General Yamashita

[Karl Welteke]

This new thread is about the General because he was an important enemy soldier in the history of WWII in the Philippines and SE Asia. I hope many others will contribute to this thread.

KIANGAN WAR MEMORIAL SHRINE, SURRENDER SITE OF GEN. YAMASHITA

This segment is about the shrine which I was able to visit on the 20th of Feb. 2015.

A gigantic steel-and-concrete structure stands commandingly at Linda, Kiangan overlooking the town proper and the capital town of Lagawe to the east. Officially called the Kiangan War Memorial Shrine, it was erected in 1974 to commemorate the end of World War II in the Philippines, and fittingly in the place where the last battles of the war were fought.

The Shrine is located in Linda, Poblacion, 300 meters from the municipal hall. It can be reached by taking a short ride or by walking.

The above description is from the Municipality of Kiangan webpage and its Cultural Heritage section, this is the URL:
kiangan.gov.ph/tourist-spots/cultural-heritage/

It describes the shrine better than I can, that is why I copied much in here. Some of the pictures are also better than mine and I will post them at the end.

From my visit I established this album with 20 images:
app.photobucket.com/u/PI-Sailor/a/2c6284f5-673f-48b9-850a-69bd7f6d901f

Here are seven sample pictures from me:



X143. At the head of the Kiangan Shrine is a high concrete structure which can be accessed and one gets this view of the shrine.



X144. This plaque at the Kiangan Shrine gives you the purpose and history of this shrine.



X145. This Google Earth image gives you the big picture as to where the Kiangan War Memorial Shrine is located. It actually shows our track of travel including two walks at Banaue.



X146. This Google Earth image, zoomed in, gives you a closer view as to where the Kiangan War Memorial Shrine is located. This important town is part of the Ifugao Province.



X147. This is a closer look at the concrete structure at the head of the Kiangan War Memorial Shrine. Three information plaques are in view.



X148. This plaque at the Kiangan War Memorial Shrine commemorates the anniversary of the surrender Gen. Yamashita with soldiers of the 6th Inf. Div. present on the 2nd Sep. 2000.



X149. This is the 3rd of 6 shots (in my album) from left to right of the area around the Kiangan War Memorial Shrine. On this image we are looking to the NE, in the distance, Lagawe is in view.



The following are information and images from the Municipality of Kiangan web page, the URL
is above
When my friend and I visited Kiangan we failed to visit the actual surrender site. And here are 4
pictures and the text from the above Kiangan Municipality URL:



X150. The gate to the Kiangan War Memorial Shrine, I failed to take a picture and this picture is from the Municipality of Kiangan web page, the URL is above.



X151. I failed to take a picture of this structure at the Kiangan War Memorial Shrine also. This picture is from the Municipality of Kiangan web page, the URL is above.




X152. Peace Museum/Yamashita Surrender Site
It consists of a wooden building situated at the Kiangan Central School at Poblacion, Kiangan, Ifugao where the so-called “Tiger of Malaya” General Tumoyuki Yamashita, Supreme Commander of the Japanese Imperial Army, during the Second World War, signed his unconditional surrender to the Allied Forces.
On September 2, 1945 Yamashita, with his command staff, actually and physically surrendered to the Americans at the Home Economics building of the Kiangan Central School. He was taken to Bagabag, Nueva Vizcaya, and from there he was flown to La Union and then to Baguio City where on September 3, 1945 at Camp John Hay, he signed the surrender of the Japanese Imperial Forces in the Philippines.
The event is commemorated every year as Victory Day. During the 60th Anniversary of Victory Day, PGMA graced the occasion and it became known as the Anniversary of the End of World War II in the Philippines.
The site is located 200 meters from the municipal hall and can be reached by walking or taking a short tricycle ride.
This picture is from the Municipality of Kiangan web page, the URL is above.



X153. The plaque at the Peace Museum/Yamashita Surrender Site In Kiangan.
This picture is from the Municipality of Kiangan web page, the URL is above.

[okla]

Hey Karl....Thanks, again, for throwing some more of your, always, excellent material at the Forum viewers. You are, indeed, keeping the "beast" fed. lol. Many people have forgotten or never knew that Yamashita continued the fight long after Manila was secured. Cheers.

[Karl Welteke]

GENERAL TOMOYUKI YAMASHITA WALKS OUT OF THE MOUNTAINS IN KIANGAN 2ND SEP. 1945

This segment is copied from this 32nd Red Arrow Veteran Association webpage:
www.32nd-division.org/history/ww2/32ww2-12.html
It is interesting reading and it is not too long.

At 0800 hours on 2 September 1945 General Yamashita, accompanied by a small staff, walked out of the mountains of northern Luzon and surrendered himself to the 32D Infantry Division on a hilltop near Kiangan, Luzon. He was met by a 24-man detachment commanded by 1LT Russell Bauman, from Company I, 128TH Infantry (commanded by CPT Roy A. Glisson). 1LT Bauman was from Glenbeulah, Wisconsin, some sources say he was from Pewaukee. Many considered it very appropriate and symbolic that Gen. Yamashita would be met by a ‘Red Arrow’ man from either Wisconsin or Michigan, the home states of the 32D Infantry Division when it was activated from National Guard status at the start of WWII.

General Yamashita saluted when 1LT Bauman approached. 1LT Bauman returned the salute and said, “I have the honor to inform you that I have been charged with seeing you and your party through our lines without hindrance, delay or molestation.” General Yamashita, through an interpreter, replied, “I want to tell you how much I appreciate the courtesy and good treatment you have shown us.” (Carlisle 214)



X157. U.S. Army Signal Corps Photo. General Tomoyuki Yamashita, Supreme Commander of Japanese Imperial Forces, Philippines, comes out of the mountains to surrender to the 32D ‘Red Arrow’ Infantry Division near Kiangan, Luzon, on 2 Sep. 1945.



X158. U.S. Army Signal Corps Photo. Close-up of the photograph at above depicting General Tomoyuki Yamashita, Supreme Commander of Japanese Imperial Forces, Philippines, coming out of the mountains to surrender to the 32D ‘Red Arrow’ Infantry Division near Kiangan, Luzon, on 2 Sep. 1945.

1LT Bauman and his detachment escorted Gen. Yamashita to Company I’s CP in a schoolhouse at Kiangan; they arrived at about 1030 hours. There COL Ernest A. Barlow, the Division Chief of Staff, and LTC Alex J. Robinet, Commander of the 128TH Infantry, were waiting to receive the prisoner.



X159. U.S. Army Signal Corps Photo. General Tomoyuki Yamashita surrenders to Colonel Ernest A. Barlow, 32D Division Chief of Staff, at Kiangan, Luzon, on 2 Sep. 1945.



X160. U.S. Army Signal Corps Photo. A different angle depicting General Tomoyuki Yamashita as he surrenders to Colonel Ernest A. Barlow, 32D Division Chief of Staff, at Kiangan, Luzon, on 2 Sep. 1945.

Missing from the ensuing formalities was the 32D Division’s commander, General Gill, who had left for the States on leave August 30th after turning the Division over to BG Robert B. McBride Jr., commanding general of Division Artillery.

While at Company I’s CP, LG Muto (Gen. Yamashita’s chief of staff) asked COL Barlow about the symbolism of the ‘Red Arrow’ insignia. COL Barlow responded that it signified the 32D Division’s penetration of the vaunted Hindenburg Line during WWI. It is said that LG Muto replied, “Yes, and the Yamashita Line in World War II.” (Carlisle 215)

Arrangements had been made for Gen. Yamashita to formally surrender to MG Robert S. Beightler of the 37TH Infantry Division in the latter’s new capacity as commanding general of Luzon Area Command. MG Beightler, in his account of the meeting, recalled: “As he walked toward me, he proferred his hand. I refused to shake hands; he then stepped back, saluted, and bowed.”

One source states Gen. Yamashita surrendered to MG Beightler at approximately 1100 hours on 2 Sep., which would place it at, or near, the CP of Company I, 128TH Infantry, in Kiangan. If this was a formal surrender, it is more likely that this event took place in Baguio on 3 Sep., where the formal ceremony was held (see below).

From Kiangan, Gen. Yamashita and his staff were driven to the 1ST Battalion, 128TH Infantry’s CP for lunch. From there they were driven to an airfield at Bagabag where they boarded C-47s for the flight to Baguio, where the formal surrender ceremony occurred the following day. Bagabag is approximately 8 miles SE of Kiangan as the crow flies. Baguio is approximately 25 miles WSW of Bagabag as the crow flies.

“I was sorry,” says General Eichelberger in his book, “that General Griswold, who had directed XIV Corps operations, could not be there to accept Yamashita’s sword. But it was entirely fitting that the 32D Division should receive the vanquished enemy. Three years before at Buna they had won the battle that started the infantry on the jungle road to Tokyo.”

[Ric Rose]

Regarding General Griswold, my father in law, Maj. William H. Fisher, was aide de camp to "Griz." The commander of the XIV Corps, "the Kings of the Solomans and Liberators of Manila," had to fight the Battle of Manila, the first major urban battle in the Pacific theatre, more or less on the fly, as MacCarthur thought Manila would be abandoned by Yamasshita as macArthur had done in order to preserve the city at the beginning of the war. Major Fisher, who was born and raised in Japan, the son of American missionaries in Japan, broadcast through loudspeakers in Japanese over Manila that defense of the city would be futile and encouraged the enemy to surrender the city, but to no avail. MacArthur did not provide air support for the Battle of Manila, making General Griswold's job that much more difficult. According to my father in law, Griswold was very angry towards MacArthur for his ill prepared push to liberate Manila. In appreciation for Griswold's contribution, he received one of the five original Surrender documents signed by Yamashita et. al. Still angry, General Griswold tossed the burgandy leather bound document to my father in law, saying, "I don't want anything to do with it." I have this document in my possession to this day.

[beirutvet]

Karl

Wasn't Yamashita the one who was referred to as the Tiger of Malaya?

Ric

Did you ever digitize this document?  May we please see it posted here?

[fortman]

Very interesting. Yamashita was the victor in Malaya. There is a famous photo showing Yamashita facing surrendering British General A.E. Percival and his staff in February 1942.

fortman

[cbuehler]

I have visited the site and memorial of where both Yamashita and Homma were executed in 1946 at Los Banos, Laguna. Unfortunately, all my photos are the old fashioned ones taken with film.
The site is actually well known and one may see it on google images. More often visited by Japanese than others as to be expected. It is actually now maintained by Filipinos, but was originally funded from Japan.
Yamashita was a capable general and was transferred to PI from China to replace Gen. Kuroda, as the Japanese General Staff needed a real combat commander (which Kuroda was certainly not) to meet the situation as it was developing.

CB

[joeconnor53]

Yamashita formally surrendered to Percival and Wainwright. (N.Y. Times, 9/3/45, p. 1).

[joeconnor53]

Here's the kind of guy Wainwright was:

After the Yamashita surrender ceremony ended, Wainwright told the general who had custody of Yamashita to make sure that Yamashita was shown "the courtesy due his rank." In other words, he wanted to ensure that Yamashita was not treated as the Japanese had treated him.

[okla]

Hey Joe....A few years ago I used to "hoist a few cold ones" with this Retired Oil Company Geologist, here in Tulsa, who was a Buck Sergeant "flunky" who happened to be in the group present when Yamashita "gave it up". This fellow said that, even tho the "Tiger" was bedraggled looking after being in "the bush" for so long, he still had that "bearing" that you would expect from a Commander of his stature. Speaking of looking a bit "seedy", those Japanese Officer uniforms, on their best day, parading before the Emperor, looked about as crappy as any military uniforms on the Planet. I wonder who had the contract to manufacture those atrocities. lol. Again, I'm just sayin'.