Ōnishi Takijirō

Ōnishi Takijirō (1941)

Ōnishi Takijirō ( Japanese 大西 瀧 治郎 ; born June 2, 1891 in Ashida , Hikami-gun (today: Tamba ), Hyōgo Prefecture ; † August 16, 1945 in Tokyo ) was an admiral of the Imperial Japanese Navy , who was the founder of the Japanese Kamikaze units gained prominence at the end of the Pacific War .

biography

Ōnishi was part of the 40th year of the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy, which he graduated with good results in 1912. He served as a midshipman on the cruiser Soya , the armored cruiser Tsukuba , and as an ensign on the battleship Kawachi .

The Japanese aircraft mother ship Wakamiya, from which the world's first ship-based air raids against German positions in Tsingtau were flown

As a sub-lieutenant at sea, he was assigned to the aircraft mother ship Wakamiya , the first aircraft carrier of the Imperial Japanese Navy. He was therefore one of the pioneers of the Imperial Japanese naval aviation forces . Ōnishi took part in the siege of Tsingtau on the Wakamiya and was involved in the first ship-based air raid in military history. He was posted to England and France in 1918 to observe the development and use of combat aircraft during World War I.

After his return he was promoted to lieutenant at sea and from 1918 to 1920 transferred to the Yokosuka naval aviation group . He was then used in various staff positions of the Japanese naval aviation forces and also used as a flight instructor in Kasumigaura .

After his promotion to Lieutenant Commander , he was from December 10, 1928 on the aircraft carrier Hōshō commander of the carrier squadron. On November 15, 1932, he received the post of executive officer on the aircraft carrier Kaga . On November 15, 1939, Ōnishi was appointed Rear Admiral and Chief of Staff of the 11th Imperial Japanese Navy Air Force.

Advance south

In the fall of 1941, Ōnishi was jointly responsible for planning the attack on Pearl Harbor . In the first days of the war, he commanded the air strike on Clark Air Base during the Battle of the Philippines . The Japanese naval aviators destroyed almost all of the American aircraft, which enabled the rapid advance of the Japanese armed forces in the Malay archipelago .

Ōnishi provided the aircraft under his control to the Yakuza and Rear Admiral Kodama Yoshio via a special contract , thus enabling the transport of large quantities of looted goods from China to Japan.

On May 1, 1943, Ōnishi was promoted to Vice Admiral.

Commander of the Shimpū Tokkōtai

Vice-Admiral Ōnishi (foreground) during the farewell ceremony for the pilots of the 201st Marine Aviation Corps, to the left of Ōnishi in the background is the pilot Seki (25 October 1944)

In October 1944 Ōnishi became the commander of the 1st Imperial Japanese Air Fleet on Luzon , whose mission was to support the United Fleet under Admiral Kurita Takeo during the sea ​​and air battle in the Gulf of Leyte . After the defeat in the Battle of the Philippine Sea , Ōnishi had far too few combat aircraft available to actually carry out the task of destroying the US carrier fleet. On the advice of the Japanese emperor, Ōnishi decided to sacrifice the few remaining aircrews in suicide attacks . In addition to military considerations, propaganda reasons also played a role. The self-sacrifice of the pilots served as a model for the recruitment of more suicide pilots. In fact, the first deployment was by no means voluntary. The pilot Seki Yukio , later stylized into a god-like kami by Japanese propaganda , told a reporter:

“Japan is finished when it is forced to kill one of its best pilots. I am not going on this mission for the Emperor or for the Japanese Empire ... I am going because I was ordered to! "

After the US troops landed in the Philippines, the 1st Imperial Japanese Air Force was moved to Formosa (now Taiwan) in January 1945. There, too, Ōnishi organized further kamikaze missions against the US naval units.

Ōnishi later returned to Japan and was appointed Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Imperial Japanese Navy on May 19.

Various sources claim that Ōnishi refused to commit suicide. This can be doubted because of the zeal he displayed as the commander of the Shimpū Tokkōtai. By August 15, 1945, more than 4,000 Japanese pilots, most of them still underage, had been killed in such operations. The majority of the pilots were shot down before they could do their job.

In Ōnishi's mind, the use of kamikaze pilots was only the prelude to a far more comprehensive self-sacrifice tactic: "If 20 million Japanese make the highest sacrifice in special attacks, we will achieve a complete victory." Ōnishi emphasized that it was not it is necessary to train 20 million pilots, but only to people who would be willing to sacrifice their own lives in an effective attack against the enemy. Like most Japanese officers, Ōnishi insisted on continuing the war by all means and categorically refused to surrender.

suicide

Ōnishi Takijirō a few hours before his ritual suicide (photo by Kodama Yoshio , August 15, 1945)

After the Japanese surrender on August 15, 1945, the pointlessness of the kamikaze operations had become evident. Like many Japanese generals and admirals ( Tōjō Hideki , Sugiyama Hajime ), Ōnishi decided to commit suicide. In his suicide note, he apologized to the kamikaze pilots and called on all young Japanese to help rebuild the country. His suicide should be understood as penance to the kamikaze pilots and their families.

Ōnishi committed suicide by Seppuku in the presence of Kodama Yoshio on August 16, 1945, the day after the Japanese surrender . His agony lasted over 15 hours. Kodama later reported:

“But when Vice Admiral Ōnishi [...] summoned me to his deathbed and asked me to look after his affairs, and I saw him die with a smile on his face, I became convinced that in some circumstances a man can embrace death with joy. [...] ”

“But when Vice Admiral Ōnishi [...] called me to his deathbed and asked me to sort out his affairs and I saw him die with a smile on his face, I became convinced that a man could, under certain circumstances, face death Can embrace joy. [...] "

reception

In the Yūshūkan Museum of the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, Admiral Ōnishi's farewell letter is also on display in English alongside some of his personal belongings and the sword he used to commit seppuku , in the context of the kamikazi operations.

literature

• Albert Axell, Hideaki Kase: Kamikaze: Japan's Suicide Gods ; Longman New York 2002; ISBN 0-582-77232-X
• John Keegan (Ed.): Who's Who in World War II ; London 1995; ISBN 0415118891
• Kodama Yoshio: Sugamo Diary ; Tokyo 1960

Footnotes

1. ↑ Axell, Kase: Kamikaze - Japan's Suicide Gods , p. 16
2. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from July 10, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
3. ↑ Kodama: Sugamo Diary , p. 50.

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