"Yamashita: the greatest Japanese general of World War II?" Topic

"Winston Churchill famously described the fall of Singapore on 15 February 1942 as ‘the worst disaster and largest capitulation in British history'. Japanese troops had landed in Thailand and northern Malaya on 8 December 1941, marching south over 500 miles of hostile jungle terrain in less than two months.By the time they reached Singapore, a combination of casualties and exhaustion meant that barely half of the original 60,000 strong force could be classed as combat-effective. Yet a British and Commonwealth garrison of 130,000 soldiers surrendered to them. Churchill had ordered the garrison to fight to the last.Numerous books have been written on the campaign, and black and white images of the surrender are shown repeatedly in TV documentaries on the period. In the classic photograph, the British commander, Lieutenant-General Sir Arthur Percival, is seen walking to meet the victors, accompanied by soldiers carrying the white flag alongside the Union Jack.
The Singapore base was at the centre of Britain's Far East defences. Its loss was one of the darkest moments of the Second World War for the Allied cause, and a severe blow to Britain's century-old imperial position in southern Asia.

Less well known to a Western audience, however, are the personality and achievements of the Japanese general who led the invasion: Tomoyuki Yamashita. He is the confident individual, physically rather taller and heavier than the average Japanese soldier, who is to be seen in film footage of the time.
At Singapore City's Ford automobile works, he is pictured facing a dejected Percival across the table and demanding an immediate ceasefire. Who was Yamashita and what part did his skills as a commander play in Japan's remarkable victory?…"
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Do you agree?

Amicalement
Armand

He was IMHO the Japanese Rommel, but was fortunate enough to be faced by an under-equipped Percival rather than an Auchinleck.

Japan during WW2 had Many great generals and Im more then sure that if USA did nit cheat by using Atomic weapons on Japanese Civilians Japan could really prolong this war for next few years or longer if Stalin would carry on conquering Europe. Use of Atomic weapon made Japan surrender and Russian to Stop for a time.

I think you are overstating the case for atomic weapons totalmech. Japan was already beaten all the atomic bombs did was bring it home to them and spare thousands, if not millions of Japanese and allied lives.

How about the Princess Alexandria Hospital massacre? He was directly in charge then. Deserves what he got.

'cheat by using Atomic weapons'

Was this against the rules?

I am not so sure that the Japanese Imperial Army had a lot of great generals – a fair number of good ones, but only a couple of great ones

"Cheating using Atomic weapons????" What happened to all is fair in love and war? If you have a tactical and/or strategic advantage in time of war you use it. The fire bombing of Japan's industrial and urban centers caused far more death and destruction than either atomic bomb dropped on Japan. Given how Japan had treated POWs and civilian populations it had conquered I cannot accept the idea that America cheated nor feel apologetic as some who would like to re-write history feel is needed.

Also one needs to look at things in context. There was no love lost between the United States and Japan. Japan had attacked us. The battles in the Island hoping campaign are some of the most brutal and savage ever witnessed in modern warfare. The average American had very little understanding of Japanese culture or history. They were a merciless and suicidal foe to the mind of most Americans. One does not play "fair" with such an opponent.

Was there a strong racially motivated prejudice against the Japanese. You bet. To our shame the internment of Japanese Americans is something all Americans should not be proud of. However, I have little doubt that if things had gone Hitler's way during the Ardennes Offensive that the United States might have felt the need to use the atomic bomb on Germany to end the war. After all the Germans had no qualms about using the the V-2 rocket to bomb civilian urban centers in Britain.

"Japan during WW2 had Many great generals"

Well, not really. After the first burst of conquest in the Phillipines and S.E. Asia against unprepared troops, the Japanese didn't really conquer much. Their attacks in New Guinea and Burma were weak and logistically constrained. Throwing soldiers against strong Allied lines repeatedly is not great generalship. Fighting to the last man is not great generalship.

"Japan could really prolong this war for next few years or longer"

Sure. By defending every ditch, cave, ruin etc., till every soldier and civilian is dead. Again, not great generalship.

Sorry dude, 'gotta disagree on this.

FatherOfAllLogic has a well named moniker.

Wasn't he the one who took the Philipines too?

He defended the Philipines in '45.

Tomoyuki Yamashita

"Tomoyuki Yamashita was born to a doctor in the village of Osugi Mura on the island of Shikoku, Kochi Prefecture. He was 5'7" in height and his build was larger than the average Japanese. He graduated from the Hiroshima Military Academy in 1905, then the Japanese War College in 1916 after some time of service. While at the War College, he met Hisako Nagayama, daughter of a retired Army general, and married her. His early army career was not promising. His favor for military reduction and his sympathy toward rebel officers of the February 26 Incident in 1936 lost his support from Emperor Showa's administration. He later clashed with Hideki Tojo's faction as well. After making known his belief that the war in China should be ended and a friendly relationship with United States and Britain would be more beneficial for Japan, Yamashita was posted to an unimportant position as a brigade commander in the Kwantung Army in Korea. In Korea and Manchuria, he would later be promoted to the rank of lieutenant general and eventually commanded the Kwangtung Defense Army.

When WW2 broke out in the Pacific Theater, Yamashita led 30,000 men in Malaya tasked to eliminate British and Indian troops and secure access to Malaya's rich natural resources. His extremely successful two-month campaign from Siam to Singapore captured a total of over 200,000 Commonwealth soldiers and instantly boosted his popularity in Japan: He was crowned the "Tiger of Malaya". After the sweeping victory, however, Tokyo sent him back to Manchuria to training command. Tojo was largely credited for this political (or perhaps, personally motivated) move. At Manchuria, Yamashita missed most action of the war, though it probably saved his reputation, as the Japanese army scored nearly no victory after the Americans started their offensive across the South Pacific.

In 1944, Yamashita was promoted to the rank of general and was sent to the Philippines to command the 14th Area Army in what was called the Army's decisive battle against the United States. He boasted to the Japanese public that "the only words I spoke to the British Commander during negotiations for the surrender of Singapore were, 'All I want to hear from you is yes or no.' I expect to put the same question to [Douglas] MacArthur." MacArthur's response to him, as written in MacArthur's memoir, was that Yamashita was an able commander, but "he talked too much". Yamashita's plan was to fight a defensive campaign at Luzon, where the geography favored the defenders. However, his vision conflicted with the Imperial General Headquarters (IGHQ) in Tokyo, which wanted a decisive confrontation at Leyte. Buying too much into their own propaganda, the IGHQ believed the American fleet had been heavily damaged during actions in the previous several weeks, therefore aggressively extending the defensive perimeter southward to Leyte would be a fitting strategy. MacArthur and his army landed on Leyte days after Yamashita's arrival at Manila, and readily crushed the Japanese garrison there. Yamashita understood that Manila was worthless strategically, and moved his headquarters to Baguio north of Manila. When he moved out of the city, he gave command of the remaining troops to Vice Admiral Denshichi Okochi, ordering him to destroy port facilities, declare Manila an open city, and rendezvous with him at Baguio. Okochi took Yamashita's orders too far, allowing his troops to rape and pillage the city. When MacArthur's forces neared Baguio in Apr 1945, he moved his headquarters once again northward to Bangbang, 50 miles further inland, in northern Luzon. Yamashita fought until the last day of the war, and surrendered on 2 Sep only after Emperor Showa's surrender message. Up to the day before his surrender, he planned an extensive plan to use guerilla tactics against American troops in the Philippines…"
Full article here
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Amicalement
Armand