During the Second World War in the Pacific, there were some horrific war crimes committed
as the conflict waged on in that theatre. After the conflict had ended completely, there was a
series of war trials to bring perpetrators of war crimes in the Japanese Army to justice,
in a similar way as to which the Nuremberg Trials were conducted in Germany. There were
a number of horrific war crimes, and many POW’s who had found themselves unlucky enough as to
find themselves imprisoned by the Japanese told of their horrific treatment. One such was crime
was the Baatan Death March, where 60,000 to 80,000 POWs were force marched until they died.
After the war, Japanese Commander General Masaharu Homma was placed on trial by the US
and for his actions was sentenced to death. Join us today as we look at the Vengeful Execution of
Masaharu Homma. Remember to support our channel, please make sure to subscribe.
Masaharu Homma was born on Sado Island in November 1887, and he graduated in the Imperial
Japanese Army Academy in 1907 and later in the 27th class of the Army Staff College.
During the First World War he worked as an observer on the Western Front
with the British Forces in France. He was a man who had understanding for the Western World,
and did spend 8 years involved with the British Military in some capacity,
in 1917 he saw service with the East Lancashire Regiment and then served with the British
Epideitionary Force in France and was even awarded the Military Cross. As time went on
he continued to serve as a military consultant to the British Military from Japan, and he was rather
proficient in English and he was used as part of the Japanese delegation to the Geneva Convention.
In 1937 he worked as an aide to Prince Chichibu a brother of Emperor Hirohito, and he went with him
on a diplomatic tour of Germany and during this tour he saw the Nuremberg Rally and
met with Adolf Hitler. The Prince at the time aimed to build relations with Hitler and Japan,
and following this Homma then served as a commander of the Taiwan Army
of the Imperial Armed Forces. As the Second Sino-Japanese War started, Homma was seen as
a valuable member of the Japanese Military, and he was a commander of the IJA 27th Division in China
from 1938 to 1940. In this role he directed the blockade of foreign materials and led negotiations
with the British. When Nanjing fell, he stated how ‘unless peace is achieved immediately it will be
disastrous,’ before he was reassigned to become a commander in chief of the Taiwan Army District.
At the start of the Pacific War, he was commander of the 14th Army
which was made up of over 40,000 soldiers. He was tasked with invading the Philippines, and he
ordered his soldiers to treat the Filipinos with respect and decency, and to respect his customs.
His approach gained the hostility of his superiors, and they sent reports about his
poor leadership to Tokyo. His superiors tried to oust him from power, and they even ordered
the executions of several high up members of the Filipino government and legal system,
but Homma managed to spot this. He tried to outmanever the American soldiers,
rather than go head to head with them, and Homma continued to attack in the Philippines.
This resulted in the Battle of Baatan in January 1942, which was incredibly intense and savage.
There were heavy losses on both sides, and despite the American and Filipino soldiers suffering from
a lack of supplies, they managed to fight on for three months. The Americans ended up surrendering
at Baatan to the Japanese, with 76,000 soldiers surrendering in the Philippines altogether.
This then resulted in the Baatan Death March. This was the forced transfer of 60,000 to 80,000
American and Filipino Prisoners of War from different areas. The prisoners were marched
en mass 66 miles to San Fernando and then they were taken by rail in cramped and unsanitary
conditions in boxcars. They were then marched a further 7 miles to Camp O’Donnel,
and the march lasted between 5 to 10 days. During the death march, many of the prisoners
were beaten barbarically by the Japanese, but this was just to start of the ill treatment.
The men were fed little food and given little water, and many died on the march.
The first atrocity was committed when around 400 Filipino officers were summarily executed in the
Pantingan River Massacre after they surrendered. General Homma wished for the Japanese officers to
be transferred peacefully, but this did not happen. Torture was a prominent method used
during the death march, and one form of this was sun treatment. This is where the prisoners were
forced to sit in direct sunlight without any head covering, and anyone who requested water was shot
dead. Sometimes to push the men further, they were forced to sit near cool water and to torment them
further. Those who could not walk were often ran over by trucks accompanying the march,
and cleanup crews would round up and shoot those prisoners who were too weak to continue.
Some prisoners were also randomly selected and were stabbed with bayonets,
being murdered in bloody fashion. A number of prisoners were beheaded by the Japanese soldiers,
and disease was also rife on the march. When the prisoners arrived at Camp O’Donnel,
the survivors of the march continued to die at a rate of a few hundred a day,
and its claimed that over 20,000 died because of the death march and the conditions.
The dead were buried in mass graves surrounding the compound of Camp O’Donnell.
Despite being victorious in the Battle of Bataan, Homma’s relationship with Hajime
Sugiyama a senior field marshal broke down, and Homma was removed from power and command.
He was then named the commander of the 14th Army in name only, having no legitimate power, and it
was even reported in America that he had taken his own life, and was replaced by General Yamashita.
The fact Homma was not aggressive enough during the conflict and was too lenient to
the people of the Philippines led to him being forced into retirement in August 1943. However,
the effects of the Baatan Death March would come back to haunt him. Following the surrender of
Japan, the, Masaharu Homma was arrested by the US Army and was then extradited to the Philippines
to face charges of 48 counts of violating rules of war with regards to atrocities committed by
his soldiers, including during his command when the Baatan Death March was occurring.
He was brought to trial on January 3rd 1946 with his trial lasting over a month,
and it was held at the High Commissioners Residence in Manila. He appointed 6 lawyers,
none who were experienced in criminal law to defend him, and during the proceedings many
statements and pieces of evidence emerged about war crimes committed by his soldiers.
Many of these directly related to the batten death march, and the true horrors of the march emerged
from those who survived it. One witness testified about the executions of two allied officers,
and how Homma himself wasn’t concerned with the suffering of the prisoners of war.
Homma claimed that he was too busy with other plans for other offensives,
and that he simply forgot about the treatment of the prisoners, and he claimed he thought his
officers were dealing with the death march in a humane way. He said that he did not know of any
atrocity until after the war, which was doubted as his headquarters were less than 200 metres
from the march most of the time. HE said how ‘I am ashamed of myself, and I should have known these
atrocities happened.’ But his defence continued to argue that he had no idea what happened.
It’s believed that Homma may have stated that the POWs
should be treated fairly, and the plan to move the soldiers was approved by Homma.
The American Military commission sentenced Masaharu Homma to death.
He was condemned to die to be shot to death with musketry, and it was considered a more honourable
death than to be sentenced to death by hanging. Ultimately it was execution by firing squad,
and there was some opposition to his execution, as throughout the conflict
he had showed the importance of being decent to some aspects of civilian populations.
General McArthur reviewed Homma’s death sentence stating, ‘If this defendant does not deserve
his judicial fate, none in jurisdictional history every did. There can be no greater, more heinous,
or more dangerous crime than the mass destruction, under guise of military authority of military
necessity, of helpless men incapable of further contribution to war effort. A failure of law
process to punish such acts of criminal enormity would threaten the very fabric of world society.’
After his trial, Homma was held in Bilibid Prison 40 miles south of Manila. At 12:30
am on the 2nd April 1946, he was secretly taken to the Philippine Detention and Rehabilitation Centre
in Los Banos, Laguna to be executed. The man in charge of the centre was placed in charge
of reading the execution order to Homma, and then tell him he was to die in a few hours.
At 1am he was taken from his holding cell, where he was sitting on a small bench and then he was
read the death sentence. He was told he would die around 2am, and he then replied stating, ‘Captain
I am being shot tonight because we lost the war.’ When the time of execution came, he was taken from
the holding cell to the firing range where his firing squad were being prepared. His execution
squad was made up of American Soldiers who were prepared. Homma was then tied to a post inside
of the range, and the firing squad were ordered to get ready. Within a few seconds with their weapons
primed, they were then ordered to fire, instantly killing Masaharu Homma, the Butcher of Baatan.
Masaharu Homma’s death sentence and trial was met with some controversy. It was claimed to have been
a highly irregular trial, that was almost alluded to being a sham, with a predetermined outcome
that Homma would die. However the event of the Baatan Death March which occurred on his watch
was incredibly sadistic and barbaric. The way the men were treated was horrific and tragic, with
many being killed by not just the conditions of the march, but by acts of barbarism and cruelty.
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