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Tomoyuki Yamashita
8 November 1885 - 23 February 1946

General Tomoyuki Yamashita
Nickname The Tiger of Malaya
Place of birth Kōchi prefecture, Japan
Place of death Manila, Philippines
Allegiance Empire of Japan
Service/branch Imperial Japanese Army
Years of service 1905 -1945
Rank General
Commands held IJA 4th Division, IJA 25th Army, IJA 1st Army, IJA 14th Area Army
Battles/wars Second Sino-Japanese War
World War II
In this Japanese name, the family name is Yamashita.

General Tomoyuki Yamashita (山下 奉文 Yamashita Tomoyuki?, 8 November 1885 - 23 February 1946) was a general of the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II. He was most famous for conquering the British colonies of Malaya and Singapore, earning the nickname "The Tiger of Malaya".

Contents

Biography

Early life and career

Yamashita was born the son of a local doctor in Osugi village, in what is now part of Ōtoyo village, Kōchi prefecture, Shikoku. He attended military preparatory schools as a youth. After graduating from the 18th class of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1905, he attended the 28th class of the Army War College between 1913 and 1916.

Between 1919 and 1921, as a captain, Yamashita was posted to Berlin and Bern as military attaché.

On his return to Japan, he was posted to administrative departments within the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff, where he unsuccessfully promoted a military reduction plan. Despite his ability, Yamashita fell into disfavor as a result of his involvement with adverse political factions within the Japanese military. As a leading member of the "Imperial Way" group, he became a rival to Hideki Tojo and other members of the "Control Faction". After the February 26 Incident of 1936, he also fell into disfavor with Emperor Hirohito due to his appeal for leniency toward the rebel officers involved in the attempted coup.

Early war years

Yamashita insisted that Japan should end the conflict with China and keep peaceful relations with the United States and Great Britain, but he was ignored and subsequently assigned to an unimportant post in the Kwantung Army. From 1938 to 1940, he was assigned to command the IJA 4th Division which saw some action in northern China against Chinese insurgents fighting the occupying Japanese armies.

In December 1940, Yamashita was sent on a clandestine military mission to Germany and Italy, where he met with Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini.

Malaya and Singapore

Main articles: Battle of Malaya and Battle of Singapore
Lt Gen Yamashita Tomoyuki (seated, centre) thumps the table with his fist to emphasise his demand for unconditional surrender. Lt Gen Percival sits between his officers, his clenched hand to his mouth (Photo from Imperial War Museum).

On 6 November 1941, Yamashita was put in command of the Twenty-Fifth Army. On 8 December, he launched an invasion of Malaya, from bases in French Indochina. In the campaign, which concluded with the fall of Singapore on 15 February 1942, Yamashita's 30,000 front-line soldiers captured 130,000 British, Indian and Australian troops, the largest surrender of British-led personnel in history. He became known as the "Tiger of Malaya".

The campaign and the subsequent Japanese occupation of Singapore included war crimes committed against captive Allied personnel and civilians, such as the Alexandra Hospital and Sook Ching Massacres. Yamashita's culpability for these events remains a matter of controversy, as some argued that he had failed to prevent them. However, Yamashita executed several directly responsible for the war crimes, including the officer who instigated the hospital massacre as well as some soldiers caught looting. The general also personally apologized to the surviving patients.1

Manchuria

On 17 July 1942, Yamashita was reassigned from Singapore to far-away Manchuria, again having been given a post in commanding the Japanese First Army, and was effectively sidelined for a major part of the Pacific War.

It is thought that Prime Minister Tojo was responsible for his banishment, taking advantage of Yamashita's gaffe during a speech made to Singaporean civilian leaders in early 1942, when he referred to the local populace as "citizens of the Empire of Japan". This was considered embarrassing for the Japanese government, who officially did not consider the residents of occupied territories to have the rights or privileges of Japanese citizenship.

The Philippines

Main article: Philippines campaign (1944–45)

In 1944, when the war situation was critical for Japan, Yamashita assumed the command of the Fourteenth Area Army to defend the Philippines. The U.S. Army landed on Leyte on October 20, only ten days after Yamashita's arrival at Manila. On 6 January 1945 the Sixth U.S. Army landed at Lingayen Gulf in Luzon.

Yamashita commanded approximately 262,000 troops in three defensive groups. He tried to rebuild his army but was forced to retreat from Manila to the mountains of northern Luzon. Yamashita ordered all troops, except those tasked with security, out of the city.

Almost immediately, Rear Admiral Sanji Iwabuchi re-occupied Manila with 16,000 marines and sailors, with the intent of destroying all port facilities and naval storehouses. Once there, Iwabuchi took command of the 3,750 Army security troops, and against Tomoyuke's specific order, turned the city into a battlefield.2 The actions of the Japanese garrison resulted in the deaths of more than 100,000 Filipino civilians, in what would be later known as the Manila Massacre, during the fierce street fighting for the capital which raged from February 4 to March 3.

Yamashita used delaying tactics to maintain his army in Kiangan (part of the Ifugao Province), until 2 September 1945, after the surrender of Japan, where his forces were reduced to under 50,000 by the tough campaigning of the British-Indian army.

Yamashita surrendered in the presence of Generals Jonathan Wainwright and Arthur Percival, both of whom had been POWs in Manchuria. Ironically, Percival had surrendered to Yamashita after the Battle of Singapore. This time, however, Percival refused to shake Yamashita's hand, being angered by the exterminationist tactics that the Japanese had allegedly employed against Allied prisoners of war, so Yamashita burst into tears. Although Yamashita might have been expected to commit suicide prior to this surrender, he reportedly explained his decision not to kill himself by saying that if he did "someone else will have to take the blame." 3

Trial and controversy

General Yamashita Tomoyuki (centre) at his trial in Manila, November 1945

From 29 October to 7 December 1945, an American military tribunal tried General Yamashita for war crimes relating to the Manila Massacre and sentenced him to death. This case has become a precedent regarding the command responsibility for war crimes and is known as the Yamashita Standard.

During his trial, the defense attorneys who challenged Douglas MacArthur deeply impressed General Yamashita with their dedication to the case, and reaffirmed his respect for his former enemies. American lawyer Harry E. Clarke, Sr., then a U.S. Army colonel, served as chief counsel for the defense, even going so far as to appeal the decision of the military commission to the U.S. Supreme Court, which affirmed the conviction by a vote of 7-2, with Justices Frank Murphy and Wiley Blount Rutledge each writing strong dissenting opinions.

The legitimacy of the hasty trial was questioned by many at the time, including U.S. Supreme Court Justice Murphy, who protested various procedural issues, the inclusion of hearsay evidence, and the general lack of professional conduct by the prosecuting officers. The considerable body of evidence that Yamashita did not have ultimate command responsibility over all military units in the Philippines (such as the Imperial Japanese Navy units at the Battle of Manila) was not allowed in court.4

Death

Following the Supreme Court decision, an appeal for clemency was made to U.S. President Harry S. Truman. However, the President declined to intervene and thereby left the matter entirely in the hands of the military authorities. In due course, General MacArthur announced that he had confirmed the sentence of the Commission.

On 23 February 1946, at Los Baños Prison Camp, 30 miles (48 km) south of Manila, Tomoyuki Yamashita was hanged. After climbing the thirteen steps leading to the gallows, he was asked if he had a final statement. To this Yamashita replied through a translator:

“ "As I said in the Manila Supreme Court that I have done with my all capacity, so I don't ashame in front of the Gods for what I have done when I have died. But if you say to me 'you do not have any ability to command the Japanese Army' I should say nothing for it, because it is my own nature. Now, our war criminal trial going on in Manila Supreme Court, so I wish to be justify under your kindness and right. I know that all your American and American military affairs always has tolerant and rightful judgment. When I have been investigated in Manila court I have had a good treatment, kindful attitude from your good natured officers who all the time protect me. I never forget for what they have done for me even if I had died. I don't blame my executioner. I'll pray the Gods bless them. Please send my thankful word to Col. Clarke and Lt. Col. Feldhaus, Lt. Col. Hendrix, Maj. Guy, Capt. Sandburg, Capt. Reel, at Manila court, and Col. Arnard. I thank you." ”

Yamashita's chief of staff in the Philippines, Akira Mutō, was executed on December 1948 after having been found guilty of war crimes by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East.

Personal life

Yamashita married Hisako, the daughter of retired General Nagayama in 1916.

Things named after Yamashita

Sister project Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Tomoyuki Yamashita
Sister project Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Tomoyuki Yamashita

References

  1. ^ Alexandra Hospital
  2. ^ John Toland, The Rising Sun: The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire 1936-1945, Random House, 1970, p. 677
  3. ^ General Tomoyuki Yamashita, page 3, Nat Helms, originally in World War II Magazine, February 1996, verified 2006-09-16
  4. ^ Barber, The Yamashita Trial Revisited

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