The price of alliance: Anglo-American intelligence cooperation and Imperial Japan’s criminal biological warfare programme, 1944–1947

ABSTRACT

From 1932 to 1945, Imperial Japan secretly developed the largest state biological warfare (BW) programme of its time, which was unique in its use of biological weapons in warfare and in its inhumane experiments on captive Chinese civilians. After Japan’s surrender, US military intelligence teams searched for any evidence of BW activities, whilst sharing all it could find with its close partner, the UK. Despite the UK offering little intelligence material in return, it secured detailed US intelligence reports on Japanese BW war crimes, and colluded with the United States to keep these Japanese war crimes a secret.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Gold, Unit 731 Testimony, 75, 113; Guillemin, Biological Weapons, 75–78.

2. Goodman, Joint Intelligence Committee Volume I, 293.

3. Gomer, “Japanese Biological Weapons,” 43; Endicott and Hagerman, The United States and Biological Warfare, 39–41.

4. Gomer, “Japanese Biological Weapons,” 43–46. During these experiments, victims were exposed to lethal BW agents, and some were then subject to gruesome vivisections. (Guillemin, Biological Weapons, 76.) In the Chinese theatre, Ishii and his forces also used biological weapons in a military capacity. In 1940 and 1941, Japanese pilots dropped plague-infected fleas over Chinese cities. (Gold, Unit 731 Testimony, 75, 113.) In 1942, in tandem with the BW aerial attacks on southeast China, Japanese saboteurs contaminated wells, rivers and food. The outbreaks resulting from these Japanese BW attacks claimed thousands of Chinese lives. (Spiers, A History of Chemical and Biological Weapons, 78.)

5. The UK National Archives (herein abbreviated to TNA), CAB 136/14, JFS Stone to Wansbrough-Jones, 11 January 1946, attached item D; Harris and Paxman, A Higher Form of Killing, 76.

6. Throughout the war, the Japanese BW programme was also regularly expanded, with outreach bases cropping up in Mukden, Nanjing, Shanghai, Singapore, and Burma. For example, see: Tsuneishi, “Unit 731,” 25.

7. Guillemin, Hidden Atrocities, 290–291.

8. While much has been written on the subject, new material and interpretations are still being uncovered. For major works on Japanese BW war crimes and the role of the US, see: Gomer, “Japanese Biological Weapons”; Williams and Wallace, Unit 731; Gold, Unit 731 Testimony; Harris, Factories of Death. For a more recent study on the United States, see: Guillemin, Hidden Atrocities.

9. This article has made use of previously unused files from The UK National archives, with files on British BW research and intelligence: CAB 136/14, CAB 176/10, CAB 81/139, WO 188/705. Further files used are from the National Security Archives at George Washington University and the US National Archives.

10. Balmer, Britain and Biological Warfare, 38–40, 43–46. To aid the US effort a secret committee for the War Bureau of Consultants was formed. The committee was composed of 12 scientists from the Chemical Warfare Service (CWS), the Surgeon General’s office, the US Public Health Service, and the US Army. (Bernstein ‘America’s Biological Warfare Program’, 298–317; Moon, “The US Biological Weapons Program,” 9–46.)

11. TNA, FO 371/43,045, ‘British-United States Liaison with Respect to Biological Warfare’, United States Chiefs of Staff, 12 December 1944; TNA, CAB 81/139, Minutes of Eleventh Committee Meeting, Biological Warfare Intelligence Committee, 21 January 1946. US officials were also later members of the Biological Warfare Intelligence Panel, which advised the Joint Intelligence Committee (TNA, CAB 81/58, ‘Biological Warfare Intelligence Panel’, Joint Secretaries of the Inter-Service Sub-Committee on Biological Warfare, 19 March 1946, Annex.)

12. TNA, WO 188/680, Sir Weldon Dalrymple-Champneys to Paul Fildes, 24 June 1942; The National Security Archive, George Washington University, Chemical and Biological Warfare, Box 12, ‘Axis Activities in the Field of Bacteriological Warfare’, 8 January 1943; Rosebury, Peace or Pestilence, 109–10.

13. TNA, WO188/680, Telegram from the Offices of the War Cabinet to Paul Fildes, 18 March 1942; TNA, WO 188/680, Sir Weldon Dalrymple-Champneys to Paul Fildes, 24 June 1942.

14. The National Security Archive, George Washington University, Chemical and Biological Warfare, Box 12, ‘Axis Activities in the Field of Bacteriological Warfare’, 8 January 1943. Also see intelligence reports in: TNA, WO 188/680.

15. TNA, WO188/680, Telegram from the Offices of the War Cabinet to Paul Fildes, 18 March 1942; TNA, WO 188/680, Sir Weldon Dalrymple-Champneys to Paul Fildes, 24 June 1942.

16. TNA, WO 188/680, Sir Weldon Dalrymple-Champneys to Paul Fildes, 24 June 1942; The National Security Archive, George Washington University, Chemical and Biological Warfare, Box 12, ‘Axis Activities in the Field of Bacteriological Warfare’, 8 January 1943.

17. TNA, PREM 3/65, General H. Ismay to Winston Churchill, 14 July 1944.

18. TNA, PREM 3/65, General H. Ismay to Winston Churchill, 9 July 1944.

19. TNA, PREM 3/65, General H. Ismay to Winston Churchill, 14 July 1944.

20. The National Security Archive, George Washington University, Chemical and Biological Warfare, Box 2, Airgram from London to Washington, 20 November 1942.

21. TNA, WO 188/690, Special Projects Periodic Intelligence Report No. 5, US Chemical Warfare Service, 16 October 1944.

22. TNA, WO 188/690, Special Projects Periodic Intelligence Report No. 4, US Chemical Warfare Service, 15 August 1944.

23. TNA, CAB 136/14, ‘Japan and Biological Warfare’, JFS Stone, 27 April 1945. Also see the numerous copies of US intelligence reports sent to British BW experts, some are found in: TNA, WO 188/690.

24. TNA, WO 188/690, ‘BW Bomb (Japan)’, USAFICPA Report, 20 May 1944; TNA, CAB 136/14, JFS Stone to P. Mrosovsky, 30 April 1945, attached report.

25. TNA, WO 188/690, H. Calvert to P. Mrosovsky, 28 November 1944, attached report.

26. TNA, CAB 136/14, Wansbrough-Jones to JFS Stone, 21 July 1945.

27. See note 24 above.

28. The MacArthur Memorial Archives, RG 3, Box 119, Folder 7, ‘The Japanese and Bacterial Warfare’ ATIS Research Report No. 84, 24 July 1944.

29. TNA, CAB 136/14, JFS Stone to Wansbrough-Jones, 11 January 1946, attached item D.

30. See note 25 above.

31. TNA, CAB 176/3, Denis Capel-Dunn to Cavendish-Bentinck, 16 July 1944, attached draft on the BWIC.

32. TNA, CAB 136/14, P. Mrosovsky to JFS Stone, 8 January 1945.

33. TNA, CAB 176/8, Note by the Chairman of the Biological Warfare Intelligence Committee, Wansbrough Jones, 3 November 1945; Maddrell, “Britain’s Exploitation of Occupied Germany,” 21–23; Hall, “British Exploitation of German Science,” 133–135.

34. TNA, CAB 176/8, Note by the Chairman of the Biological Warfare Intelligence Committee, Wansbrough Jones, 3 November 1945.

35. Ibid.

36. Ibid.

37. TNA, WO 208/4277, ‘Interrogation of Professor F. Kliewe’, Alsos Mission, 13 May 1945.

38. Harris and Paxman, A Higher Form of Killing, 168.

39. Harris, Factories of Death, 167–170.

40. TNA, CAB 81/139, Minutes of the Tenth Committee Meeting, Biological Warfare Intelligence Committee, 29 September 1945, attached minutes.

41. It should be noted that Kliewe was not involved in human experiments. For further details on his wartime role see: TNA, WO 208/4277, ‘Interrogation of Professor F. Kliewe’, Alsos Mission, 13 May 1945.

42. TNA, CAB 136/14, Wansbrough-Jones to JFS Stone, 21 July 1945, attached minute.

43. Ibid.

44. Lepick, “The French Biological Weapons Program,” 108–131.

45. See note 42 above.

46. See note 40 above.

47. Ibid.

48. Home and Low, “Postwar Scientific Intelligence Missions,” 532.

49. See note 40 above.

50. Ibid.

51. Ibid.

52. See note 29 above.

53. TNA, CAB 105/51, JSM Washington to Cabinet Offices, 17 December 1945.

54. See note 29 above.

55. TNA, CAB 81/58, ‘Japanese Biological Warfare Intelligence’, Chairman of the Biological Warfare Intelligence Committee, 18 January 1946.

56. Ibid; TNA, CAB 81/139, Minutes of Eleventh Committee Meeting, Biological Warfare Intelligence Committee, 21 January 1946.

57. TNA, CAB 105/51, JSM Washington to Cabinet Offices, 17 December 1945.

58. TNA, WO 195/9423, ‘Report on a visit to the USA and Canada by Chief Superintendent of the Microbiological Research Department’, Biological Warfare Sub-Committee, 22 July 1947.

59. US National Academy of Sciences Archives, ‘Biological Warfare’ Report to the Secretary of War by Mr George W. Merck, special consultant for Biological Warfare, 3 January 1945; TNA, CAB 105/51, JSM Washington to Cabinet Offices, 17 December 1945.

60. TNA, WO 216/570, Note on Biological Warfare, CIGS Tour Enclosed Briefs, 15 August 1946.

61. In February 1946 the total volume of information coming from the US on Japan was so great that a new intelligence section had to be created. The central collator of all information from Japan was the British Intelligence Objectives Sub-Committee (BIOS), which had to establish a Japanese Intelligence Section. Whereas in Europe BIOS was primarily concerned with industrial intelligence, the Japanese Intelligence Section acted as a clearing house for general information from the US on Japan; it requested files and reports and when this information was received, it was responsible for transferring it to the relevant departments. See: TNA, BT 11/3920, ‘Exploitation of Japanese Intelligence’, British Intelligence Objectives Sub-Committee, 20 February 1946; TNA, BT 11/3920, ‘Japanese Intelligence: Procedure’, British Intelligence Objectives Sub-Committee – Japanese Section, 29 July 1946; TNA, BT 11/3920, ‘Exploitation of Japanese Intelligence’, British Intelligence Objectives Sub-Committee, 20 February 1946.

62. Stratton, “The Far Eastern Commission,” 1–3. In addition to the United States, the United Kingdom, France, China, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Netherlands were included. Later the Philippines and India were allowed judges and prosecutors at the IMTFE, along with FEC representation.

63. “Far Eastern Commission,” 180–82.

64. TNA, CAB 176/10, Lees Mayall to T. Haddon, 25 April 1946.

65. Ibid.

66. TNA, CAB 176/13, ‘Scientific Intelligence Targets: Japan’, P. Gleadell, 16 October 1946, attached letter.

67. TNA, CAB 105/51, JSM Washington to Cabinet Offices, 17 December 1945. Whether the Foreign Office was again privy to US intelligence on Japanese BW is unclear, it appears that it was not included in the circulation of later intelligence reports and findings.

68. TNA, CAB 136/14, JFS Stone to Wansbrough-Jones, 11 January 1946, attached item A.

69. TNA, CAB 81/132, ‘Survey of Biological Warfare Intelligence’, Secretary of the Joint Intelligence Sub-Committee, 18 March 1946, attached report.

70. Ibid.

71. See above 29 note.

72. Chauhan, Biological Weapons, 189.

73. Guillemin, Hidden Atrocities, 76–77.

74. ‘International Military Tribunal for the Far East’, Special proclamation by the Supreme Commander tor the Allied Powers at Tokyo, Treaties and Other International Acts Series 1589, 19 January 1946. Found at: http://www.un.org/en/genocideprevention/documents/atrocity-crimes/Doc.3_1946%20Tokyo%20Charter.pdf (Accessed: 14/02/2018) .

75. Guillemin, Hidden Atrocities, 178–181.

76. Ibid, 178–181, 203–204.

77. Ibid.

78. For further details on the US side, see Guillemin, Hidden Atrocities. That same month, with the cooperation of IPS staff, Willoughby also orchestrated the deletion of chemical warfare charges from the Chinese brief, a revision to which China, understaffed and dependent on American good will, acquiesced.

79. US National Archives, College Park, RG 166, Box 628, SWNCC 351, ‘State-War-Navy Coordinating Subcommittee for the Far East, Request of Russian Prosecutor for Permission to Interrogate Certain Japanese’, SFE 188, 26 February 1947.

80. Harris, “American Cover-up,” 260–262.

81. Williams and Wallace, Unit 731, 132; Harris, Factories of Death, 183.

82. US National Archives, College Park, RG 331, Entry 1331, Box 1772, ‘Testimony of Ryoichi Naito’, 24 January 1947.

83. Robinson, SIPRI Volume I, 112–116.

84. Nie, “The United States Cover-Up,” 24.

85. US National Archives, College Park, RG 165, entry 421, Box 25, CINCFE to WDGID, OPERATIONAL PRIORITY, 6 May 1947.

86. Ibid.

87. Ibid.

88. Guillemin, Biological Weapons, 77–79.

89. See note 2 above.

90. Guillemin, Hidden Atrocities, 194.

91. Harris, A Higher Form of Killing, 153–154.

92. TNA, DEFE 4/7, Minutes of the 118^th Meeting, Chiefs of Staff Committee, 10 September 1947.

93. TNA, DEFE 4/4, Minutes of the 61st Meeting, Chiefs of Staff Committee, 7 May 1947; TNA, WO 188/705, ‘B.W. Research in the United States’, Draft Report to the Chiefs of Staff. Biological Warfare Subcommittee. 4 December 1947.

94. TNA, DEFE 4/4, Minutes of the 61st Meeting, Chiefs of Staff Committee, 7 May 1947; TNA, DEFE 4/7, Minutes of the 118^th Meeting, Chiefs of Staff Committee, 10 September 1947; WO 188/705, ‘B.W. Research in the United States’, Draft Report to the Chiefs of Staff. Biological Warfare Subcommittee. 4 December 1947.

95. WO 188/705, ‘B.W. Research in the United States’, Draft Report to the Chiefs of Staff. Biological Warfare Subcommittee. 4 December 1947. In addition to these close personal ties, the three Directors of British, US and Canadian BW research met every 6 months to discuss research programmes and to exchange information. See: WO 188/705, ‘B.W. Research in the United States’, Draft Report to the Chiefs of Staff. Biological Warfare Subcommittee. 4 December 1947.

96. TNA, DEFE 4/7, Minutes of the 118^th Meeting, Chiefs of Staff Committee, 10 September 1947.

97. TNA, CAB 122/1600, D.C. Stapleton to CAS, First Sea Lord and CIGS, 18 December 1947.

98. US State Department officials, as routine participants in the SWNCC, did know about the Japanese atrocities.

99. TNA, WO 188/705, ‘BW Research in the United States’, Draft report to the Chiefs of Staff, 4 December 1947. By this time, G-2 had also sponsored a further inquiry that yielded eve more data on Pingfan victim autopsies. For example, see: NARA Reference Collection – Japanese Biological Weapons in WWII, RG 395, Edwin V. Hill and Joseph Victor, ‘Summary Report on BW Investigation,’ 12 December 1947.

100. TNA, WO 188/705, ‘BW Research in the United States’, Draft report to the Chiefs of Staff, 4 December 1947; TNA, CAB 122/1600, D.C. Stapleton to CAS, First Sea Lord and CIGS, 18 December 1947.

101. Balmer, Britain and Biological Warfare, 41–45.

102. TNA, WO 188/705, ‘BW Research in the United States’, Draft report to the Chiefs of Staff, 4 December 1947.

103. Ibid.

104. TNA, DEFE 4/7, Minutes of the 118^th Meeting, Chiefs of Staff Committee, 10 September 1947; TNA, WO 188/705, ‘BW Research in the United States’, Draft report to the Chiefs of Staff, 4 December 1947.

105. TNA, AIR 20/8732, Report on the Capabilities of Biological Warfare, Note by the Joint Secretaries of the Biological Warfare Sub-Committee, 2 September 1948, Annex.

106. See note 97 above.

107. See note 105 above.

108. See note 100 above.

109. TNA, CAB 176/17, ‘Biological Warfare’, Secretary of the Joint Intelligence Committee, 15 March 1948, W. Hayter to R. Hillenkoetter.

110. Ibid.

111. Gowing, Independence and Deterrence, Vol. 1, 94.

112. Warner, The Rise and Fall of Intelligence, 143.

113. Guillemin, Hidden Atrocities, 290–291, 300–305.

114. Materials on the Trial of Former Servicemen of the Japanese Army Charged with Manufacturing and Employing Bacteriological Weapons. Moscow: Foreign Language Publishing House, 1950.

115. Yudin, “Research on Humans,” 59–78; Nie, “The West’s Dismissal of the Khabarovsk Trial,” 32–42.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

William King

William King is a PhD student in the International History Department at the LSE. He works on British defence policy, deterrence and intelligence in the Second World War and the Cold War, with a particular focus on chemical, biological and radiological warfare.

Jeanne Guillemin

Jeanne Guillemin is a Senior Advisor on the MIT Security Studies Program. She is an expert on biological and chemical weapons, and on issues regarding unusual infectious diseases. Jeanne has also published multiple books on BW, with her most recent book, Hidden Atrocities: Japanese Germ Warfare and American Obstruction of Justice at the Tokyo Trial (Columbia University Press, 2017), being nominated for a Pulitzer.