Keywords: Wake Island attacked2 NAN12-1-43.jpg Aerial photograph of the attack on Wake Island by aircraft from Carrier Air Group Five CVG-5 from the U S aircraft carrier USS Yorktown CV-10 on 5 October 1943 Unbeknownst to the attackers this led to a cruel war crime Two days later fearing an imminent invasion Rear Admiral Shigematsu Sakaibara ordered the murder of the 98 captured American civilian workers remaining on the island since its capture in 1941 kept to perform forced labor for the Japanese They were taken to the northern end of the island blindfolded and machine-gunned After the war Sakaibara and his subordinate Lieutenant-Commander Tachibana were sentenced to death for this and other war crimes Several Japanese officers in American custody had committed suicide over the incident leaving written statements that incriminated Sakaibara Tachibana ™s sentence was later commuted to life in prison Original legend <br/> A Japanese bomber destroyed by strafing<br/> B aircraft revetments<br/> C trenches and barbed wire positions<br/> D trenches and machine gun positions<br/> U S Navy Naval Aviation News 1st December 1943 http //www history navy mil/nan/backissues/1940s/1943/1Dec43 pdf 1943-10-05 USN PD-USGov-Military-Navy October 1943 attack on Wake Island Revetments aircraft |