Sano Tadayoshi (1889-1945)

Sano was born in Okayama prefecture and graduated from the Military Academy in 1911, the Artillery and Engineers School in 1914, and the Army War College in 1922. He was military attaché in Britain in 1927-1928. Rising steadily through the ranks, he commanded 38 Division when war broke out, and his division formed the main attack force against Hong Kong. The division also fought in southern Sumatra. Ordered to Guadalcanal, only 4 out of the 11 transports carrying the division got through. Further heavy losses were incurred in the fighting on the island. The remnants of the division, 2316 men, were evacuated from Guadalcanal on the night of 1/2 February 1943.

By July 1944 Sano was commander of 34 Army in Hankow. The army was transferred to Manchuria and northern Korea in May 1945. Sano succumbed to illness while in Manchuria.

An "Address of Instruction" by Sano to his starving troops on Guadalcanal suggests he was contemptuous of reliance on firepower and other material factors rather than fighting spirit. This was a not uncommon attitude in Japanese Army officers and led to disaster for Japan in the Pacific War.

Service record

References

Dupuy et al. (1992)

Fuller (1992)

Generals.dk (accessed 2008-3-18)

Miller (1948; accessed 2011-7-29)

Pettibone (2007)

The Pacific War Online Encyclopedia © 2007-2008, 2011 by Kent G. Budge. Index

What's new

Comment on this article