Talk:Tomitarō Horii

Untitled
MChew and others. If you want to deny or change Japan's history, do it on a Japanese website, this is not the place for denial of facts. Your repeated insertion of unverified quotations in order to disguise Horai's Armies' behaviour and paint him in a falsely better light are against the spirit of Wikipedia. They will not be tolerated here. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 112.118.74.246 (talk) 00:14, 21 April 2009 (UTC)
 * Dear anonymous IP editor, if you want to deny or change Japan's history, do it on a Chinese or Korean website. This is not the place for denial of facts. Your repeated deletion of sourced, referenced quotations in order to emphasize Japanese atrocities and play down attempts within the Japanese military to combat them, thus painting Horii in a falsely worse light are against the spirit of Wikipedia, and indeed the spirit of all scholarship. They will not be tolerated here. LordAmeth (talk) 19:20, 23 April 2009 (UTC)

I will not tolerate here a Japanese attempt to paint its war criminals with a falsely positive light. Horai presided over troops who were involved in execution of civilian and wounded POW's and canabilism, not to mention his involvement in the Nanking Massacre. Putting the removed quote in paints Horai was a man who tried to stop what he is historically known to have done. I sugest you do your homework on this man before you pontificate. You don't know what you are talking about, in this case. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 112.118.71.49 (talk) 10:15, 29 April 2009 (UTC)
 * The Nanjing Massacre occurred in December 1937. In August 1937, Horii had been promoted to colonel and assigned to the command staff of the reserve IJA 8th Division under which he was regimental commander of the IJA 82nd Infantry Regiment. At the time, the 8th Division was a training/garrison force based in Manchukuo still rebuilding after losses the Japanese suffered at the hand of the Soviets at Nomonhan, and did not participate in the Battle of Nanjing. The OOB for Nanjing consisted of the Japanese China Garrison Army (with the 3rd, 9th, 13th and 16th Divisions and Shanghai Expeditionary Force) and the IJA 10th Army (with the 6th, 114th and elements of the 5th Divisions). Horii was reassigned to the IJA 11th Division in March 1940, and was thus NOT present at the Nanjing Massacre. I have no idea who this “Horai” the anon editor keeps referring to is, but if the anon cannot even spell the name correctly…--MChew (talk) 13:03, 29 April 2009 (UTC)
 * Thank you MChew. The anon IP should register, as it is now there is no credibility. Chris (クリス • フィッチュ) (talk) 15:07, 29 April 2009 (UTC)

Lieutenant General
Hi, I am working on a rewrite of the Battle of Buna-Gona. All wiki reliable sources I can access Give Horii's rank as Maj Gen. I believe (from Wiki unreliable sources) that he was promoted posthumously. Was hoping to clear this up. Does anybody have a precise reference to address this 'apparent' discrepancy please? Thanks Cinderella157 (talk) 04:16, 26 November 2014 (UTC)

proposed revision
Presently reads: "During the New Guinea campaign, Horii and his South Seas Detachment were assigned to the invasion of Port Moresby, but were turned back by Allied forces during the Battle of the Coral Sea. As a result, after landing in the Buna–Garara area in July 1942, Horii led a column of 8,500 men of the IJA 144th Regiment overland on the Kokoda Trail over the treacherous Owen Stanley mountain range in an attempt to capture Port Moresby.[3] However, after heavy fighting against a small Australian Army force, the Japanese were delayed and defeated, and Horii was forced to withdraw with his surviving soldiers in the Kokoda Track campaign from September 1942. Horii drowned while crossing the Kumusi River when his raft capsized on November 1942 in Territory of New Guinea.[4] Horii was posthumously promoted from major general to lieutenant general.[5][6]"

Would suggest the following adaptation from the draft. I believe that McAuley reports much the same but I don't have it ATM. The gunfire heard was possibly the first shots fired by the 1st Mountain Battery:

"During the New Guinea campaign, Horii and his South Seas Force were assigned to the invasion of Port Moresby, but were turned back after the escorting naval force was attacked by Allied forces during the Battle of the Coral Sea. The Japanese then planned an overland attack to capture the town by advancing from the north coast. In July 1942, they landed to established beachheads at Buna, Gona and Sanananda. This marked the beginning of The Kokoda Track campaign. The South Seas Force, under command of Major General Tomitaro Horii, advanced using the Kokoda Track to cross the rugged Owen Stanley Range.

By 16 September, after heavy fighting against a small Australian Army force, Horii's had advanced as far as Ioribaiwa, and was close enough to see the lights of Port Moresby. In light of reverses at Guadalcanal, the Japanese command determined it could not support both battles and, on 23 September, Maj Gen Horii was ordered to withdraw his troops on the Kokoda Track until the issue at Guadalcanal was decided. Limited provision had been made for the resupply of Horii's force and, by this time, the situation had reached a crisis. On 26 September, the Japanese commenced to withdraw from the front line. They fought a well ordered rear-guard action back over the Owen Stanley Range, with the Australian forces in close pursuit.

Horii's force had been severely depleted by lack of supply but At Oivi, near the northern end of the Kokoda Track, Horii's force received both resupply and reinforcement. The Japanese suffered heavily in the battle around Oivi-Gorari, from 4 – 11 November and the well ordered withdrawal that had been planned quickly disintegrated into a rout. The Australians crossed the Kumusi River at Wairopi on 16 November and were now about 65 km (40 mi) from Buna-Gona.

The flooded river blocked the retreat of Horii's force. Horii decided to raft down the river with a small party so he might more quickly reach the Buna-Gona positions that were being threatened by the Australian advance. Gunfire had been heard from the coast. When the raft became snagged on trees, he took to a canoe that was found by the river's edge. The canoe was swept out to sea and capsized during a storm. Horii drowned but his orderly survived to report his death. Horii was posthumously promoted to lieutenant general.[6]"

I was a little concerned that the account here was not consistent with other references. Regards Cinderella157 (talk) 09:29, 2 January 2015 (UTC)