Yamawaki Masataka

Yamawaki Masataka

Yamawaki Masataka ( Japanese 山 脇 正隆 ; * March 2, 1886 in Kōchi Prefecture ; † April 21, 1974 ) was a Japanese general in the Imperial Japanese Army .

Life

Training as officer and staff officer

Yamawaki Masataka attended the cadet school in Hiroshima from 1900 to 1905 and then completed an officer training at the Army Officer's School (Rikugun Shikan Gakkō) . This was followed by various assignments as an officer in the Imperial Japanese Army and in 1914 he attended the Army University (Rikugun Daigakkō) . This was followed by further assignments as a staff officer, before he took over the post of chief of Section 1 (organization and mobilization) of Department 1 of the General Staff of the Army after his promotion to Lieutenant Colonel on August 1, 1929. He was then from August 1, 1931 to August 8, 1932 commander of the 22nd Infantry Regiment and from August 8, 1932 to May 3, 1934 chief of Section 1 of the General Inspectorate for Military Training.

After that, Yamawaki Masataka served from March 5, 1934 to December 2, 1935 as a military attaché at the legation in Poland and was promoted to major general on August 1, 1934 during this time . After his return he was between December 2, 1935 and August 15, 1938 head of the department for economic mobilization in the War Ministry and was promoted as such on November 1, 1937 to lieutenant general. He then took over the post of General Director of the General Inspectorate for Military Training between July 17, 1938 and January 31, 1939 and was also Deputy Minister of War from December 10, 1938 to October 14, 1939 and between December 29, 1938 and January 31, 1939 provisional head of the Department for Military Service in the War Ministry.

Second World War and promotion to general

Subsequently, Lieutenant General Yamawaki succeeded Lieutenant General Fujita Susumu from October 14, 1939 until his replacement by Toshima Fusataro on September 28, 1940, commander of the 3rd Division (Dai-san shidan) deployed in China during the Second Sino-Japanese War . He then acted as the commander of the Japanese occupation army in Mongolia between September 29, 1940 and January 20, 1941 and was initially recalled to the Army General Staff on January 20, 1941, before becoming the successor of Lieutenant General Fujie on April 10, 1941 Keisuke became the commandant of the Army College. He held this post until his replacement by Lieutenant General Shimomura Sadamu on September 10, 1941, after which he himself was only recalled to the Army General Staff and was transferred to the reserve from December 2, 1941 to September 5, 1942.

On September 5, 1942, Lieutenant General Yamawaki was ordered back into active military service and held the post of Commander of the Defense Army on Borneo until September 22, 1944 . After his promotion to general on September 22, 1944, he took over as the successor to Lieutenant General Maeda Toshinari, who died in a plane crash on September 5, 1944, as commander of the 37th Army (Dai-sanjūnana-gun) also deployed on Borneo . He held this position until December 26, 1944, after which Lieutenant General Baba Masao was his successor there. He was then called back to the General Staff of the Army before he retired on May 1, 1945.

After Japan surrendered on September 2, 1945, Yamawaki Masataka was arrested and sentenced as a war criminal . In February 1951 he was finally pardoned and released from prison.

Web link

• Entry in Generals.dk

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