Hyakutake Seikichi

Hyakutake Haruyoshi

Hyakutake Seikichi ( Japanese百 武 晴 吉, also Hyakutake Harukichi or Haruyoshi ; born May 25, 1888 in Saga Prefecture ; † March 10, 1947 ) was a general in the Japanese army . He led the defense of Guadalcanal and the other Solomon Islands .

He graduated from the Japanese Military Academy in 1909 as an infantry officer. He then attended another army school until 1921. Within 3 years he was promoted to major and worked in military intelligence as head of the cryptographic department from 1927 to 1929.

In 1931, Hyakutake was transferred to Harbin and headed the local secret service. He was promoted to colonel in 1935 and was given command of his own regiment. After he was promoted again and held the rank of major general in 1939, he became inspector of the signal school and responsible for overseeing exercises. On May 18, 1942 he was subordinated to the 17th Army in Rabaul by the Commander-in-Chief of the South Army and he was involved in the conquest of the Fiji Islands and Samoa as well as the attack on Port Moresby . After the Japanese defeats at the Battle of Midway and other islands, he had to change his strategy and prepare to defend the Solomon Islands.

Due to supply problems and the American air superiority, his task could not be fulfilled. He was later entrusted with the command in New Guinea , where he led several unsuccessful counterattacks.

After the war he returned to Japan and died in 1947.

literature

• Gordon L. Rottman : Japanese Army in World War II: The South Pacific and New Guinea, 1942-43 . Osprey Publishing, 2005, ISBN 978-1-84176-870-0

Individual evidence

1. ^ Rottman, p. 42

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . So Hyakutake is the family name, Seikichi the first name.