Baba Masao

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Lieutenant General Baba on his way to the surrender ceremony in Labuan, Borneo (September 10, 1945)

Baba Masao ( Japanese 馬 場 正 郎 ; * January 7, 1892 in the prefecture of Kumamoto , Japanese Empire ; † August 7, 1947 in Rabaul , Papua New Guinea ) was a lieutenant general in the Imperial Japanese Army . After Japan surrendered , he was arrested for possible war crimes in 1947 and sentenced to death and executed that same year .

Life

Baba Masao was born on January 7, 1892 in Kumamoto Prefecture, the son of Army Lieutenant Baba Masayuki.

His military career began at the Hiroshima Army Cadet Institute , a military preparatory school based on the Prussian model. He then entered the Army Officer's School in Tokyo in May 1912 . In December of the same year he graduated and was assigned to the 5th Cavalry Regiment as a second lieutenant ( 陸軍 少尉 , Rikugun Shōi ). In November 1921 he finished his studies at the Army University in Tokyo . Continuing to serve in the 5th Cavalry Regiment, he was appointed cavalry inspector in 1933 and served as an instructor in the army's cavalry school.

In 1935 he was promoted to colonel ( 陸軍 大佐 , Rikugun Taisa ). Subsequently he was given command of the 2nd Cavalry Regiment. In July 1938 Baba was promoted to major general ( 陸軍 少将 , Rikugun Shōshō ) and took command of the 3rd Cavalry Brigade, and in 1939 the office of cavalry inspector.

From December 2, 1940 to October 1, 1941, Baba Masao commanded the Japanese army's cavalry group. In 1940, during the Second Sino-Japanese War , he was assigned to Inner Mongolia as a commander with the cavalry group .

In August 1941 he was promoted to lieutenant general ( 陸軍 中将 , Rikugun Chūshō ) of the army.

When the Pacific War broke out , Baba Masao commanded the 53rd Division of the Japanese Army. On September 25, 1943, he was appointed commander of the 4th Division and posted to Borneo . There he was promoted to commander of the 37th Army in 1945 . Baba played a central role in anti-guerrilla operations inland. As the military governor of Sabah (December 26, 1944 to September 10, 1945) he was also responsible for the civil administration of Borneo.

Lt. General Baba Masao on his way to sign the deed of surrender after arriving in Labuan, Borneo

The reconquest of Borneo began on May 1, 1945 with the landing of the Australian army on Tarakan and on June 10 of that year with the landings in Brunei and Labuan . On September 9, 1945, the 37th Japanese Army surrendered. Baba Masao formally presented his sword to Major General George Wootten , the commanding officer of the Australian 9th Division, on the island of Labuan the following day .

He was officially discharged from the army in April 1946 and arrested in January 1947 on suspicion of involvement in war crimes and taken to Rabaul.

Involvement in war crimes

Baba Masao was one of the officers responsible for arranging the Sandakan death marches in northern Borneo. Of 2200 mostly Australian prisoners who were in the Sandakan POW camp in the summer of 1944 , six were still alive a year later. Many had starved to death or perished on death marches to Ranau, 260 km away, where 150 of 183 people who had arrived died within a few days. In order to eliminate possible witnesses to the war crimes, the remaining prisoners of war were executed.

Indictment and conviction

Lieutenant General Baba Masao has been charged with the killing of prisoners of war in the New Guinea war crimes trials . The trial opened on May 28, 1947. On June 5, 1947, he was for the mistreatment of prisoners of war during the Sandakan Death Marches to death by the strand convicted. After the eight-day trial, the court only needed twelve minutes to reach a verdict. The verdict was pronounced within two minutes.

The sentence was on Aug. 7, 1947 enforced .

literature

  • Law Reports of Trials of War Criminals, Selected and prepared by The United Nations War Crime Commission, Volume XI, Chapter 64 "Trial of Lieutenant-General Baba Masao . London 1949, p. 56-61 ( loc.gov [PDF; 5.9 MB ]).
  • Fuller, Richard. 1992. Shokan: Hirohito's Samurai. London: Arms and Armor. ISBN 1-85409-151-4
  • Ikuhiko Hata, "Japanese army and navy", General Encyclopedia, Second Edition, University of Tokyo Press, 2005
  • Fukugawa Hideki, "Dictionary of Japanese Army generals", Fuyo Shobo Publishing, 2001
  • Toyama Misao, "Overview army general, army and navy personnel", Fuyo Shobo Publishing, 1981

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Biographical data of Baba Masao (in Japanese) , accessed June 5, 2011
  2. ^ A b c d The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia , accessed June 5, 2011
  3. ↑ J. Piekalkiewicz: "Cavalry in World War Two, 1939-1945", quoted in War and Game . warandgame.com. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
  4. ↑ http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Malay_states.htm#Sabah
  5. ↑ Borneo Post Borneo Post, March 20, 2011 edition , accessed June 5, 2011
  6. ^ Peace Park . virtualmalaysia.com. Archived from the original on October 12, 2011. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
  7. ^ The Mercury, March 8, 1947, p. 20 , accessed June 5, 2011
  8. ^ The Argus, Melbourne, June 6, 1947, p. 4 , accessed June 5, 2011
  9. ^ The Mercury, June 6, 1947, p. 24 , accessed June 5, 2011
  10. ^ The Sydney Morning Herald, June 6, 1947, p. 3 , accessed June 5, 2011
Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . So Baba is the family name, Masao the first name.
personal data
SURNAME Baba Masao
ALTERNATIVE NAMES 馬 場 正 郎 (Japanese)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Japanese general and war criminal
DATE OF BIRTH January 7, 1892
PLACE OF BIRTH Kumamoto Prefecture
DATE OF DEATH August 7, 1947
Place of death Rabaul , Papua New Guinea