On
this date, April 3, 1946, The Poet General, Masaharu Homma was executed by
firing squad. He had received the same fate as General Tomoyuki Yamashita in
the Command Responsibility Law, in this case, he failed to stop his men in the
infamous Bataan Death March.
I
will post the information about him from Wikipedia.
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Lieutenant General Honma Masaharu (本間 雅晴 Homma Masaharu)
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Japanese
Military Administrator
Japanese Military Commander of the Philippines |
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In
office
January 2, 1942 – January 23, 1942 |
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Preceded by
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Newly Established
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Succeeded by
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Jorge B. Vargas
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Personal
details
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Born
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November 27, 1888
Sado, Niigata Prefecture, Japan |
Died
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April 3, 1946 (aged 58)
Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines |
Religion
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Shinto
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Military
service
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Nickname(s)
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"The Poet General"[citation
needed]
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Allegiance
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Empire of Japan
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Service/branch
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Imperial Japanese Army
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Years of service
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1907 - 1943
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Rank
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Lieutenant General
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Commands
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27th Infantry Division
Taiwan Army of Japan 14th Area Army |
Masaharu Homma
(本間 雅晴 Homma Masaharu, 27 November 1887 – 3 April
1946) was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army. He is noteworthy for his
role in the invasion and occupation of the Philippines during World War II.
With
the 43,110 men of the 14th Army, Homma led the most intense battle in the
invasion of the Philippines, the Battle of Bataan commencing in December, 1941.
He was in charge of the troops who were responsible in carrying out Bataan
Death March in the Philippines during 1942. As a consequence, Homma was
executed by firing squad after being convicted by the U.S. military tribunal
for war crimes in the Philippines.
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Title: Wife of General Masaharu Homma
Date: January 16, 1945
Accession number: 2013-2286
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Biography
Homma
was born on Sado Island, in the Sea of Japan off Niigata Prefecture. He
graduated from the 14th class of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1907,
and from the 27th class of the Army Staff College in 1915.
Homma
had a deep respect for, and some understanding of, the West, having spent eight
years as a military attaché in the United Kingdom. In 1917 he was attached to
the East Lancashire Regiment, and in 1918 served with the British Expeditionary
Force in France, being awarded the Military Cross.
From
1930-1932, Homma was again sent as a military attaché to the United Kingdom,
where his proficiency in the English language was useful. He was also assigned
to be part of the Japanese delegation to the Geneva Disarmament Conference in
1932 and served with the Press Section of the Army Ministry from 1932-1933. He
was given a field command again, as commander of the IJA 1st Infantry Regiment
from 1933–1935, and was promoted to command the IJA 32nd Infantry Brigade from
1935-1936.
In
1937, Homma was appointed aide-de-camp to Prince Chichibu, a brother of Emperor
Shōwa. With him, he made a diplomatic tour in Europe which ended in Germany.
There he attended the Nuremberg rally and met Adolf Hitler, with whom the
prince tried to boost relations, following the Anti-Comintern Pact of 1936. He
then served as the commander of the Taiwan Army of the Imperial Armed Forces,
and composed the lyric of the military song, "Taiwan Army." Yamaguchi
Yoshiko ("Lee Shiang Lan" in Chinese) was invited to sing the song to
boost Taiwanese morale.
With
the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War, Homma was appointed commander of the
IJA 27th Division in China from 1938–1940 and directed the blockade of the
foreign concessions in Tientsin, where he led the negotiations with the
British. After the fall of Nanking, he declared publicly that "unless peace
is achieved immediately it will be disastrous". Homma was removed from his
position at the front lines, and re-assigned to become commander in chief of
the Taiwan Army District from 1940-1941. He was promoted to lieutenant general
in July 1938.
With
the start of the Pacific War, Homma was named commander of the 43,110-man IJA
14th Army and tasked with the invasion of the Philippines. He ordered his
troops to treat the Filipinos not as enemies but as friends, and respect their
customs and religion. In one instance, on his approach to Manila, Homma stopped
his columns and ordered the men to clean up and tighten formations, knowing
that unkempt soldiers are more likely to loot and rape.
This
liberal approach towards Filipino civilians earned him the enmity of his
superior, General Count Hisaichi Terauchi, commander of the Southern
Army, who sent adverse reports about Homma to Tokyo from his headquarters in
Saigon. There was also a growing subversion within Homma's command by a small
group of insubordinates, under the influence of Colonel Tsuji Masanobu. In
Homma's name, they sent out secret orders against his policies, including
ordering the execution of Filipino Chief Justice José Abad Santos and attempted
execution of former Speaker of the House of Representatives Manuel Roxas, which
Homma found out about in time to stop.
Homma
failed to give credence to the possibility that a retreat into Bataan Peninsula
by Filipino-American forces might succeed in upsetting the Japanese timetable.
By the time he recognized his mistake, his best infantry division had been
replaced by a poorly trained reserve brigade, greatly weakening his assault
force. Rather than waste his men in furious frontal assaults, he tried to
outmaneuver the American forces. This brought criticism from superiors who
believed he had been "contaminated" by Western ideas about conserving
the lives of his men.
Worried
about the stalled offensive in Luzon, Hirohito pressed Army Chief of Staff
Hajime Sugiyama twice on January 1942 to increase troop strength and launch a
quick knockout on Bataan. Following these orders, Sugiyama put pressure on
Homma to renew his attacks. The resulting Battle of Bataan commencing in January
1942 was one of the most intense in the campaign. However, the deteriorating
relationship between Homma and Sugiyama led to the removal of Homma from
command shortly after the fall of Corregidor, and he was thereafter commander
of the 14th Army in name only. The New York Times erroneously reported
prior to the fall of Bataan that Homma was replaced by General Yamishita, and
that Homma had committed suicide.
The
Imperial General Headquarters regarded Homma as not aggressive enough in war
(resulting in the high cost and long delay in securing the American and
Filipino forces' surrender), and too lenient with the Filipino people in peace,
and he was subsequently forced into retirement in August 1943. Homma retired
from the military and lived in semi-seclusion in Japan until the end of the
war.
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Lieutenant General Masaharu Homma,
Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Japanese Forces in the Philippines.
(Photo by ABE, Japanese Propaganda Corps.) [PHOTO SOURCE: http://www.philippinestamps.net/Japanese%20Occupation%20Philippines%20Photos.htm]
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Trial
After
the surrender of Japan, the American occupation authorities arrested Homma, and
he was extradited to the Philippines at the express order of General Douglas
MacArthur so that he could be tried by an American military tribunal rather
than the International Allied War Crimes Commission tasked with prosecuting
Japanese war-time leaders for war crimes connected with starting the war.
Historian
Philip Piccigallo said that Homma was convicted of the actions of his men
during the Bataan Death March
rather than having a direct hand in the actions themselves.
It
is not clear whether Homma ordered the atrocities that occurred during the
march, but it is clear that his lack of administrative expertise and inability
to adequately delegate authority and control his men led to atrocities. After
American-Filipino forces surrendered the Bataan Peninsula, Homma turned
logistics of handling the estimated 25,000 prisoners to Major-General Yoshitake
Kawane. Homma publicly stated that the POWs would be treated fairly. A plan was
formulated to transport and march the prisoners to Camp O'Donnell, which Homma
approved. However, the plan was severely flawed, as the American and Filipino
POWs were starving, weak with malaria, and numbered not 25,000 but 76,000 men:
far more than any Japanese plan had anticipated.
Additionally,
the Japanese thought that the surrender would occur some three weeks later, a
point at which supplies would have arrived. In his defense at his trial, Homma
also claimed that he was so preoccupied with the plans for the Corregidor
assault that he had forgotten about the prisoners’ treatment, believing that
his officers were properly handling the matter. He claimed that he did not
learn of the atrocity until after the war.
Homma
was convicted by the U.S. military tribunal for war crimes in the Philippines,
including the Bataan Death March, and the atrocities at O'Donnell and
Cabanatuan which followed. Homma's chief defense counsel, John H. Skeen, Jr.,
stated that it was a "highly irregular trial, conducted in an atmosphere
that left no doubt as to what the ultimate outcome would be." Associate
Justice Frank Murphy of the U.S. Supreme Court protested the verdict, stating:
"Either we conduct such a trial as this in the noble spirit and atmosphere
of our Constitution or we abandon all pretense to justice, let the ages slip
away and descend to the level of revengeful blood purges."
Homma's
wife appealed to General MacArthur to spare his life; her pleas were denied.
However, MacArthur ordered Homma shot, rather than sent to the gallows, the
latter being considered the greater dishonor amongst military men. Homma was
executed by firing squad by Filipino and American forces on 3 April 1946
outside Manila.
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Masaharu Homma and his staff after the fall
of Manila. [PHOTO SOURCE: http://www.ww2incolor.com/japan/C__pia+de+A+_47_.html]
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+2.jpg)
INTERNET SOURCE: http://www.americanheritage.com/content/trial-general-homma?page=10
Just
before 1:00 a.m., on April 3,1946, a group of MPs appeared in Masaharu Homma’s
room and handcuffed him. Marching in double ranks, they escorted the general to
a large open area illuminated by floodlights. Homma was calm as the guards tied
him to a post and slipped a black hood over his head. An Army doctor pinned a
square swatch of white cloth directly over his heart.
Fifteen
paces away 12 Army marksmen raised their M-16s in unison and clicked off their
safeties. In accordance with military protocol, 4 of the 12 rifles contained
blanks, so that no one would know who had fired the lethal shots.
In
the humid night silence, an Army officer read aloud the charges, the verdict,
and the sentence. Then he raised his right arm, and the firing squad took aim.
A moment later he dropped his arm to his side and cried out, “Fire!”
The
dozen rifles answered. Homma slumped forward. The doctor examined the wounds,
listened to his heart, and declared him dead. A disk of blood grew on the white
cloth and seeped through the cream-colored suit.
OTHER
LINKS:
PLEASE
SEE THIS VIDEO TO WATCH HIS SENTENCING:
Homma
Verdict 1945
Uploaded on Jun 20, 2009
This
is an excerpt of the verdict in the war crimes trial in the Philippines of
General Masaharu Homma, commander of the troops who forced U.S. and Filipino
prisoners of war into the infamous Bataan Death March. This was a five-man U.S.
military commission which delivered the verdict and sentence on the 28th day of
the Trial. Homma was sentenced to be executed.
For further information, see http://www.roberthjackson.org
For further information, see http://www.roberthjackson.org
VIDEO SOURCE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sI8jtxXxOUI
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