19th Division (Japanese Empire)

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19th division

IJA 73rd Infantry Regiment HQ.jpg

Headquarters of the 73rd Infantry - regiment in Ranam , Korea
active December 24, 1915 to 1945
Country JapanJapan Japanese Empire
Armed forces JapanJapan (war flag) Japanese armed forces
Armed forces JapanJapan (war flag) Japanese army
Branch of service infantry
Type division
Strength approx. 15,000
Insinuation Chosen Army 14th Regional Army
Location Kumamoto
Nickname Torah-heidan ( 虎 兵團 , "Tiger Division")
Butcher Manchuria crisis

Japanese-Soviet border conflict

Pacific War

The 19th Division ( Japanese 第 19 師 団 , Dai-jūku Shidan ) was a division of the Imperial Japanese Army , which was set up in 1915 and disbanded in 1945. Your Tsūshōgō code (military code name) was Tiger Division ( 虎 兵團 , Tora-heidan ).

History of unity

The 19th Division was on 24 December 1915 under the command of Lieutenant General Tachibana Koichiro as Square division set up and consisted of the 19th  Infantry - Brigade (73rd, 74th, 75th and 76th Regiment) and the 27th  cavalry - regiment , 25th  field artillery regiment and the 19th  pioneer - and transport - battalion . In addition to the 20th Division, it provided the garrison for Korea under Japanese rule and was under the Chosen Army . The headquarters of the 15,000 strong division was in Ranam in Hamgyŏng-pukto province . The task of the division was on the one hand to provide protection against a possible invasion by China or the Soviet Union , on the other hand to prevent emerging anti-Japanese currents.

In 1925, the 25th Field Artillery Regiment was replaced by the 28th Field Artillery Regiment, which was converted to the 25th Mountain Artillery Regiment in 1941. Between 1937 and 1939, the engineer and transport battalions were brought up to regimental size. In 1942 the 27th Cavalry Regiment was disbanded and replaced by the 19th Reconnaissance Regiment  . When changing from square to triangular divisions , the 74th Infantry Regiment was transferred to the newly formed 30th Division in June 1943 .

Manchuria crisis

On September 18, 1931, an explosives attack on the South Manchurian Railway was carried out near the city of Mukden . This incident is known as the Mukden Incident . It is certain that this incident was orchestrated by the Kwantung Army in order to obtain a reason for an invasion. This immediately attacked the nearby Chinese garrison . The army's action was allegedly not planned by the Japanese government. Since China was already in the Chinese civil war at this time and was poorly equipped militarily, the Japanese were able to take Manchuria by early 1932. The 38th Brigade of the 19th Division, together with the 20th Division , advanced with other units into Manchuria in December 1931 and took part in the occupation of the same.

The puppet state of Manchukuo was established to administer Manchuria and was headed by Puyi , the former emperor of China .

Battle of Lake Chassan

Japanese depiction of the Battle of Lake Chassan . The original signature reads: "The brave fight of Private Todoriki Miyoshi on the Nameless Heights ."

From 1938 onwards there were Japanese-Soviet border conflicts , which concerned the unresolved border. The mutual territorial claims, from which neither side wanted to deviate, related to a few kilometers. Multiple armed clashes between mounted Mongolian and Manchurian border patrols gradually led to the expansion of the military conflict, with first the Japanese and then the Soviet side bringing in troops.

On July 29, 1938, the 19th Division attacked troops of the Soviet 39th  Corps in the Battle of Lake Chassan and drove them from a controversial hill . The Russian counter-attack , supported by tanks and TB-3 bomber - and I-152 - Hunters - Season expelled the Japanese. In the days that followed, the 19th Division repeated the attacks without armor or air support, but was repulsed.

The conflict ended on August 11 after the Japanese ambassador asked for peace. The 19th Division was then sent back to Korea.

Battle for Luzon

In December 1944, the 19th Division was sent to the Philippines to reinforce the 14th Regional Army and landed at San Fernando . There she was responsible for the defense of Baguio and the west coast of the Gulf of Lingayen . Shortly before the Allied invasion of Luzon , the 19th Division was subjected to heavy bombardment by the American Air Force , which reduced its strength to 6,000 men. In the subsequent ground fighting, it was unable to oppose the superior armed forces of the US and Filipino troops and was almost completely destroyed by June 1945.

structure

1915

The 19th Division was set up on December 24, 1915 as the Karree Division as follows:

  • 19. Divisional staff
    • 37th Infantry Brigade
      • 73rd Infantry Regiment
      • 74th Infantry Regiment
    • 38th Infantry Brigade
      • 75th Infantry Regiment
      • 76th Infantry Regiment
    • 27th Cavalry Regiment
    • 25th Field Artillery Regiment *
    • 19th Engineer Battalion
    • 19th Transport Battalion

(*) In 1925 the 25th Field Artillery Regiment was replaced by the 28th Field Artillery Regiment

1943

In May 1943 the regrouping as a type A "reinforced" division took place as a triangular division as follows:

  • 19th Infantry Division Staff (90 men)
    • 19th Infantry Brigade Staff (100 men)
      • 73rd Infantry Regiment (3,147 men)
      • 74th Infantry Regiment (3,147 men)
      • 75th Infantry Regiment (3,147 men)
    • 20th Division Artillery Group, staff (approx. 178 men)
      • 25th Mountain Artillery Regiment Staff (265 men)
      • 1st Battalion (12 × Type 41 75 mm mountain guns (685 men))
      • 2nd Battalion (12 × Type 41 75 mm mountain guns (685 men))
      • 3rd Battalion (12 × Type 41 75 mm mountain guns (685 men))
    • 19th reconnaissance regiment
    • 19. Signal unit (178)
    • 19th Pioneer Regiment (401 men)
    • 19th Transport Regiment (507 men)
    • 19. Medical unit (1101 men)
    • 19. Field hospital (two field hospitals with 236 men each)
    • 19. Veterinary hospital (47 men)
    • 19th Supply Company (185 men)
    • 19. Water supply and treatment unit (160 men)

Total strength: 15,484 men

guide

Division commanders

  • Tachibana Koichirō, Lieutenant General: December 24, 1915 (April 1, 1916?) - July 24, 1918
  • Takashima Tomotake, Lieutenant General: July 24, 1918 - July 20, 1921
  • Ueda Taro, Lieutenant General: July 20, 1921 - February 4, 1924
  • Takegami Tsunesaburo, Lieutenant General: February 4, 1924 - July 28, 1926
  • Watanabe Kotobuki, Lieutenant General: July 28, 1926 - August 1, 1929
  • Yoshiyuki Kawashima, Lieutenant General: August 1, 1929 - November 7, 1930
  • Mori Hisashi, Lieutenant General: November 7, 1930 - March 18, 1933
  • Ushijima Sadao, Lieutenant General: March 18, 1933 - March 15, 1935
  • Suzuki Mitsuhiko, Lieutenant General: March 15, 1935 - March 1, 1937
  • Odaka Kamezo, Lieutenant General: March 1, 1937 - November 9, 1938
  • Hada Jūichi , Lieutenant General: November 11, 1938 - September 28, 1940
  • Kozuki Yoshio, Lieutenant General: September 28, 1940 - July 1, 1942
  • Ozaki Yoshiharu, Lieutenant General: July 1, 1942 - September 1945

See also

Web links

literature

  • Victor Madej: Japanese Armed Forces Order of Battle, 1937-1945. Game Publishing, 1981, OCLC 833591372 , OCLC 833591376 .
  • John Underwood: The Japanese Order of Battle in World War II, Vol I The Nafziger Collection, Inc., 1999, ISBN 978-1-58545-044-2
  • Leland Ness: Rikugun: Guide to Japanese Ground Forces 1937-1945. Helion & Company, 2014, ISBN 978-1-909982-00-0 .
  • Bill Yenne: The Imperial Japanese Army: The Invincible Years 1941-42 Osprey Publishing, 2014, ISBN 978-1-7820-0932-0
  • Samuel E. Morison: History of United States Naval Operations in World War II. Vol. 12: Leyte, June 1944 – January 1945 University of Illinois Press, 2002 ISBN 0-252-07063-1
  • John O'Connor: The Effectiveness of Airpower in the 20th Century: Part One (1914-1939) iUniverse, Inc., 2007 ISBN 978-0-5954-3082-6
  • Mike Guardia: American Guerrilla: The Forgotten Heroics of Russell W. Volckmann Casemate, 2012 ISBN 978-1-6120-0089-3

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Underwood, p. 62
  2. ↑ a b Ness, p. 17
  3. ↑ a b Underwood, p. 63
  4. ^ O'Connor, p. 129
  5. ↑ a b Guardia, p. 137