Kawabe Torashirō

Lieutenant General Kawabe Torashirō

Kawabe Torashirō ( Japanese : 河 辺 虎 四郎 ; * September 25, 1890 in Toyama Prefecture ; † June 25, 1960 ) was a lieutenant general in the Imperial Japanese Army and the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force , who was chief of staff of the Central Defense Command in 1941 and 1945 Vice-Chief of the General Staff of the Imperial Japanese Army .

Life

Kawabe Torashirō began in May 1912 an officer training at the Army Officer School and was in December 1912. Lieutenant and December 1915 for lieutenant promoted. In August 1920 he was promoted to captain and began his training at the Army University in November 1921 and was then company commander before he was transferred as an officer to the general staff in November 1922 , where he was promoted to major in July 1927 and an officer in April 1929 the Operation Section. Between March 11, 1931 and January 28, 1932 he was chief of the strategic group of the Operation Section of the General Staff and was promoted to lieutenant colonel on August 1, 1921 . After he was military attaché at the embassy in the Soviet Union between January 28, 1932 and March 5, 1934 , he was again seconded to the General Staff from March 5 to August 1, 1934. Subsequently, between August 1, 1934 and August 1, 1935, he was employed as a senior staff officer for strategy in the Kwantung Army deployed in Manchuria . After his promotion to colonel on August 1, 1935, he was chief of the intelligence service of the Kwantung Army from August 1, 1935 to March 28, 1936 and commander of the field artillery regiment of the Imperial Guard between March 28, 1936 and March 1, 1937 . This was followed by a position as chief from March 1 to October 26, 1937 or as acting chief of the 2nd section for war planning in Department 1 of the General Staff between October 26 and November 1, 1937. November 1937 to March 1, 1938 was chief of the reorganized 2nd section for maneuver and war planning of Department 1 of the General Staff.

Subsequently, Kawabe Torashirō was from March 1 to July 15, 1938 instructor at the school of the Imperial Japanese Army Air Forces in Hamamatsu and was promoted there on July 15, 1938 to major general. He remained seconded there before he was a military attaché at the embassy in the German Reich from October 8, 1938 to December 1, 1939 . In 1939 he was also a temporary military attaché at the embassy in Hungary . After his return he was posted to the General Staff on December 1, 1939, and to the School of the Imperial Japanese Army Air Forces in Shimoshidzu on March 9, 1940 , before becoming commander during the Second Sino-Japanese War from September 24, 1940 to July 31, 1941 of the 7th Army Aviation Brigade stationed in Manchuria. On July 31, 1941, he became Chief of Staff of the newly created Central Defense Command and remained in this use until December 1, 1941, whereupon Lieutenant General Kobayashi Asasaburō took his place. During this time he was promoted to Lieutenant General (Rikugun Chūjō) on August 25, 1941 .

In the further course of the Second World War , Lieutenant General Kawabe was between December 1, 1941 and May 1, 1943, in personal union, both chief of the General Affairs Section at the headquarters of the Imperial Japanese Army Air Forces and chief of the General Affairs Section of the General Inspectorate of Army Aviation. He was then briefly commander of the 2nd Air Division between May 1 and 19, 1943 and then from May 19, 1943 to August 8, 1944, commander of the 2nd Air Army deployed in Manchukuo with headquarters in Hsinking . He then acted between August 8, 1944 and April 7, 1945 in personal union as Deputy Inspector General of the Army Aviation and as Deputy Chief of the Army Aviation Headquarters. At the same time he was head of the General Affairs Section of the General Inspection of Army Aviation from August 20 to December 26, 1944 and also acting head of the General Affairs Section at the headquarters of the Imperial Japanese Army Air Forces between September 2 and December 26, 1944. Most recently, he replaced Lieutenant General Ushiroku Jun as Vice-Chief of the General Staff of the Imperial Japanese Army on April 7, 1945 and held this position as the last incumbent until Japan surrendered on September 2, 1945. On October 15, 1945 he was retired .

His older brother was General Kawabe Masakazu , who was among other things Chief of Staff of the China Expeditionary Army and in 1945 Commander in Chief of the 1st Main Army .

Web links

• Entry in generals.dk

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . Thus, Kawabe is the family name, Torashirō the first name.