Hideyoshi Obata

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In this Japanese name, the family name is "Obata".

Hideyoshi Obata
Japanese General Hideyoshi Obata
Native name	小畑英良
Born	(1890-04-02)2 April 1890 Osaka prefecture, Japan
Died	11 August 1944(1944-08-11) (aged 54) Guam
Allegiance	Empire of Japan
Service/branch	Imperial Japanese Army
Years of service	1911 - 1944
Rank	General (posthumous)
Commands held	5th Air Division 3rd Air Army Thirty-First Army
Battles/wars	World War II

Hideyoshi Obata (小畑英良, Obata Hideyoshi , 2 April 1890 – 11 August 1944) was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II.

Biography

Obata was a native of Osaka prefecture. He graduated from the 23rd class of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in December 1911, and was commissioned as a lieutenant in the cavalry. In 1919, he graduated from the 31st class of the Army War College and was promoted to the rank of captain in the cavalry.

Attracted to right-wing nationalist politics in his youth, he was a member of the radical Imperial Way Faction, under the leadership of Sadao Araki, against the more moderate Toseiha of Kazushige Ugaki.

From 1923-1927, Obata was assigned as a military attaché to the United Kingdom and from 1927-1934 as military attaché to British India. In August 1934, he was promoted to colonel in the cavalry and recalled to Japan for staff postings within the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff.

Obata was promoted to major general in March 1938, and was reassigned from cavalry to army aviation. He was appointed Commandant of the Akeno Army Air School in August 1938. In December 1940, he was promoted to lieutenant general and commander of the IJA 5th Air Group in Taiwan at the start of the Pacific War. His command was subsequently assigned to the Burma front in 1942. In May 1943, he became commander in chief of the IJA 3rd Air Army but was recalled to Tokyo in December.^[1]

On 18 February 1944, Obata was assigned command of the Thirty-First Army (Japan), with the IJA 29th Division and IJA 53rd Division in charge of the defense of the Mariana Islands from the approaching Allied forces. He was away from his headquarters on Saipan at the time of the American invasion and established his new command post on Guam. However, at the Battle of Guam he was soon overwhelmed by superior American numbers and firepower, and after giving the order that his forces should fight to the death, he committed seppuku on 11 August 1944.^[2] Obata was promoted posthumously to the rank of general.

Marker at site of Obata's death in Yigo, Guam

References

Books

Dupuy, Trevor N. (1992). Encyclopedia of Military Biography. I B Tauris & Co Ltd. ISBN 1-85043-569-3.
Fuller, Richard (1992). Shokan: Hirohito's Samurai. London: Arms and Armor. ISBN 1-85409-151-4.
Gailey, Harry (1988). The Liberation of Guam 21 July - 10 August. Novato, California, U.S.A.: Presidio Press. ISBN 0-89141-651-X.
Hayashi, Saburo; Cox, Alvin D (1959). Kogun: The Japanese Army in the Pacific War. Quantico, VA: The Marine Corps Association. Cite uses deprecated parameters (help)

Notes

↑ Budge, Pacific War Online Encyclopedia
↑ Chen, World War II Database

External links

Ammenthorp, Steen. "Obata Hideyoshi". The Generals of World War II.
Budge, Kent. "Obata, Hideyoshi". Pacific War Online Encyclopedia.
Chen, Peter. "Obaya, Hideyoshi". WW2 Database.
O'Brian, Cyril J. "LIBERATION:Marines in the Recapture of Guam". Marines in World War II Commemorative Series.

Persondata
Name	Obata, Hideyoshi
Alternative names	小畑英良 (Japanese)
Short description	Imperial Japanese Army general
Date of birth	2 April 1890
Place of birth	Osaka prefecture, Japan
Date of death	11 August 1944
Place of death	Guam

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