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43 CHAPTER฀FOUR Tokyo฀Conference I฀ FLIGHT฀TO฀TOKYO ON฀ 10฀ March฀ 1942฀ two฀ planes฀ left฀ the฀ Bangkok฀ airport฀ for฀ Tokyo.฀ Aboard฀ one฀ were฀ Fujiwara,฀ Colonel฀ Iwakuro,฀ Mohan฀ Singh,฀ Lieutenant -Colonel฀ Gill,฀ N.฀ Raghavan,฀ S.C.฀ Goho,฀ and฀ K.P.K.฀ Menon.฀ Fujiwara฀ felt฀ Headquarters฀ had฀ singled฀ out฀ Colonel฀ Iwakuro฀ to฀ succeed฀ him฀ in฀ the฀ expanded฀ and฀ reorganized฀ Kikan.฀ Iwakuro฀ had฀ taken฀ part฀ in฀ the฀Washington฀ peace฀ talks฀ between฀ Hull฀ and฀ Nomura฀ just฀prior฀to฀Pearl฀Harbour฀and฀was฀renowned฀in฀army฀circles฀for฀his฀ political฀acumen.฀He฀was฀a฀powerful฀figure฀in฀the฀Army฀High฀Command ,฀so฀powerful฀that฀some฀officers฀believed฀Töjö฀had฀sent฀him฀to฀ Malaya฀ in฀ command฀ of฀ an฀ infantry฀ regiment฀ of฀ the฀ Konoe฀ Imperial฀ Guards฀ Division฀ to฀ remove฀ him฀ from฀ the฀ scene฀ in฀ Tokyo.฀ En฀ route฀ to฀ Tokyo฀ Fujiwara฀ told฀ Iwakuro฀ of฀ his฀ hopes฀ and฀ plans฀ for฀ Japan’s฀ India฀policy฀and฀for฀co-operation฀with฀the฀Indian฀independence฀movement .฀ Fujiwara฀ was฀ encouraged฀ at฀ the฀ prospect฀ of฀ Iwakuro฀ bringing฀ his฀ influence฀ to฀ bear฀ on฀ the฀ military,฀ the฀ Government,฀ and฀ the฀ Diet฀ ฀ to฀impress฀on฀them฀the฀importance฀of฀India.1 Fujiwara’s฀plane฀left฀Saigon฀on฀11฀March,฀was฀delayed฀two฀days฀on฀ Hainan฀ Island,฀ and฀ stopped฀ in฀ Shanghai฀ en฀ route฀ to฀ Haneda฀Airport฀ in฀Tokyo.฀Headquarters฀had฀arranged฀for฀the฀delegates฀to฀be฀taken฀to฀ the฀ Sanno฀ Hotel,฀ where฀ the฀ meetings฀ were฀ to฀ be฀ held.฀ Some฀ Indian฀ delegates฀had฀already฀arrived฀from฀Shanghai฀and฀Hong฀Kong. It฀had฀been฀arranged฀that฀the฀second฀plane฀carrying฀the฀party฀of฀Pritam฀ Singh,฀the฀Swami,฀Captain฀Akram฀and฀F฀Kikan฀member฀Otaguro฀would฀ arrive฀in฀Tokyo฀on฀the฀evening฀of฀19฀March. On฀ the฀ morning฀ of฀ 19฀ March฀ a฀ violent฀ wind฀ swept฀ over฀ Honshu฀ and฀ became฀ increasingly฀ fierce฀ as฀ the฀ afternoon฀ wore฀ on.฀ The฀ sky฀ ฀ 04฀IndNatArmy.indd฀฀฀43 3/26/08฀฀฀10:44:21฀AM 44 over฀ Tokyo฀ grew฀ black฀ and฀ toward฀ evening฀ a฀ torrential฀ rain฀ began฀ to฀fall.฀Fujiwara฀assumed฀the฀flight฀from฀Shanghai฀would฀have฀been฀ cancelled฀because฀of฀the฀weather,฀but฀in฀the฀afternoon฀he฀received฀a฀ report฀that฀the฀flight฀had฀left฀Shanghai฀for฀Tokyo.฀The฀logical฀course฀ would฀be฀then฀to฀land฀in฀north฀Kyushu฀or฀Osaka฀and฀lay฀over฀until฀the฀ weather฀cleared.฀Fujiwara฀had฀a฀call฀from฀Haneda฀Airport฀with฀word฀ that฀the฀plane฀had฀reported฀over฀Ise฀Bay฀headed฀east.฀This฀was฀the฀last฀ communication฀from฀the฀plane.฀By฀night฀the฀storm฀became฀a฀howling฀ typhoon.฀ Fujiwara฀ sent฀ word฀ to฀ all฀ air฀ bases฀ in฀ Honshu฀ to฀ launch฀ a฀ search฀for฀the฀plane.฀He฀tried฀to฀fight฀off฀a฀growing฀premonition฀but฀ noticed฀the฀malaise฀on฀the฀faces฀of฀the฀Indian฀delegates฀waiting฀with฀ him.฀ Fujiwara฀ was฀ unable฀ to฀ sleep฀ that฀ night,฀ and฀ by฀ morning฀ there฀ was฀still฀no฀news.฀By฀noon฀it฀was฀apparent฀that฀no฀plane฀had฀landed฀at฀ any฀of฀the฀airports฀in฀central฀Honshu.฀Fujiwara฀felt฀he฀had฀to฀tell฀the฀ waiting฀Indians฀and฀Mrs฀Otaguro฀that฀they฀had฀to฀expect฀the฀worst.฀He฀ ordered฀all฀airports฀in฀the฀country฀to฀search฀for฀the฀plane,฀and฀his฀mood฀ changed฀to฀despair. At฀length฀reports฀reached฀Fujiwara฀explaining฀that฀a฀Japanese฀colonel฀ had฀boarded฀the฀flight฀at฀Shanghai฀and฀demanded฀that฀the฀plane฀proceed฀ to฀Tokyo฀where฀he฀was฀expected฀at฀a฀meeting.฀The฀pilot฀had฀no฀choice.฀ About฀then฀the฀plane฀had฀landed฀at฀Tachiarai฀Airport฀to฀refuel.฀Airport฀ authorities฀ reported฀ the฀ storm฀ was฀ worsening฀ and฀ recommended฀ the฀ plane฀lay฀over฀until฀the฀weather฀improved.฀The฀irate฀colonel฀ordered฀ the฀pilot฀to฀take฀off฀for฀Tokyo.฀Fujiwara฀was฀shattered฀to฀learn฀the฀cause฀ of฀the฀death฀of฀Otaguro฀and฀the฀four฀Indian฀patriots฀who฀had฀become฀ martyrs฀ to฀ the฀ cause฀ of฀ Indo-Japanese฀ co-operation.฀ Mohan฀ Singh฀ told฀ Fujiwara฀ he฀ had฀ entrusted฀ to฀ Captain฀ Akram฀ aboard฀ the฀ plane฀ a฀manuscript,฀now฀also฀lost.฀Mohan฀Singh฀had฀been฀keeping฀a฀daily฀ record฀of฀his฀activities฀and฀co-operation฀with฀Fujiwara฀in฀inaugurating฀ the฀Indian฀National฀Army,฀since฀the฀day฀of฀their฀first฀meeting฀near฀Alor฀ Star.฀The฀manuscript,฀over฀one฀hundred฀pages,฀was฀titled,฀“The฀First฀ Japanese฀Officer฀I฀Met”.฀Fujiwara฀felt฀this฀secret฀record฀of฀the฀birth฀of฀ the฀INA฀was฀also฀an฀irreplaceable฀loss฀to฀posterity. II฀ FUJIWARA฀REPORTS฀TO฀HEADQUARTERS Fujiwara฀ was฀ disappointed฀ that฀ the฀ guidance฀ of฀ his฀ Indian฀ friends฀ was฀taken฀out฀of฀his฀hand฀by฀Headquarters.฀Instead,฀he฀got฀a฀chance฀ ฀ 04฀IndNatArmy.indd฀฀฀44 3/26/08฀฀฀10:44:21฀AM [3.138.125.2] Project...

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