104th Division (Japanese Empire)

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104th Division

IJA 104th division, 137th regiment, Battle of Shantou, June 1939.jpg

Soldiers of the 137th Regiment, 104th Division during Operation Swatow , June 1939
active June 16, 1938 to September 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. 20,000
Insinuation 21st Army
Regional Army South China
23rd Army
Location Utsunomiya
Nickname Shō-heidan ( 将兵 団 , "General Division")
Butcher Second Sino-Japanese War

The 104th Division ( Japanese 第 104 師 団 , Dai-hyakuyon Shidan ) was a division of the Imperial Japanese Army , which was set up and disbanded between 1938 and 1945. Your Tsūshōgō code (military code name) was General Division ( 将兵 団 , Shō-heidan ) or Shō 8974 or Shō 8975 .

History of unity

The 104th Division was set up on June 16, 1938 under the command of Lieutenant General Miyake Toshio as a square division and consisted of the 107th  Brigade (108th and 170th Infantry Regiment ) and the 132nd Brigade (137th and 161st  Regiment ). Infantry regiment) and the 104th  cavalry - regiment , 104th  field artillery regiment and the 104th  pioneer - and transport regiment. The headquarters of the approx. 20,000 strong division was in Utsunomiya .

Just a few weeks after being set up, the 104th Division landed in Canton , Republic of China in October 1938 and was subordinate to the 21st Army . In February 1939 she took part in the occupation of Hainan , and the following June parts of the division were involved in Operation Swatow , the aim of which was to cut off the supply lines of the national Chinese in Guangdong province with the occupation of Swatov .

In the spring of 1940, the 104th Division of the South China Regional Army took part in the Battle of South Guangxi , in which 100,000 Japanese tried to drive over 150,000 national Chinese from the coast and thus cut off supplies by sea.

In September 1940 the division was relocated to French Indochina .

From June 1941, the division was subordinate to the 23rd Army and was primarily used as a garrison unit in southern China. From April 1944 she took part in the largest Japanese company of the war, Operation Ichi-gō , in which about 400,000 Japanese soldiers were involved.

In September 1945 the division was disbanded.

structure

1938

On September 1, 1937, it was set up as a square division as follows:

  • 104th Infantry Division Staff (350 men)
    • 107th Infantry Brigade Staff (50 men)
      • 108th Infantry Regiment (approx. 3845 men)
      • 170th Infantry Regiment (approx. 3845 men)
    • 132nd Infantry Brigade (50 men)
      • 137th Infantry Regiment (approx. 3845 men)
      • 161st Infantry Regiment (approx. 3845 men)
    • 104th Cavalry Regiment (900 men)
    • 104th Field Artillery Regiment (2,100 men; 36 75 mm field guns)
    • 104th Engineer Regiment (900 men)
    • 104th Transport Regiment (approx. 750 men)
    • 104.Signal unit (approx. 200)
    • 104th Medical Unit (approx. 700 men)

Total strength: approx. 20,430 men

1941

In 1941 the conversion to a type B "standard" division as a triangular division took place as follows:

  • 104th Infantry Division Staff (350 men)
  • 104th Infantry Brigade Staff (50 men)
    • 108th Infantry Regiment (approx. 3845 men)
    • 137th Infantry Regiment (approx. 3845 men)
    • 161st Infantry Regiment (approx. 3845 men)
  • 104th Cavalry Battalion (600 men)
  • 104th Artillery Regiment (2,100 men; 36 75 mm field guns)
  • 104th Engineer Regiment (900 men)
  • 104th Transport Regiment (approx. 750 men)
  • 104th Supply Company (approx. 200 men)
  • 104th Field Hospital (a field hospital with approx. 500 men)
  • 104th water supply and treatment unit (approx. 235 men)
  • 104.Signal unit (approx. 200)
  • 104th Medical Unit (approx. 1000 men)

Total strength: approx. 18,200 men

guide

Division commanders

  • Miyake Toshio, Lieutenant General: June 16, 1938 - November 17, 1938
  • Hamamoto Kisaburo, Lieutenant General: November 17, 1938 - December 2, 1940
  • Komoda Koichi, Lieutenant General: December 2, 1940 - August 1, 1942
  • Suzuki Teiji, Lieutenant General: August 1, 1942 - March 23, 1945
  • Suefuji Chibun, Lieutenant General: March 23, 1945 - September 1945

See also

Web links

literature

  • John Underwood: The Japanese Order of Battle in World War II, Vol I , The Nafziger Collection, Inc., 1999, ISBN 978-1-58545-044-2
  • Victor Madej: Japanese Armed Forces Order of Battle 1937–1945, Volume I + II , Game Marketing Company, 1981
  • Hsu Long-hsuen: History of the Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945), 2nd edition , Chung Wu Publishers, 1972

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Madej, p. 105
  2. ↑ a b Underwood, p. 39
  3. ↑ Underwood, p. 40
Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . Thus Itō is the family name, Masayoshi the first name.