John Damian Murphy papers, 1943-1949

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Summary

Creators:
Murphy, John Damian, 1896-
Abstract:
Consists of court proceedings, investigative reports, regulations, orders, memoranda, printed matter, and photographs relating to trials held on Guam, 1946-1949, of Japanese military personnel for war crimes.
Extent:
14 manuscript boxes (5.6 Linear Feet)
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], John Damian Murphy Papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives

Background

Scope and content:

The papers of John Damian Murphy consist of court proceedings, investigative reports, regulations, orders, memoranda, printed matter, and photographs, relating to trials held on Guam, 1946-1949, of Japanese military personnel for war crimes.

Trials of accused Japanese war criminals were held on Guam and Kwajalein by the War Crimes Branch of the Pacific Fleet, U.S. Navy, from 1945 through 1949. They were held under the auspices of the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (SCAP), which oversaw war crimes trials in Japan and the Asia-Pacific region until 1951.

Major accused war criminals were tried by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, also known as the Tokyo Trial. Other war crimes trials for alleged minor war criminals were held in the countries and territories invaded and occupied by the Japanese. The U.S. Navy had jurisdiction over some of these trials.

Admiral John D. Murphy, a lawyer who had risen through the ranks from enlisted man, served as War Crimes Director. Naval trials were conducted by the Office of the Judge Advocate General (Navy) under the Navy Division of the War Crimes Office. The War Crimes Office was a central agency in the War Department to coordinate with the Departments of State, War, and the Navy.

Investigations into alleged war crimes were conducted by U.S. Navy personnel. The courts were known as military commissions, and consisted of five to seven U.S. military officers. The accused were tried for minor war crimes, such as murder and ill-treatment of prisoners, and included personnel of the Imperial Japanese Navy and the Imperial Japanese Army. The accused were afforded defense counsel, both Allied and Japanese. Rules of evidence were relaxed. Summaries of trials were regularly submitted to the Japanese government via SCAP memoranda.

Related material at the Hoover Institution includes records of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East. The National Archives in College Park, Maryland, holds official records of the U.S. agencies involved in these war crimes trials

The John D. Murphy papers were acquired in 1979.

Source: Welch, Jeanie M., "Without a Hangman, Without a Rope: Navy War Crimes Trials after World War II," International Journal of Naval History 1 (April 2002). Available from the International Journal of Naval History.

Biographical / historical:
Date Event
1896 August 19
Born, Newton, Kansas
1915-1918
Student, University of Kansas
1918
Enlisted as apprentice seaman, United States Naval Reserve
1922-1923
Student, Torpedo School, United States Navy, Newport, Rhode Island
1927-1930
Associated with George Washington University Law School, Washington, D.C.
1929
JD, George Washington University, Washington, D.C.
1932-1933
Executive officer, USS Mindanao, Asiatic station
1933-1936
U.S. Army Chemical Warfare School
1938-1939
Commander, USS Sicard
1939-1942
Chief of division, Office of Judge Advocate General (Navy)
1942-1944
Commander, USS Alcor, fleet repair and flagship
1945
Planning officer, 7th Amphibious Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet
Legal officer, U.S. Pacific Fleet staff
Graduated from Joint Army-Navy Staff College, Washington, D.C.
1946
Naval aide, Justice Frank Murphy, special U.S. representative to the Philippine Republic
1946-1949
Director, War Crimes, U.S. Pacific Fleet
1955
Bachelor of science, American University, Washington, D.C.
Acquisition information:
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library Archives in 1979
Physical location:
Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

The collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.

Terms of access:

For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], John Damian Murphy Papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives

Location of this collection:
Hoover Institution Library & Archives, Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-6003, US
Contact:
(650) 723-3563
hooverarchives@stanford.edu
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