Homma kommandierte the 14. Army on the Philippines from December 1941 by August 1942. Under his guidance the Japanese conquered the island realm and received the surrender of the Philippine and American armed forces. In the consequence it arranged the evacuation of the peninsula Bataan, so that it came to the death march of Bataan. After it it was relieved of its command briefly and shifted into the reserve. Reason for it were the high costs and the long duration of the campaign, which one attributed to its awkwardness.

It is described not as a fanatischer Militarist, but as along-feeling, moderate humans with weakness for all English. By its partial western training - Homma was on different military academies and in Oxford - it was global aligned. Thus he loved the looking plaything and had a preference for American films. It was friendly with many Japanese artists and writers. Since it painted much and the habit had to write during battles of poems it also the poetic general was called.

Its military strength lay in its theoretical knowledge and the development of most diverse strategies. On the other hand the underdeveloped style of leadership and the Nichtbeachten of the everyday feasibility of its instructions stood as weak point of its person. This led to the fact that its Untergebenen treated the Philippine and American prisoners of war brutally, although Homma stressed again and again that with these fair and decently is gone around. Its style of leadership was weak and careless.

After end of the Pacific war Homma Masaharu as well as general Yamashita Tomoyuki in Manila was condemned because of the war crimes at the allied prisoners and the bombardment of Manila, after this had been explained as the open city, to death. Despite a request for grace, which wrote Hommas woman general MacArthur, the judgement became on 3 April 1946 around 00:53 clock - accurately four years after it to the 14. Army the instruction to the attack on the Philippines had given - in the military prison lot Banos, 35 km before Manila, executes. Contrary to most different after the war condemned Japanese officers, who were hung in prison clothes, one permitted Homma to wear uniform and killed him by shooting.

The Netherlands director Paul Verhoeven turns a film at present on the basis of the book A Trial OF of general of Lawrence Taylor over the life of Homma Masaharu. The title of the film reads Beast OF Bataan.

Literature

• Lawrence Taylor: Homma, Yamashita, MacArthur. '' Icarus press, 1981, ISBN 0896517756
• Aubrey Saint Kenworthy, The tiger OF Malaya: The story OF general Tomoyuki Yamashita and "“Death March"” general Masaharu Homma. Exposition press, 1951

Related links

• Biografie (French)
• The film '' Beast OF Bataan '' in the IMDb

Articles in category "Homma Masaharu"

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