianak, Indonesia.)

Reports on what happened to Yasuno Chikao vary with some saying he died later in the War while others saying he was captured and sentenced to be hanged, but had his sentence reduced to 10 years imprisonment.

Leonard 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.

A Memorial Park commemorating Siffleet was also dedicated at Aitape in May 2015.