Shunroku Hata
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Hata Shunroku | |
|---|---|
| (26 July 1879 – 10 May 1962) | |
| Place of birth | Fukushima Prefecture |
| Place of death | Tokyo, Japan |
| Allegiance | Empire of Japan |
| Years of service | 1901–1945 |
| Rank | Field Marshal |
| Commands | Imperial Japanese Army |
| Battles/wars | Russo-Japanese War World War II |
Shunroku Hata (畑俊六 Hata Shunroku ?) (26 July 1879 - 10 May 1962), was a field marshal in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II.
A native of Fukushima prefecture and a graduate of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy, Hata served in the Russo-Japanese War. Sent as a military attaché to Germany in 1912, he stayed in Europe throughout World War I as a military observer.
On his return to Japan, he was assigned to the strategic planning division of the Army General Staff, Inspector-General of Artillery Training, and head of the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service. In 1935, he became commander of the Taiwan Army in 1936.
His political rise was then very rapid: Military Councillor, Inspector General of Military Training and rank of general all in 1937. He was appointed as commanding general of the Central China Expeditionary Army in February 1938, to replace General Matsui Iwane, who had been recalled to Japan over the Nanjing Incident. Hata became Senior Aide-de-Camp to Emperor Showa in May 1939 followed by a stint as Minister of War from August 1939 to July 1940. He returned to China as commander-in-chief of the China Expeditionary Army in March 1941.
He was the main commander of Changjiao Massacre.
He was awarded the rank of field marshal in 1943, and was requested to take command of the Second General Army, based in Hiroshima from 1944 to 1945 in preparation for the anticipated Allied invasion of the home islands.
In 1948, as a result of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, Hata was classified as a “Class A War Criminal”, and sentenced to life imprisonment under the charges of: “Conspiracy, waging aggressive war, disregarding his duty to prevent atrocities”. He was paroled in 1955, and died in 1962.
Hata’s brother, Hata Eitaro (1872-1930), was also a general in the Imperial Japanese Army, and commanding officer of the Kwangtung Army.
[edit] Military career
- 2nd Lieutenant (Artillery), June 1901
- Graduated from War College "with top scholarly rank," November 1910
- Army General Staff, December 1910
- Military attaché, Germany, March 1912
- Major, July 1914; official duty, Europe, September 1914
- Lieutenant Colonel, July 1918; official duty, Europe, December 1918
- Member, Plenipotentiary's Suite, Peace Conference, February 1919
- Regimental Commander, 16th Field Artillery (Colonel), July 1921
- Brigade Commander, 4th Heavy Field Artillery Brigade (Major General), March 1926
- Chief, Fourth Bureau, Army General Staff, July 1927
- Chief, First Bureau, Army General Staff, August 1928
- Inspector General of Artillery Training (Lieutenant General), August 1931
- 14th Division Commander, August 1933
- Chief, Army Aeronautical Department, December 1935
- Formosa Army Commander, August 1936
- Military Councillor, August 1937
- Inspector General of Military Training, August 1937
- General, November 1937
- Commanding General, Central China Expeditionary Army, February 1938
- Military Councillor, December 1938
- Senior Aide-de-Camp to Emperor Showa, May 1939
- War Minister, August 1939 (Abe and Yonai cabinets)
- Military Councillor, July 1940
- Commander-in-Chief, China Expeditionary Army, Much 1941
- Field Marshal, June 1943
- Inspector General of Military Training, November 1944
- Commander-in-Chief, Second General Army (Hiroshima)
[edit] References
- Dupuy, Trevor N. The Harper Encyclopedia of Military Biography. New York: HarperCollins Publishers Inc., 1992. ISBN 0-7858-0437-4
- Jansen, Marius B. The Making of Modern Japan. Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2000.
[edit] External links
- Generals from Japan [1]
