The Tiger Of Malaya:: The Story Of General Tomoyuki Yamashita And “Death March” General Masaharu Homma [Illustrated Edition]

By Lt. Col. Aubrey Saint Kenworthy

Includes over 30 illustrations

As in Nazi occupied countries that were liberated by the Allies, horrible crimes had been uncovered, perpetrated in the name of superior culture on defenceless civilians and prisoners of war. As the emaciated American, British, Australian soldiers emerged from the prisoner of war camps with barbaric tales of torture, mistreatment and neglect, it was clear that justice must be sought. The U.S. Military fixed on two Japanese generals who were foremost in causing and ordering these outrages, the conqueror of Malaya Tomoyuki Yamahsita and the notorious “Death March” Masaharu Homma.

Lt. Col. Kenworthy was a member of the U.S. military police assigned to the Philippines and saw at first hand the military tribunal ordered at the express command of General MacArthur. He was detailed to guard both Yamashita and Homma during the trial and was able to view their reactions to the detailed evidence that was used against them. He was determined to write this account of this momentous event, he recorded not only the evidence of the crimes but also the stoic calm with which the two generals faced the weight of Allied Justice.

A fascinating sidelight on the ending of the World War Two.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Verdun Press
• Release date: Nov 6, 2015
• ISBN: 9781786251558

Lt. Col. Aubrey Saint Kenworthy

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Text originally published in 1960 under the same title.

© Pickle Partners Publishing 2014, all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means, electrical, mechanical or otherwise without the written permission of the copyright holder.

Publisher’s Note

Although in most cases we have retained the Author’s original spelling and grammar to authentically reproduce the work of the Author and the original intent of such material, some additional notes and clarifications have been added for the modern reader’s benefit.

We have also made every effort to include all maps and illustrations of the original edition the limitations of formatting do not allow of including larger maps, we will upload as many of these maps as possible.

The Tiger of Malaya: The Story of General Tomoyuki Yamashita And Death March General Masaharu Homma

By

Lt.-Col. Aubrey Saint Kenworthy

Military Police Corps, United States Army

Provost Marshal, International Military Tribunal

For the Far East, Tokyo, Japan, 1946-48

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS 4

DEDICATION 5

Foreword 6

1 — A Direct Order 7

2 — Yamashita Arrives at Baguio 19

3 — The Surrender 23

4 — The Trial 27

5 — The Evidence 29

ATROCITIES UPON WHICH THE CHARGES AGAINST GENERAL TOMOYUXI YAMASHITA ARE BASED 31

6 — Fiends X Bayonets = Bodies 40

BILIBID PRISON 41

INTRAMUROS 42

NICHOLS AIRFIELD 43

SANTO TOMAS CAMP 43

7 — Muto Speaks 46

8 — Yamashita’s Story 49

9 — The Verdict 59

10 — The Executions 61

11 — The Living Dead 62

12 — Death March of Bataan 63

13 — Lieutenant General Takaji Waehi 65

14 — Death March Homma 72

15 —Other Facets of the Death March, and General Homma 77

ILLUSTRATIONS 78

REQUEST FROM THE PUBLISHER 109

DEDICATION

This book is affectionately and reverently dedicated to

BRIGADIER GENERAL CHARLES SABIN FERRIN — Provost Marshal, Tokyo, Japan;

COLONEL JEREMIAH PAUL HOLLAND — Provost Marshal, Southwest Pacific Area, 1942-1946

and to

The members of the Military Police Corps who paid with their lives for their devotion to duty and to their code:

Of the Troops and for the Troops

Foreword

This book is intended to cover a period from 1942 to 1948 and more particularly that period in which the Allied Forces met success of their arms in the Southwest Pacific Area. The crux of the period was from the surrender of General Tomoyuki Yamashita and his staff at Keangan, Mountain Province, Luzon, Philippine Islands, 2 September 1945, to the execution of Death March Masaharu Homma, at Los Banos, Laguna Province, Luzon, Philippines, 3 April 1940.

1 — A Direct Order

The buzzer in the Operations Office of the Provost Marshal’s office, Manila, Philippine Islands, growled twice at ten hundred hours on 26 August 1945.

This meant that Colonel Jeremiah Paul Holland, affectionately known as the Dutchman to his very close friends, wanted to see the Operations Officer, or S-3, right now and not mañana.

Having served directly under Colonel Holland from early in 1943 in Australia, through New Guinea, the Netherlands East Indies and the Philippines, I jumped when the buzzer sounded this warning, regardless of the fact that I had been relieved as Operations Officer that morning and placed in command of the 742nd Military Police Battalion stationed on the Maraquina Road on the northern edge of the City of Manila. I had been relieved by a Major Kirley.

I was momentarily relieved when I realized that Major Kirley would have to answer instead of myself.

My nerves were not to remain tranquil for long. Kirley returned and said, It’s you he wants, and don’t spare the horses getting in there, for the old man is lighting cigarettes one after the other and throwing them out of the window behind him.

The Dutchman just did not believe in wasting words. He would give you all of his liquor, most of his cigarettes and any number out of his little black book, particularly the Australian ones, but he was exceptionally saving on words.

When I reported to him in my best military manner, he said, Who have you got that can take over your battalion?

Many months previous the lesson had been brought home to me not to ask him questions at a time like this.

I named an officer who was exceptionally capable. The Colonel immediately said, All right, get thirty-two of your men ready. You are going after Yamashita. I’ll see you later.

With considerable difficulty I maintained my composure until I got out of his office. Then, with Major Kirley and Major Valiet, the Adjutant, I tried to figure out what it was all about, but we could not arrive at any satisfactory conclusion.

In order that the reader may fully appreciate the task assigned me by the Colonel, it might be well to know something of General Yamashita with relation to the Philippine campaign. The following story was written by Lieutenant General Akira Muto and presented to the writer in Tokyo, 19 May 1946:

"General Yamashita, Commander of the Fourteenth Army Corps, arrived at Manila on October 7 1944. He immediately took over from Lieutenant General Kuroda Shigenori the duty of defending the entire extent of the Philippine Islands. The plan of campaign made by his predecessor was roughly that in case the Americans opened their attack on the southern part of the Philippines, they would be engaged mainly by the naval and air forces, with the cooperation of the land forces in the immediate vicinities only; but that if the Americans landed on Luzon Island, the Army would bear the brunt of the attack with the cooperation of the naval and air forces. Yamashita tentatively adopted this plan pending a more detailed study of the whole situation. At the time of his arrival at Manila, the disposition of the Japanese forces was as follows:

1. The defense of South Philippine, including the islands of Lawar, Mattsbate and Panay, was entrusted to Lieutenant General Sosaku Suzuki’s 35th Army (roughly 100,000 strong).

2. Luzon and its adjacent islands were to be defended by the Army under Yamashita’s direct command (some 120,000 strong).

3. Besides the above, there were independent units which did not belong to Yamashita’s command. They were:

(a) Army Air Force (60,000)

(b) Naval Force (65,000)

(c) Reserve units belonging to the Imperial General Headquarters or to the Supreme Southern Command (30,000)

(d) Special Water Transport Units (10,000)

Thus the entire Japanese forces in the Philippines aggregated over 380,000, but those under Yamashita’s control were 220,000, of which only the 120,000 in Luzon belonged to his direct command. A considerable portion of the above forces had to be employed in small detachments for the preservation of peace and order in various localities, so that deficiency of the necessary strength was felt by every command. Furthermore, the sudden and general expansion of the Japanese Army led to the deterioration of quality, both in respect of men and equipment. The defense installation and the amount of munitions that could be assembled also left much to be desired. Faced with such a situation, General Yamashita tried as best he could to make up the deficiencies, but seeing that it was only ten days after his arrival at his post that the American attack on Leyte began on October 18, 1944, it may well be said that he was thrust into the fray almost without preparation. Before giving an account of the actual fighting, it may be necessary to describe briefly the system of command of the Japanese forces in the Philippines. The Army and Navy units in the south belonged each to a different and independent system of command. The Supreme Commander of the land forces was Field Marshal Terauchi, under whose control were the 4th Air Corps, the 3rd Water Transport Corps and the 14th Army Corps. That is to say, the Japanese forces in the Philippines were not placed under the unified command of General Yamashita, but each time he wanted to undertake some strategic move, he had to consult the other commanders or ask for the approval of Marshal Terauchi.

"Immediately after the opening of the attack of Leyte by the Americans, the Imperial General Headquarters issued an order to General Yamashita to repel the enemy by participating, with as great a force as he could possibly dispatch, in the battle of Leyte, which was being fought by the naval and air forces with determination/

"That involved a fundamental alteration of the plan of campaign mentioned at the outset. Yamashita was without any preparation for such a course and found great difficulty in fulfilling the order. It necessitated the extraction of units from the forces provided for the defense of Luzon Island, causing an extended modification in the entire defense system. A considerable amount of bottom (water transportation) was required for transport of the reinforcements; arrangements had to be made with the naval and air command for their convoy, and above all there was the important question of supplying the necessary amount of munitions. All that did not proceed at all smoothly. Nevertheless, he succeeded by the beginning of December in