was a general in the

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor ...

, commanding the Japanese ground forces of the

Borneo Campaign The Borneo campaign or Second Battle of Borneo was the last major Allied campaign in the South West Pacific Area during World War II to liberate Japanese-held British Borneo and Dutch Borneo. Designated collectively as Operation Oboe, ...

of 1945 in the closing months of the war.

Biography

Baba was born in

Kumamoto prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Kumamoto Prefecture has a population of 1,748,134 () and has a geographic area of . Kumamoto Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the north, Ōita Prefecture to the northeast, Miyaza ...

, as the son of Lieutenant Baba Masayuki, a career officer in the Imperial Japanese Army, and his wife. He attended military preparatory schools from childhood, starting with the Army Cadet School in Hiroshima, whose curriculum was based on

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

n models. He graduated from the 24th class of the

Imperial Japanese Army Academy The was the principal officer's training school for the Imperial Japanese Army. The programme consisted of a junior course for graduates of local army cadet schools and for those who had completed four years of middle school, and a senior course ...

in December 1912, specializing in cavalry. As a second lieutenant, he was assigned to the IJA 5th Cavalry Regiment. Baba studied as part of the 33rd class of the Army War College, graduating in November 1921. He remained in the cavalry throughout his career, and was attached to the Inspectorate of Cavalry from 1933 to 1935, where he served as an instructor at the cavalry school. In 1935, Baba was promoted to colonel and subsequently given command of the IJA 2nd Cavalry Regiment from 1935 to 1938. In July 1938, Baba was promoted to major general, and served as commanding officer of the IJA 3rd Cavalry Brigade to 1939. From 1939 to 1940, he served as a staff officer with the Inspectorate of Cavalry. He became the commander-in-chief of all cavalry operations from 2 December 1940 to 1 October 1941. During the

Second Sino-Japanese war The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Thea ...

, he was assigned to

Inner Mongolia Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Its border includes most of the length of China's border with the country of Mongolia. Inner Mongolia also accounts for ...

to develop cavalry operations. In August 1941, Baba was promoted to

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

. With the start of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, Baba was assigned command of the

IJA 53rd Division The was an infantry division of the Imperial Japanese Army. Its call sign was the . It was formed on 16 September 1941 at Kyoto and initially assigned to Central District Army. The nucleus for the division formation was the headquarters of the ...

, a post which he held to 25 September 1943, when he was appointed commander of the

IJA 4th Division The was an infantry division in the Imperial Japanese Army. Its call-sign was (from the Yodo River). History The 4th Division was formed in Osaka City in January 1871 as the , one of six regional commands created in the fledgling Imperial J ...

in Sumatra. He subsequently became commander in chief of the IJA 37th Army based in

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java Isl ...

. While in Borneo, Baba organized anti- guerrilla operation in the interior of the island. He was also military governor of

Sabah Sabah () is a state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indonesia to the south. The Federal Territory ...

from 26 December 1944 until 10 September 1945. The Allied reconquest of Borneo began on 1 May 1945 with the landing of the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (Austral ...

Tarakan Tarakan is an island and the largest city of the Indonesian province of North Kalimantan. The island city is located in northern Borneo, midway along the coast of the province. The city boundaries are co-extensive with the island (including a cou ...

, and with landings at

Brunei Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi alphabet, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely sur ...

and

Labuan Labuan (), officially the Federal Territory of Labuan ( ms, Wilayah Persekutuan Labuan), is a Federal Territory of Malaysia. Its territory includes and six smaller islands, off the coast of the state of Sabah in East Malaysia. Labuan's capi ...

on 10 June. Japanese forces surrendered on 9 September, with General Baba formally turning over his sword to Major General

George Wootten Major general (Australia), Major General Sir George Frederick Wootten, (1 May 1893 – 31 March 1970) was a senior Australian Army officer, civil servant, public servant, Right-wing politics, right wing political activist and solicitor. He ro ...

of the Australian 9th Division at Labuan on 10 September. Baba was officially discharged from the Imperial Japanese Army in April 1946. Baba was arrested in January 1947 on suspicion of involvement in war crimes and brought to

Rabaul Rabaul () is a township in the East New Britain province of Papua New Guinea, on the island of New Britain. It lies about 600 kilometres to the east of the island of New Guinea. Rabaul was the provincial capital and most important settlement in ...

for trial. Baba was charged with

command responsibility Command responsibility (superior responsibility, the Yamashita standard, and the Medina standard) is the legal doctrine of hierarchical accountability for war crimes.

for the

Sandakan Death Marches The Sandakan Death Marches were a series of forced marches in Borneo from Sandakan to Ranau which resulted in the deaths of 2,434 Allied prisoners of war held captive by the Empire of Japan during the Pacific campaign of World War II at the ...

, during which over 2,200 Australian

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held Captivity, captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold priso ...

perished.''The Argus'', Melbourne, 6 June 1947
/ref> Evidence was presented at the trial that Baba was aware of the weakened condition of the prisoners, yet gave direct orders for the second march. The trial began on 28 May 1947 and was concluded eight days later on 5 June 1947 with a

death sentence Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

. Baba was executed by hanging on 7 August 1947.''The Sydney Morning Herald''
6 June 1947

Notes

References

Books

* *

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Baba, Masao 1892 births 1947 deaths People from Kumamoto Prefecture Imperial Japanese Army generals of World War II Imperial Japanese Army personnel of World War II Japanese generals Japanese people convicted of war crimes Executed Japanese people Executed military leaders Japanese people executed abroad People executed by Australia by hanging People executed for war crimes Perpetrators of World War II prisoner of war massacres Executed mass murderers