Krueger, Lt Gen Walter (18811967). US. Born in Germany but largely raised in America, Krueger was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the US Army in 1901 and served in France in World War
I. By mid-1941 he was a lieutenant general commanding the US Third Army, with Dwight D Eisenhower as his cos. Early in 1943 he took over the US Sixth Army, becoming Gen MacArthur’s main ground force commander in the Southwest Pacific. From June 1943, Sixth Army units participated in offensive operations in northern New Guinea and on the islands of New Britain, the Admiralties, Biak, Noemfoor and Morotai, gradually working their way towards the Philippines. Krueger’s forces landed on Leyte on October 20 1944, although they had to battle hard in mountain and jungle terrain before the port of Ormoc was taken, with the help of an amphibious assault, on December 10. In January 1945 Sixth Army came ashore at Lingayen Gulf on Luzon, subsequently having to engage in a month of fierce street fighting for Manila, which was cleared by March 4. Krueger had secured most of Luzon by July and, when the war ended, he was preparing for the invasion of Japan. The differing conditions and tasks which he faced in 1944-45 gave him ample opportunity to reveal his considerable range of tactical skills yet, like Hodges in Northwest Europe, he avoided the spotlight and his thorough but unspectacular command style was insufficiently colourful to win him wider public recognition. PJS.
Kruschev, Nikita Sergeyevich
(1894-1971). Russian. Served in the Red Army during the Civil War. Member of Politburo; 194142 directed guerrilla warfare; party representative on southern front at Stalingrad; conducted purge of collaborators in Ukraine. In 1953 first. secretary of the Communist Party; in 1956 at 20th Party Congress denounced Stalin’s crimes; 1958 appointed chairman of the Council of Ministers. Launched policy of “peaceful coexistence” designed to reduce military expenditure and boost consumer spending. Rash conduct of policy, culminating in the Cuban Missile Crisis (1962), undercut his political position. Removed from office, October 15 1964, on grounds of “ill-health”. BH/e.
Krylov, Marshal Nikolai (19031972). Russian. During World War II Krylov was a staff officer in the Ukraine, the Crimea and at Stalingrad and commanded Fifth Army during the Soviet advance in East Prussia. In August 1945 he led Fifth Army in Manchuria against Japan.
Kuala Lumpur see malaysia-
INDONESIA CONFRONTATION.
Kuching see Brunei revolt;
MALAYSIA-INDONESIA CONFRONTATION.
Kiichler, Field Marshal Georg von (1881-1969). Ger. Commanded the German Third Army in Poland (1939), then the Eighteenth Army in Holland and France (1940) and Russia (1941). He replaced von Leeb as commander of Army Group North in January 1942 but, like his predecessor, was unable to take Leningrad. He was relieved of command, following a retreat, in January 1944.
Kula Gulf, Battle of (July 5-6
1943). A “Tokyo Express” of seven destroyer-transports, escorted by destroyers Niizuki (Rear Adm Hiseo Akiyama), Suzukaze and Tanikaze, attempted to reinforce the garrison at Vila, Kolomban-gara, Solomons. Forewarned by “Magic”, Rear Adm Walden Ainsworth’s Task Group 36.1 (three light cruisers, four destroyers) was deployed to intercept. Both sides made radar contact at c0118 hours, July 6. Three destroyer-transports were then already unloading at Vila; the remaining Japanese destroyers were redeployed for torpedo action. Although US radar-controlled gunfire sank Niizuki, killing Akiyama (total Japanese losses: 300 men). Long Lance torpedoes from the two remaining escorts sank the light cruiser uss Helena (168 dead). Using their superior night-fighting techniques, the Japanese avoided further combat and successfully unloaded all seven transports at Vila. Thus, although the destroyer-transport Nagatsuki was destroyed, the engagement must be adjudged a Japanese victory. RO’N.
Kum Kale see Dardanelles (lois).
Kuneitra see arab-israeli wars.
Kuomintang. Chinese Nationalist Party that initially promoted broadly based social democratic principles. Led by Chiang Kai-shek in the 1930s; defeated by communists in Civil War, 1949.
Kuribayashi, Lt Gen Tadamichi
(1885-1945). Jap. Commanding 109th Division in May 1944, Kuribayashi conducted the defence d outrance of Iwo Jima, exploiting natural features in the construction of bunkers to withstand prolonged pre-invasion naval and air bombardments. He committed suicide on March 23 1945, two days before Iwo Jima fell.
Kuroki, Gen Count Tamesada
(1844-1923). Jap. Commanding First Army during the Russo-Japanese War, Kuroki conducted the initial landings at Chemulpo (Inchon, Korea), February 17 1904, and began a rapid northward advance to the Yalu river, Manchuria. Here, diligent intelligencegathering and well-contrived surprise (a major bridge was constructed under fire, shielding the fact that the main thrust was to be made across a number of smaller bridges) enabled him to force a crossing and rout an inferior Russian force commanded by Lt Gen M I Zasulich. Thus Kuroki was the first “eastern” commander to defeat a “western power” by the use of “western” weapons and techniques. RO’N.
Kuropatkin, Gen Alexei Niko-laievich (1848-1921). Russian. Minister of War from 1898, Kuropatkin was appointed c-in-c Far East on the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War. An able enough commander in defence, he tended to be over-cautious - as at the Shaho river, where a sustained assault might have turned the 12-day battle in Russia’s favour - and was handicapped also by the demands of Viceroy Alexeiev and by jealous subordinates. Although he succeeded in extricating the bulk of his forces from the defeat at Mukden, he was subsequently reduced to an army command. In 1916, Kuropatkin was briefly c-in-c on the Northern Front. RO’N.
World History
