Japanese Commanders in WWII?

[Kagemusha]

Does anyone have knowledge about Japanese Commanders in WWII?I think that its bit odd while Japanese troops conguered half of the Asia,their commanders are mentioned very rarely.

[Pindar]

Yamashite, the Tiger of Singapore is fairly impressive.

With a numerically inferior force, he soundly beat Britain's Percival in Malaysia and followed it up with taking the prize Singapore itself netting some 100,000 prisoners. Due to in-house rivalries Yamashita was afterwards assigned to secondary front duties for the remainder of the war, if I recall correctly. Yamashita seems to encapsulate many of the basic notions of Japanese warfare: speed, audacity and brutality.

[Hurin_Rules]

I hadn't heard of him Pindar. A very interesting career, to be sure.

We'd have to add admiral Yamamoto too, of course, but other than that, I am wholly ignorant. Good point.

[cegorach]

[QUOTE=Pindar]Yamashite, the Tiger of Singapore is fairly impressive.

With a numerically inferior force, he soundly beat Britain's Percival in Malaysia and followed it up with taking the prize Singapore itself netting some 100,000 prisoners. Due to in-house rivalries Yamashita was afterwards assigned to secondary front duties for the remainder of the war, if I recall correctly.

He was really good indeed.

In the later stage of war was defending the Philippines capitulating with the rest of his troops on Luzon.

My favourite naval commander is Raizo ( sp ?) Tanaka - an excellent commander of destroyer squadrons.

[mercian billman]

[QUOTE=cegorach1]

Yamashite, the Tiger of Singapore is fairly impressive.

With a numerically inferior force, he soundly beat Britain's Percival in Malaysia and followed it up with taking the prize Singapore itself netting some 100,000 prisoners. Due to in-house rivalries Yamashita was afterwards assigned to secondary front duties for the remainder of the war, if I recall correctly.

He was really good indeed.

In the later stage of war was defending the Philippines capitulating with the rest of his troops on Luzon.

My favourite naval commander is Raizo ( sp ?) Tanaka - an excellent commander of destroyer squadrons.

When Yamashite surrendered Manila his Marines (Naval Special Landing Forces) disobeyed the order and continued fighting. Their decision would lead to Manila being the second most destroyed city of the war (Berlin holds the honor of being the most destroyed). Yamashite was blamed even though he ordered the surrender and later executed.

Other distinguished Commanders would be,
General Kuribayashi- Iwo Jima, his forces inflicted heavily casualties on the Marines 25,581 KIA/WIA approximately 1/3 and virtually his entire command of 21,000 men was killed.

Admiral Nagumo- The most famous Carrier commander of the war, he commanded Carriers at Pearl Harbor and Midway. He is often criticized for losing at Midway but it was a very close run battle.

[Pindar]

The man's name is on the tip of my tongue.. argh.

In any case, he's the general who was in command of the Japanese forces at Okinawa. He knew he could not win, but he used what forces he had very effectively in order to damage the US troops as much as possible, and prolong the fighting on Okinawa.

Ushijima

[edyzmedieval]

Japanese Commanders:

Isoroku Yamamamoto
Admiral Nagumo
Mitsuru Ushijima
Raizo Tanaka

and others...

They were the most important commanders of the Japanese Imperial Army.

[The Wizard]

Takeo Takagi, essentially guaranteed the Japanese conquest of Dutch India by defeating rear admiral Karel Doorman and his ABDA fleet in the Battle of the Java Sea. His flagship Haguro sank the HNMLS De Ruyter, as well as the HMS Exeter and the HMS Encounter.



~Wiz

[Kagemusha]

Thanks guys very good information there were some guys i havent ever heard off.

[Lechev]

Yamashite, the Tiger of Singapore is fairly impressive.

With a numerically inferior force, he soundly beat Britain's Percival in Malaysia and followed it up with taking the prize Singapore itself netting some 100,000 prisoners. Due to in-house rivalries Yamashita was afterwards assigned to secondary front duties for the remainder of the war, if I recall correctly. Yamashita seems to encapsulate many of the basic notions of Japanese warfare: speed, audacity and brutality.

Need make some correction here.. His name is called Yamashita Tomoyuki aka "Tiger of Malaya" not Singapore. He is the commander of the Japanese 25th Army.

He is able to rapidly defeated the British superior forces due to the fact that the Japanese deployed light tanks in their regiments while the British didnt ( The British that time had somewhat think that Tanks are not suitable for tropical jungles ).

The crowning glory in his Malayan campaign is the surrender of Singapore by the British as during that time Singapore was a heavily fortified island though to be "impregnable".