James Gowing Godwin

James Gowing Godwin (12 March 1923 – 2 May 1995) was a pilot of the Royal New Zealand Air Force during the Second World War, who subsequently became a prisoner of war. After the end of the war, as a captain in the Australian Army, he became an investigator with the Second Australian War Crimes Section in Tokyo in July 1947 and developed the case against Lieutenant General Takuma Nishimura, the senior perpetrator of the Parit Sulong Massacre. He subsequently worked for the First Australian War Crimes Section, based in Singapore, then worked for the British colonial service. He died in Sydney at the age of 72.

Early life Born in Blenheim, Marlborough, New Zealand on 12 March 1923, James Gowing Godwin was the son of a wool buyer, James Gowing Godwin, and his wife Violet Eva . He was educated at Blenheim Borough School and then Marlborough College. After completing his schooling, he worked as a clerk for the Social Security Department.

Second World War Godwin joined the Royal New Zealand Air Force in 1942. His initial flight training was at Woodbourne and Wigram before proceeding onto Canada for more advanced training. Posted to the Fleet Air Arm at the end of 1943, he sailed with HMS Illustrious, which operated Vought F4U Corsair, for the Indian Ocean. In early 1944 he had a period of leave in New Zealand and when en route for Ceylon, to rejoin Illustrious, the ship on which he was travelling was attacked and sunk by a Japanese heavy cruiser. Taken aboard the enemy vessel, he and other survivors were harshly treated, tied up and kept on the deck, exposed to the sun, and only given seawater to drink. Until the end of the war, he was held in a prisoner of war (POW) camp in Japan. On his release he was in poor health, due to being overworked with little food, and had to be hospitalised for six months. As a prisoner during the war, Godwin had acquired some understanding of the Japanese language which helped his work. He investigated a number of war crimes, including murders of POWs. Ward has been criticised for his use of MacKay's falsified evidence.