Tell me about the death of Subhas Chandra Bose...
Answers
Just as the bomber was leaving the standard path taken by aircraft during take-off, the passengers inside heard a loud sound, similar to an engine backfiring.[21][22] The mechanics on the tarmac saw something fall out of the plane.[20] It was the portside engine, or a part of it, and the propeller.[20][21] The plane swung wildly to the right and plummeted, crashing, breaking into two, and exploding into flames.[20][21] Inside, the chief pilot, copilot and General Shidea were instantly killed.[20][23] Rahman was stunned, passing out briefly, and Bose, although conscious and not fatally hurt, was soaked in gasoline.[20] When Rahman came to, he and Bose attempted to leave by the rear door but found it blocked by the luggage.[23] They then decided to run through the flames and exit from the front.[23] The ground staff, now approaching the plane, saw two people staggering towards them, one of whom had become a human torch.[20] The human torch turned out to be Bose, whose gasoline-soaked clothes had instantly ignited.[23] Rahman and a few others managed to smother the flames, but also noticed that Bose's face and head appeared badly burned.[23] According to Joyce Chapman Lebra, "A truck which served as ambulance rushed Bose and the other passengers to the Nanmon Military Hospital south of Taihoku."[20] The airport personnel called Dr. Taneyoshi Yoshimi, the surgeon-in-charge at the hospital at around 3 PM.[23] Bose was conscious and mostly coherent when they reached the hospital, and for some time thereafter.[24] Bose was naked, except for a blanket wrapped around him, and Dr. Yoshimi immediately saw evidence of third-degree burns on many parts of the body, especially on his chest, doubting very much that he would live.[24] Dr. Yoshimi promptly began to treat Bose and was assisted by Dr. Tsuruta.[24] According to historian Leonard A. Gordon, who interviewed all the hospital personnel later,:
"A disinfectant, Rivamol, was put over most of his body and then a white ointment was applied and he was bandaged over most of his body. Dr. Yoshimi gave Bose four injections of Vita Camphor and two of Digitamine for his weakened heart. These were given about every 30 minutes. Since his body had lost fluids quickly upon being burnt, he was given Ringer solution intravenously. A third doctor, Dr. Ishii gave him a blood transfusion. An orderly, Kazuo Mitsui, an army private, was in the room and several nurses were assisting. Bose still had a clear head which Dr. Yoshimi found remarkable for someone with such severe injuries.[25]
Soon, in spite of the treatment, Bose went into a coma.[25][20] He died a few hours later, between 9 and 10 PM.[25][20]
Bose's body was cremated in the main Taihoku crematorium two days later, 20 August 1945.[26] On 23 August 1945, the Japanese news agency Domei announced the death of Bose and Shidea.[20] On 7 September a Japanese officer, Lieutenant Tatsuo Hayashida, carried Bose's ashes to Tokyo, and the following morning they were handed to the president of the Tokyo Indian Independence League, Rama Murti.[27] On 14 September a memorial service was held for Bose in Tokyo and a few days later the ashes were turned over to the priest of the Renkōji Temple of Nichiren Buddhism in Tokyo.[28][29] There they have remained ever since.[29]
Among the INA personnel, there was widespread disbelief, shock, and trauma. Most affected were the young Tamil Indians from Malaya and Singapore, men and women, who comprised the bulk of the civilians who had enlisted in the INA.[17] The professional soldiers in the INA, most of whom were Punjabis, faced an uncertain future, with many fatalistically expecting reprisals from the British.[17] In India the Indian National Congress's official line was succinctly expressed in a letter Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi wrote to Rajkumari Amrit Kaur.[17] Said Gandhi, "Subhas Bose has died well. He was undoubtedly a patriot, though misguided."[17] Many congressmen had not forgiven Bose for quarreling with Gandhi and for collaborating with what they considered was Japanese fascism.[17]The Indian soldiers in the British Indian army, some two and a half million of whom had fought during the Second World War, were conflicted about the INA. Some saw the INA as traitors and wanted them punished; others felt more sympathetic. The British Raj, though never seriously threatened by the INA, was to try 300 INA officers for treason in the INA trials, but was to eventually backtrack in the face of its own end.