Eikichi Kato

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Eikichi Kato
Kato, along with other officers, surrender on North Bougainville
Born(1897-01-10)January 10, 1897
Empire of Japan
DiedAugust 1, 1946(1946-08-01) (aged 49)
Rabaul, Papua New Guinea
Cause of deathExecution by hanging
Allegiance Japanese Empire
Service/branch Imperial Japanese Navy
Rank Captain
Battles/warsSecond World War
Pacific War
Battle of Porton Plantation

Captain Eikichi Kato (加藤 榮吉, Katō Eikichi) was a senior officer in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. Kato was the senior officer of the Imperial Japanese Navy forces on the Bonis Peninsula and Buka Island during the latter stages of World War II.

Lieutenant Kawanishi Shotaro was appointed by Captain Kato as the envoy to meet Australian officers on 14 September 1945 off Soraken Peninsula, to discuss the surrender of the Imperial Japanese Navy forces on the Bonis Peninsula and Buka Island.[1]

Captain Kato was charged of the murder of seven civilian inhabitants of North Bougainville between September 1943 and October 1945, where he pleaded not guilty.[2]

After the war, Kato was convicted of war crimes by an Australian military court and executed by hanging in Rabaul in 1946.[3]

Notes[edit]

Citations
  1. ^ The humiliation of defeat, Steven Bullard
  2. ^ "Trial of Captain Eikichi Kato. United Nations War Crimes Commission, 1949". phdn.org. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
  3. ^ "Trial of Captain Eikichi Kato, Law-Reports of Trials of War Criminals, The United Nations War Crimes Commission, Volume I, London, HMSO, 1949, pp. 37–38". Archived from the original on 2011-06-29. Retrieved 2011-01-27.