Tadayoshi Sano | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Native name | 佐野 忠義 |
| Born | (1889-03-07)7 March 1889 Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan |
| Died | 3 July 1945(1945-07-03) (aged 56)[1] Sendai, Miyagi, Japan |
| Allegiance |  Empire of Japan |
| Service |  Imperial Japanese Army |
| Years of service | 1911–1945 |
| Rank |  Lieutenant General |
| Commands | 38th Division, IJA 34th Army |
| Battles / wars | |
Tadayoshi Sano (佐野 忠義,Sano Tadayoshi, 7 March 1889 – 3 July 1945) was alieutenant general and commander in theImperial Japanese Army (IJA) duringWorld War II.
Sano was born inShizuoka Prefecture. He attended the 23rd classImperial Japanese Army Academy and graduated in 1911. He served as a junior officer with the IJA 16 Field Artillery Regiment. In 1913, he attended the IJA's Artillery and Engineering school, graduating in 1914, and graduated from the 31st class of theArmy Staff College in 1922. He was promoted tomajor in 1926, he was assigned as amilitary attaché toGreat Britain from 1927 through 1928.[2]
From August 1931, Sano was assigned to the IJA 4th Field Artillery Regiment and from January 1933 was assigned to the staff of theHiroshima-basedIJA 5th Division, He was promoted to colonel and commanded the IJA 25th Field Artillery Regiment from March 1935. From December 1935 Sano was assigned to the staff of theKokura-basedIJA 12th Division. He once again commanded the IJA 25th Artillery from March 1936.
With the start of theSecond Sino-Japanese War, Sano served asChief of Staff of theIJA 14th Division from August 1937. Under the command of Lieutenant GeneralKenji Doihara, the division participated in theBeiping–Hankou Railway Operation and in theNorthern and Eastern Honan campaign including theBattle of Lanfeng. In July 1938, Sano was promoted tomajor general and transferred to command the IJA 4th Heavy Field Artillery Brigade. He became commandant of the Army Field Artillery School from August 1940. In March 1941, he was promoted tolieutenant general.[3]
In 1941, Sano assumed command of theIJA 38th Division. Early in thePacific War, Sano and his division participated in theBattle of Hong Kong by invading Hong Kong Island on 18 December 1941. TheBritishgarrison surrendered on 25 December 1941. Sano's troops were reported to have committed atrocities against civilians in Hong Kong and Britishprisoners of war (Major GeneralTakeo Itō, Sano's subordinate and commander of the 38th's Infantry Group, was tried and convicted after the war forwar crimes).[4] The division then transferred toSumatra and participated in theNetherlands East Indies campaign.[4]
The 38th Division was then transferred toRabaul,New Britain in the Southwest Pacific in September 1942 in order to participate in the Japanese attempts to retakeGuadalcanal fromAllied forces during theGuadalcanal campaign. Two battalions from Sano's division were delivered to Guadalcanal byTokyo Express missions in October 1942 and participated in theBattle for Henderson Field, which resulted in a decisive defeat for the Japanese forces.[5]
In November 1942, Tokyo Express missions delivered the 38th Division's 228th Infantry Regiment to Guadalcanal along with Sano and his staff. The Japanese attempted to deliver the remaining 7,000 troops of the 38th Division by slow transport but the effort was defeated during theNaval Battle of Guadalcanal from 12 November through 15 November 1942. Only about 3,000 of Sano's troops successfully reached the island and most of their supplies and heavy equipment were lost. After suffering losses during theBattle of Mount Austen, the Galloping Horse, and the Sea Horse, Sano and the remainder of his troops on Guadalcanal, about 2,316 men, were evacuated duringOperation Ke on 2 February 1943, giving control of the island completely to Allied forces.[6]
After returning to Rabaul with his troops, Sano was reassigned to Japan and assigned as Chief of Staff of theGeneral Defense Command (GDC) in June 1943. The GDC administered all IJA line and training units in theJapanese home islands andKorea. He then served on theGeneral Staff from March 1944.[7]
Sano returned to the China theatre of operations as commander of theIJA 34th Army inHankou in July 1944. This was a newly formed army inHebei province, in Japanese-occupied China created out of reserve elements of theIJA 11th Army to protect Japanese rear lines when the IJA 11th Army moved south to participate in theBattle of Guilin–Liuzhou duringOperation Ichi-Go. Afterwards, it was transferred to the operational control of theJapanese Sixth Area Army, and continued in its role as agarrison force forWuhan and the surrounding region. In January 1945, Sano was attached to the staff of theChina Expeditionary Army.[8] Sano became ill and died inSendai, Japan on 3 July 1945.