| Original caption: “Japanese War Crimes Trials. Manila.” “General Tomoyuki Yamashita (November 8, 1885 – February 23, 1946) was the Commander of the Imperial Japanese 14th Army when the Allies invaded, Yamashita ordered Manila abandoned in March 1945. Here Yamashita is jailed after the war by Major Aubrey S.”Jack” Kenworthy (October 19, 1892 – November 21, 1963). Yamashita did not declare Manila an open city as General Douglas MacArthur had done in December 1941 before its capture. When a military commander or political leader formally declares an open city, this means that the defending military will not defend the city in battle and the victorious forces can enter unopposed. Open city declarations are made in order to save civilian lives and to guarantee no destruction of buildings. Because Yamashita, who also served as the governor-general and military governor of the Philippines, did not declare Manila an open city while he evacuated most of his soldiers northward, Imperial Japanese Navy Rear Admiral Sanji Iwabuchi re-occupied Manila with 16,000 sailors, with the intent of destroying all port facilities and naval storehouses. Once there, Iwabuchi took command of the 3,750 Army security troops, and against Yamashita’s specific order, turned the city into a battlefield.[16] The battle and the Japanese atrocities resulted in the deaths of more than a 100,000 Filipino civilians, in what is known as the Manila massacre, during the fierce street fighting for the capital which raged February 4 – March 3, 1945. For his part Yamashita denied he had knowledge of the crimes committed by his men, and claimed that he would have harshly punished them if he had had that knowledge. Further, he argued that with an army as large as his, there was no way for him to control all actions by all his subordinates. The court found Yamashita guilty as charged and sentenced him to death. Clarke appealed the sentence to General MacArthur, who upheld it. He then appealed to the Supreme Court of the Philippines and the Supreme Court of the United States, both of which declined to review the verdict. United States President Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884 – December 26, 1972) denied Yamashita’s petition to grant clemency and let the decision stand. Yamashita was hanged in 1946. | |
| Image Filename | wwii1662.jpg |
| Image Size | 970.68 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 2932 x 2340 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | October 1, 1945 |
| Location | |
| City | Manila |
| State or Province | Luzon |
| Country | Philippines |
| Archive | |
| Record Number | |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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