"Bayonet training" Artist unknown, 1941-1945

Catalogue ref: INF 3/1830

A grim image depicting Japanese troops conducting bayonet training. In this image Japanese soldiers are bayoneting Allied prisoners-of-war (POWs) tied to trees. It was common for the Japanese to conduct their bayonet training on live targets in order to harden their troops to the realities of combat.

This image is characteristic of the portrayal of Japanese troops in British magazines and other publications of the period.