was a

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank 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 battlefield, who was norma ...

of the Imperial Japanese Army.

Biography

Tsukada was born in Ishikawa Prefecture. In May 1916, he graduated from the 28th class of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the infantry. In November 1924, he graduated from the 36th class of the Army Staff College. He was assigned to administrative work within the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office. He later changed to the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service, becoming an instructor at the Hamamatsu Army Flight School in March 1933. He was attached to the staff of the Japanese China Garrison Army from May 1936 and to the intelligence staff of the Japanese Northern China Area Army from the start of the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the Empire of Japan between 1937 and 1945, following a period of war localized to Manchuria that started in 1931. It is considered part ...

. In March 1938, he was promoted to air corps colonel, and appointed commander of the IJAA 7th Air Regiment from June. In December 1939 he was transferred to become chief-of-staff of the IJAA First Air Brigade. Tsukada was promoted to major general in August 1941 and entered the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War or the Pacific Theatre, was the Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II fought between the Empire of Japan and the Allies of World War II, Allies in East Asia, East and Southeast As ...

. In April 1942, Tsukada became commander of the IJAA 3rd Air Division, and from February 1944, chief-of-staff of the IJAA Third Air Force. From November 1944, Tsukada became commander of airborne operations training for the '' Teishin Shudan'' and commander of the 30,000-man ''Kenbu'' force defending central

Luzon Luzon ( , ) is the largest and most populous List of islands in the Philippines, island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the List of islands of the Philippines, Philippine archipelago, it is the economic and political ce ...

and Clark Field against the Americans during the Philippines campaign. A portion of this force, the 750-man 2nd Raiding Brigade, was an elite commando force assigned to attack American air bases in Luzon and Leyte. It inflicted numerous casualties before they were annihilated. In March 1945, Tsukada was promoted to

; however, by early April his command had been largely annihilated, and he ordered his remaining men to fight as independent guerrilla units in the mountains west of Clark Field. The Alamo Scouts of the Sixth US Army were assigned to capture him, but he escaped and turned himself in after the

surrender of Japan The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was Hirohito surrender broadcast, announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally Japanese Instrument of Surrender, signed on 2 September 1945, End of World War II in Asia, ending ...

. He died on May 19, 1958.

References

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Footnotes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tsukada, Rikichi 1892 births 1958 deaths Military personnel from Ishikawa Prefecture Imperial Japanese Army generals of World War II