Hisaichi Terauchi

Infobox Military Person
name=Count Terauchi Hisaichi
lived=8 August 1879 - 12 June 1946
placeofbirth=Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan
placeofdeath= Malaya


caption= Japanese General Count Terauchi Hisaichi
nickname=
allegiance=Empire of Japan
branch=
serviceyears=1900 -1945
rank=Field Marshal
commands=Imperial Japanese Army
unit=
battles=Russo-Japanese War
Second Sino-Japanese War
World War II
awards= Order of the Rising Sun (1st class)
family=
laterwork=

Count nihongo|Hisaichi Terauchi|寺内 寿一| Terauchi Hisaichi |extra=8 August 1879 - 12 June 1946) was a field marshal in the Imperial Japanese Army and Commander of the Southern Expeditionary Army Group during World War II.

Biography

Terauchi was born in Yamaguchi prefecture, and was the eldest son of Prime Minister Terauchi Masatake. He graduated from the 11th class of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1900, and served in the Russo-Japanese War.

After the war, Terauchi returned to the Army Staff College and graduated from the 21st class in 1909. He spent time in as a military attaché in Germany and worked as a lecturer at the Military Academy. [Ammenthorp, The Generals of World War II]

In 1919, he was ennobled with the title of "hakushaku" (count), under the kazoku peerage system and was raised in military rank to colonel. He became a major general in 1924. In September 1926, the Sanyō Main Line train he was riding on derailed in an accident that killed 34 people, but Terauchi was not injured.

Terauchi became Chief of Staff of the Chosen Army in Korea in 1927. After his promotion to lieutenant general in 1929, he was assigned command of the IJA 5th Division and later transferred to the IJA 4th Division in 1932. In 1934, he became commander of the Taiwan Army of Japan.

In October 1935 Terauchi was promoted to full general and became involved with the "Kodoha" faction in military politics. After the February 26 Incident in 1936 he was the army's choice as War Minister, which further intensified the conflict between the military and the civilian political parties in the Japanese Diet.

Terauchi returned to combat duty when he was given command of the North China Area Army immediately after the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War. He was awarded the 1st class Order of the Rising Sun in 1938, and transferred to command of the Southern Expeditionary Army Group on 6 November 1941 and soon afterwards began devising war plans with Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku for the Pacific War. [ Fuller, Shokan: Hirohito's Samurai]

After leading the conquest of Southeast Asia, Terauchi established his headquarters in Singapore. Promoted to field marshal on 6 June 1943, he moved to the Philippines in May 1944. When this area came under threat, he retreated to Saigon in French Indochina. Upon hearing of the loss of Burma by Japan, he suffered a stroke on 10 May 1945.

Japanese forces in Southeast Asia were surrendered on his behalf in Singapore on 12 September 1945 by General Itagaki Seishiro. Terauchi personally surrendered to Lord Mountbatten on 30 September 1945 and died of another stroke while in a prisoner of war camp in Malaya after the end of the war. [Budge, The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia]

Terauchi surrendered his family heirloom "wakizashi" short sword to Lord Mountbatten in Saigon in 1945. The sword dates from 1413, and is now kept at Windsor Castle. It was almost the subject of a diplomatic incident in the mid-1980s, when the Queen Mother wanted to place it on prominent display during a dinner held for Crown Prince Naruhito of Japan. The Queen vetoed the idea.

His grave is at the Japanese Cemetery Park in Singapore.

References

Books

*cite book
last = Dupuy
first = Trevor N.
coauthors =
year = 1992
title = The Harper Encyclopedia of Military Biography
publisher = HarperCollins Publishers Inc
location = New York
id = ISBN: 0-7858-0437-4*cite book
last = Fuller
first = Richard
coauthors =
year = 1992
title = Shokan: Hirohito's Samurai
publisher = Arms and Armor
location = London
id = ISBN: 1-85409-151-4
*cite book
last = Hayashi
first = Saburo
authorlink =
coauthors =
year = 1959
chapter =
title = Kogun: The Japanese Army in the Pacific War
publisher = Marine Corps. Association
location =
id = ASIN B000ID3YRK

External links

*cite web
last = Ammenthorp
first = Steen
url = http://www.generals.dk/general/Terauchi/Hisaichi_Count/Japan.html
title = Terauchi, Hisaichi
work = The Generals of World War II
*cite web
last = Budge
first = Kent
url = http://pwencycl.kgbudge.com/index.htm
title = Terauchi, Hisaichi
work = Pacific War Online Encyclopedia

Notes