Japanese General Tomoyuki Yamashita: War criminal or scapegoat?

On Febuary 23, 1946 General Yamashita was hung for war crimes committed on the citizens of Manila during the liberation of the Phillipines by US troops. Yamashita, AKA "The Tiger of Malaya" was the architect of the British defeat at Singapore. Unfortunately for him, he and Tojo weren't exactly good buddies and he was transferred to a backwater post until shortly before the US invaded the Phillipines. The heaviest fighting of the campaign was in and around Manila where Japanese troops killed thousands of Manila's citizens. After the war Yamashita was arraigned on war crimes, tried and convicted. His sentence was reviewed by McArther and the U.S. Supreme Court, both of which upheld the sentence.
However, it turns out that the forces holding Manila were mostly naval troops commanded by one Rear Adm. Sanji Iwabuchi. Iwabuchi, while nominally under Yamashita's command, ignored Yamashita's order to evacuate the capital and join him in the mountains. (This sort of insubordination wasn't unheard of in the Japanese military.) American troops cut off communication between the General and the Admiral, making the enforcement of his order impossible. As far as I can tell, there were few or no atrocites of a major scale by troops under Yamashita's direct command but he was held responsible for troops under Iwabuchi's command.
I'd like to hear what some of the rest of you have to say about this affair, but unless someone can come up with more info, this looks like revenge and railroading to me.

 

All,

Get this. One of my buddies father was with the Judge Advocates detail for the war trials. I have to get him over here to tell you, as his father was one of Yamashita's personal guards during the war trials. He treated Yamashita fairly during the trials so the Generals wife gave my buds Dad great thanks after the execution.

In the Supreme Court's decision, rendered in February 1946, the Court articulated a clear standard for military commanders with respect to the actions of their subordinates. In responding to General Yamashita's assertion that he did not personally participate in or order the commission of these offenses, the Court described the heart of the charge as being "an unlawful breach of duty by [General Yamashita] as an army commander to control the operations of members of his command by 'permitting them to commit' the extensive and widespread atrocities." The Court recognized that international law, through the law of war, "presupposes that [violations of the law of war] are to be avoided through the control of the operations of war by commanders who to some extent are responsible for their subordinates." The Court believed that absent such a duty upon commanders, nothing would prevent occupying forces from committing atrocities upon the civilian population. The Court held that General Yamashita was, by virtue of his position as commander of the Japanese forces in the Philippines, under an "affirmative duty to take such measures as were within his power and appropriate in the circumstances to protect prisoners of war and the civilian population." General Yamashita's writ was denied, and he was executed by hanging by the United States military. Source: PBS.org/wnet/justice

 

rkline 56,

Tamashita and Iwabuchi were separated by American forces so Tamashita couldn't enforce his command. How could Tamashita be responsible under those circumstances?

 

That was just background information on the official verdict I found at PBS.org. I don't know what my position would be but, without further research, it seems that the IJN forces in the city were, for sure, operating beyond Yamashita's control. That said, you pose an interesting question and I am interested to see what our esteemed scholars have to say on this subject. In no way did I intend the quote from pbs to encompass my opinion. I have no legal training to make much of an interpretation at all on such a complex issue.

I have posted a letter(s) from Staff Sergeant, James Underwood on this database in which he mentions running across some of the civilian casualties that resulted from the atrocities in Manila.

http://www.ww2f.com/what-granddad-d...try-145th-regiment-company-e-3rd-platoon.html

For those of you who have not seen Mr. Underwood's letters, I hope you will get a chance to read the words of this DSC recipient, he is a great hero of the U.S.A. May God rest his soul.