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 o ...

, commanding Japanese ground forces in the Southwest Pacific during the closing months 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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

Biography

Matsuda was born in Ishikawa Prefecture. He graduated from the 28th 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 f ...

in May 1916 and from the 36th class of the

Army Staff College Staff colleges (also command and staff colleges and War colleges) train military officers in the administrative, military staff and policy aspects of their profession. It is usual for such training to occur at several levels in a career. For exa ...

in November 1924 as a specialist in army logistics. He was promoted to colonel in July 1938, and assigned command of the IJA 86th Infantry Regiment, a newly formed regiment sent directly as a garrison force to

Hangzhou Hangzhou ( or , ; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), also romanized as Hangchow, is the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang, China. It is located in the northwestern part of the province, sitting at the head of Hangzhou Bay, whic ...

in 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 Th ...

. In December 1940, he was transferred to Manchukuo as an instructor for the

Kwangtung Army ''Kantō-gun'' , image = Kwantung Army Headquarters.JPG , image_size = 300px , caption = Kwantung Army headquarters in Hsinking, Manchukuo , dates = April ...

school at

Gongzhuling Gongzhuling () is a county-level city under the administration of Changchun. It is located in central Jilin province of Northeast China, halfway between Siping and Changchun, along the main railway line in the Northeast. Major employers in the ci ...

. In October 1941, Matsuda was appointed chief-of-staff of the

IJA 23rd Division The was an infantry division in the Imperial Japanese Army. Its call-sign was the . The 23rd Division was formed in Kumamoto on 4 April 1938, on the same day as 15th, 17th, 21st and 22nd divisions, as part of the military build-up following ...

, at that time a border patrol unit in Manchukuo. He was promoted to

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...

in August 1942, and in September was assigned command of the IJA 14th Infantry Brigade. In February 1943, Matsuda was reassigned to the IJA 4th Shipping Command, and sent to

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...

, where in October 1943 he became commander of the IJA 65th Infantry Brigade based at Rabaul. Matsuda Iwao
/ref> Sent to Cape Gloucester on the western tip of New Britain, Matsuda commanded the 10,500 man “Matsuda Force” garrison. However, his forces were scattered over a wide area, and were overrun by the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

in the

Battle of Cape Gloucester The Battle of Cape Gloucester was fought in the Pacific theater of World War II between Japanese and Allied forces on the island of New Britain, Territory of New Guinea, between 26 December 1943 and 16 January 1944. Codenamed Operation Backhan ...

at the end of January 1944. Matsuda was appointed Commanding Officer of 65th Infantry Brigade in August 1943 until the end of War.

References

* * *Leckie, Robert. 1962. Strong Men Armed: The United States Marines Against Japan. Da Capo Press. *Rottman, Gordon L. 2002. World War II Pacific Island Guide: A Geo-Military Study. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press.

External links

* *

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Matsuda, Iwao 1895 births 1979 deaths Military personnel from Ishikawa Prefecture Japanese military personnel of World War II Japanese generals