Recently when I had a look at some family members, I came across one that I had not done any research on and came across a little bit of interesting information. Sidney was the son of Iris McKenzie who would later marry Horace Gabolinscy. Horace would be her second marriage, but I digress. I had always wondered if I would come across family who would end up in the Japanese Occupation force after World War 2 and their surrender. Turns out I found one.
I don’t have very much about his life in Japan during the period of occupation, but I will provide a run down of what New Zealand would be doing over there. I came across Sidney on the Auckland Cenotaph website with a little bit of information including his civilian occupation and enlistment details. I would probably have to order his service record for more information about his movements. When I originally seen the name Jayforce, I had thought it was something like Z force that operated behind enemy lines in South East Asia. Sidney was listed as being in Jayforce between 1945 and 1948, service number 628299. Occupation, Glass Beveller.[1] The occupation involves cutting and installing flat glass and mirrors, so it might have been a useful skill in Japan.
The occupation of Japan was mostly American with a small amount of British Commonwealth Occupation Force, or BCOF. The New Zealanders were stationed in an area called Yamaguchi located on Honshu Island, and would have had to pass through the Hiroshima area to reach their location. They would have seen the aftermath of the bomb firsthand that had been dropped on the city towards the end of World War 2. The people who served in Jayforce did not receive the same recognition as those who had served in active service including no welcome home, and the RSA commenting they were in Japan on holiday. There are more issues relating to the experiences and political nature of Jayforce, but I will keep it simple, but it did change the perspective of those who were stationed in Japan towards the Japanese.[2] New Zealand’s role was to search for military equipment, and the first lot of soldiers drafted into this service had come from Italy arriving in March, 1946. Volunteers from New Zealand, which would have likely included Sidney arrived mid-1946. In all around 12,000 people served in Jayforce. Both Australia and New Zealand would withdraw from Japan by around 1949.[3]
Sources and further reading
Auckland Cenotaph, ‘,Sidney Wilfred Mckenzie service record, https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/record/165379?n=Sidney+Wilfred+McKenzie&from=%2Fwar-memorial%2Fonline-cenotaph%2Fsearch&ordinal=0, accessed 25/04/2023.
Auckland Cenotaph, ‘Jayforce 75 years on’, https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/features/jayforce, accessed 25/04/2023.
New Zealand History, ‘Jayforce arrives in Japan’, https://nzhistory.govt.nz/jayforce-arrives-in-japan, accessed 25/04/2023.
TeAra, ‘Jayforce soldiers with Japanese children’, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/36231/jayforce-soldiers-with-japanese-children-mishima-island-japan, accessed 25/04/2023.
New Zealand National Archives, ‘Movement of Jayforce to Japan, December 1945 – March 1946’, https://collections.archives.govt.nz/en/web/arena/search#/entity/aims-archive/R22531227/movement-of-jayforce-to-japan%2C-december-1945---march-1946?q=jayforce&source=aims-archive, accessed 25/04/2023.
Note: Record contains 181 pages you can read directly from website and includes orders and other information about movement of troops and equipment.
[1]Auckland Cenotaph, ‘,Sidney Wilfred Mckenzie service record, https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/record/165379?n=Sidney+Wilfred+McKenzie&from=%2Fwar-memorial%2Fonline-cenotaph%2Fsearch&ordinal=0, accessed 25/04/2023.
[2]Auckland Cenotaph, ‘Jayforce 75 years on’, https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/features/jayforce, accessed 25/04/2023.
[3] New Zealand History, ‘Jayforce arrives in Japan’, https://nzhistory.govt.nz/jayforce-arrives-in-japan, accessed 25/04/2023.
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