11th Division (Japanese Empire)

11th division
Former headquarters of the 11th Division in Zentsūji , Kagawa Prefecture .
active	October 1, 1898 to 1945
Country	Japanese Empire
Armed forces	Japanese armed forces
Armed forces	Japanese army
Branch of service	infantry
Type	division
Strength	15,000-20,000
Location	Zentsūji
Nickname	Nishiki-heidan ( 錦 兵 団 , " Brocade Division")
Butcher	Russo-Japanese War Siege of Port Arthur Battle of Mukden Siberian intervention World War II

The 11th Division ( Japanese 第 11 師 団 , Dai Jūichi Shidan ) was a division of the Imperial Japanese Army , which existed from 1898 to 1945. Your Tsūshōgō code (military code name) was Brocade Division ( 錦 兵 団 , Nishiki-heidan ).

General data

The 11th Division was one of six newly founded divisions in 1898 after the first divisions of the Imperial Japanese Army had been formed from the six regional commands that had existed since 1871 on the recommendation of the Prussian military adviser Jakob Meckel . Responsible for the prefectures of the Shikoku Island was the headquarters of the approx. 15,000 strong division in Zentsūji .

History of unity

On October 1, 1898, it was formed as a square division from the 10th Brigade (12th and 22nd Infantry Regiment) and 22nd Brigade (43rd and 44th Infantry Regiment), the 11th Cavalry Regiment and the 11th Infantry Regiment  .  mountain artillery positioned regiment.

Russo-Japanese War

The division was assigned during the Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905 under the command of Lieutenant General Tsuchiya Mitsuharu of the 3rd Army , which besieged the Port Arthur fortress under its Commander-in-Chief, General Nogi Maresuke . There she took part in the three major attacks between August and December 1904. In her attacks against the western positions of Port Arthur she was able to achieve partial successes at the beginning, but in the further course of the siege she had to accept heavy losses with little to no successes. On December 1, 1904, Lieutenant General Samejima Shigeo became the new division commander.

After Port Arthur surrendered on January 2, 1905, the new 5th Army , with the 11th Division as the main unit, was formed. Strengthened by a few reserve units, she played a decisive role in the victorious course of the Battle of Mukden .

Siberian intervention

From August 1920 to 1922 the 11th Division was involved in the Siberian Intervention , replacing the 14th Division . She was part of the Entente Powers that supported the White Army in the Russian Civil War against the Bolshevik Red Army . In the course of the operation, all ports and major cities in the Russian province of Primorye and eastern Siberia were occupied. Given the withdrawal of their allies and the high costs, the Japanese soldiers also withdrew in October 1922.

Second Sino-Japanese War

During the Second Sino-Japanese War , she was used as a garrison unit in Manchuria . In October 1939 it was converted into a Triangular Division (division with 3 infantry regiments) and had to surrender the 22nd Infantry Regiment, which became the main unit of the new 24th Division .

Second World War / Pacific War

During the Second World War , the 11th Division was initially deployed in East Manchukuo to fight partisans. Parts of the division were sent to Guam , where they were destroyed in the 1944 Battle of Guam .

In April 1945, the remnants of the 11th Division were shipped to Shikoku as part of Operation Ketsu-gō and were there under the 55th Army . Because of the atomic bombs being dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, 1945, the expected Allied invasion of Japan no longer took place . In August 1945 the 11th Division was disbanded.

structure

1898

• 10th Brigade
  • 12th Infantry Regiment
  • 22nd Infantry Regiment
• 22nd Brigade
  • 43rd Infantry Regiment
  • 44th Infantry Regiment
• 11th Cavalry Regiment
• 11th Mountain Artillery Regiment
• 11th Engineer Regiment

At the end of the war in 1945

• 12th Infantry Regiment
• 43rd Infantry Regiment
• 44th Infantry Regiment
• 11th Cavalry Regiment
• 11th Mountain Artillery Regiment
• 11th Engineer Regiment
• 11th Transport Regiment

guide

Division commanders

• Nogi Maresuke, Lieutenant General: October 1, 1898 - May 22, 1901
• Okihikari Makoto, Lieutenant General: May 22, 1901 - May 5, 1902
• Tsuchiya Mitsuharu, Lieutenant General: May 5, 1902 - December 1, 1904
• Samejima Shigeo, Lieutenant General: December 1, 1904 - July 6, 1906
• Tsuchiya Mitsuharu, Lieutenant General: July 6, 1906 - December 21, 1908
• Ijichi kōsuke, Lieutenant General: December 21, 1908 - November 30, 1910
• Yoda Hirotaro, Lieutenant General: November 30, 1910 - August 8, 1914
• Kakizaki Tomisaburou, Lieutenant General: August 8, 1914 - August 6, 1917
• Machida Kei, Lieutenant General: August 6, 1917 - April 12, 1919
• Saito Kijiro, Lieutenant General: April 12, 1919 - February 26, 1921
• Yoshinori Shirakawa, Lieutenant General: March 11, 1921 - August 15, 1922
• Kosai Hyogo, Lieutenant General: August 15, 1922 - March 2, 1926
• Koizumi Rokuichi, Lieutenant General: March 2, 1926 - August 1, 1929
• Iwane Matsui, Lieutenant General: August 1, 1929 - August 6, 1931
• Atsuhigashi Tokutaro, Lieutenant General: August 6, 1931 - March 18, 1933
• Harada Keiichi, Lieutenant General: March 18, 1933 - August 1, 1934
• Motoo Furusho, Lieutenant General: August 1, 1934 - September 21, 1935
• Kanichiro Tashiro, Lieutenant General: September 21, 1935 - May 1, 1936
• Tada Hayao, Lieutenant General: May 1, 1936 - August 14, 1937
• Yamamuro Munetake, Lieutenant General: August 14, 1937 - July 15, 1938
• Watari Hisao, Lieutenant General: July 15, 1938 - January 2, 1939
• Naito Shoichi, Lieutenant General: January 7, 1939 - November 28, 1939
• Mitsuru Ushijima , Lieutenant General: December 1, 1939 - October 15, 1941
• Takamori Takashi, Lieutenant General: October 15, 1941 - April 7, 1945
• Ono Koichi, Lieutenant General: April 7, 1945 - September 1945

See also

• Divisions of the Imperial Japanese Army

Web links

• Website about the 11th IJA division , Japanese

literature

• US General Staff: Epitome of the Russo-Japanese War . US War Department, 1907.
• Rotem Kowner : The A to Z of the Russo-Japanese War. Scarecrow Press, Lanham 2009, ISBN 978-0-8108-6841-0 .

Web links

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

Individual evidence

1. ↑ 師 団 Ⅰ. (No longer available online.) Organization of IJA, archived from the original on November 14, 2015 ; accessed on January 2, 2015 . 
2. ↑ Rotem Kowner, p. 106
3. ^ Website about 11th IJA Division