Friendly fire WWII

[Six Nifty .50s]

Just read In the Ruins of Empire by Ronald Spector which notes a very unusual case on Java, dated 20 November 1945.

The war officially ended but not for British and Japanese troops who, ironically, became allies in the violent guerrilla warfare brewing in the Dutch East Indies. On this date six RAF Thunderbolts were called in to bomb and strafe Indonesian guerrillas at Semarang, and during the course of this action the planes also attacked British and Japanese units. The number of casualties is unclear.

To briefly summarize the backstory; part of the British 23rd Division was landed to help restore civil order and disarm the Japanese occupation forces. Realizing they had stepped in a hornet's nest, the local British commanders asked the Japanese for military assistance in fighting the insurgents. (A similar deal was brokered by the British 20th Division in Saigon, for the same reason.)

Before they were hit by the fighter-bombers, a British battalion was cut in half following counterattacks by the guerrillas at Semarang. Major Kido Shinishiro was summoned to bring up a Japanese battalion, which performed "magnificently", and he was also recommended for a DSO!