106th Division (Japanese Empire)

106th Division
active	May 15, 1938 to April 1940
Country	Japanese Empire
Armed forces	Japanese armed forces
Armed forces	Japanese army
Branch of service	infantry
Type	division
Strength	approx. 22,000
Insinuation	Shanghai Expeditionary Army 11th Army
Location	Kumamoto
Nickname	not known
Butcher	Second Sino-Japanese War Battle for Wuhan Battle of Wanjialing

The 106th Division ( Japanese 第 106 師 団 , Dai-hyakuroku Shidan ) of the Imperial Japanese Army was established in 1938 and disbanded in 1940. It is one of the few divisions that were not active until the end of the war in 1945. Your Tsūshōgō code (military code name) is unknown.

History of unity

The 106th Division was set up on May 15, 1938 under the command of Lieutenant General Matsuura Junrokurō as a square division and consisted of the 111th  Brigade (113th and 147th  Infantry Regiments ) and the 136th Brigade (123rd and 145th Infantry Regiment ). Infantry regiment) and the 106th  cavalry - regiment , the 106th  field artillery regiment and the 106th Engineer and transport regiment. The headquarters of the 22,000-strong division was in Kumamoto .

Like many of the Japanese divisions newly established in 1937/38, the 106th Division was shipped to China in July 1938 after a very short time, after only two months of training, and was initially under the command of the Shanghai Expeditionary Army . Shortly thereafter, she was subordinated to the 11th Army and participated in operations in Huangmei County from July 1938 to October 1938 , which occurred during the Battle of Wuhan .

In October 1938, the 106th Division, was Lushan of 16 Chinese divisions encircled . In order to avoid the threat of annihilation in the so-called Battle of Wanjialing , the 11th Army sent the 101st Division to aid, which was now enclosed with the 106th in the Lushan pocket. In order to master the situation, two further divisions, the 9th and 27th divisions , were brought up. On October 9, the final Chinese attack on the trapped troops began, and by October 10, five of the Japanese regiments had been destroyed. Almost all of the besieged Japanese forces were lost, making the Battle of Wanjialing the greatest Chinese victory to date. Although the Japanese army was victorious in the entire operation, it suffered a Pyrrhic victory in which it suffered almost 30% casualties (over 100,000 men).

On May 19, 1939, Lieutenant General Nakai Ryōtarō took over the remains of the division, which was dissolved in April 1940.

structure

On May 15, 1938, a type B "Standard" division was set up as a square division as follows:

• 106th Infantry Division Staff (350 men)
  • 111th Infantry Brigade (50 men)
    • 113th Infantry Regiment (approx. 3500 men)
    • 147th Infantry Regiment (approx. 3500 men)
  • 136th Infantry Brigade (50 men)
    • 123rd Infantry Regiment (approx. 3500 men)
    • 145th Infantry Regiment (approx. 3500 men)
  • 106th Cavalry Regiment (approx. 450 men)
  • 106th Field Artillery Regiment (2,100 men; 36 75 mm field guns)
  • 106th Engineer Regiment (670 men)
  • 106th Transport Regiment (approx. 1900 men)
  • 106th Supply Company (80 men)
  • 106th Field Hospital (four field hospitals with approx. 250 men each)
  • 106.Signal unit (approx. 250)
  • 106th Medical Unit (approx. 700 men)

Total strength: approx. 21,600 men

See also

• Divisions of the Imperial Japanese Army

Web links

• 師 団 Ⅰ. Organization of IJA Divisions, accessed January 2, 2015 (Japanese). 

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

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Madej, p. 107
2. ↑ ^{a b} 師 団 Ⅰ. (No longer available online.) Organization of IJA, archived from the original on November 14, 2015 ; accessed on January 2, 2015 . 
3. ↑ ^{a b} Underwood, p. 40
4. ^ Battle of Wanjialing. ww2db.de, accessed on August 10, 2015 (English). 
5. ↑ The shattering of Japan's imperial dream in China. China Daily, accessed August 10, 2015 . 

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . Thus Matsuura is the family name, Junrokurō the first name.