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Home > Witness > Hiroo Onoda, Japan’s last WW2 soldier to surrender
Podcast: Witness
Episode:

Hiroo Onoda, Japan’s last WW2 soldier to surrender
Category: Society & Culture
Duration: 00:09:08
Publish Date: 2024-04-12 09:00:00
Description:

Hiroo Onoda was an Imperial Japanese Army intelligence officer who spent nearly 30 years in the Philippine jungle, believing World War Two was still going on.

Using his training in guerilla warfare, he attacked and killed people living on Lubang Island, mistakenly believing them to be enemy soldiers.

He was finally persuaded to surrender in 1974 when his former commander, Yoshimi Taniguchi, found him and gave him an order.

In a televised ceremony, Hiroo presented his sword to the then Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos.

President Marcos returned the sword and gave him a full presidential pardon and told him he admired his courage.

Hiroo died in January 2014 at the age of 91.

This programme was produced and presented by Vicky Farncombe, using BBC archive.

(Photo: Hiroo Onoda steps out of the jungle. Credit: Getty Images)
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