18th Division (Japanese Empire)

18th division
Memorial stone for the 18th division in Kurume, Fukuoka.
active	November 13, 1907 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	Kurume
Nickname	Kiku-heidan ( 菊 兵團 , "Chrysanthemum Division")
Butcher	First World War Siege of Tsingtau Second Sino-Japanese War Battle for Nanking Winter offensive 1939/1940 Second World War Malay Peninsula Battle of Singapore Borneo Operation U-gō

The 18th Division ( Japanese 第 18 師 団 , Dai-jūhachi Shidan ) was a division of the Imperial Japanese Army , which was set up and disbanded twice between 1907 and 1945. Your Tsūshōgō code (military code name) was Chrysanthemum Division ( 菊 兵團 , Kiku-heidan ) or 18D .

History of unity

Soldiers of the 18th Division in an abandoned German trench during the siege of Tsingtau , 1914.

The 18th division was set up shortly after the end of the Russo-Japanese War on November 13, 1907 under the command of Lieutenant General Kimura Aritsune as a square division and consisted of the 23rd  Brigade (46th and 55th  Infantry Regiment ) and the 24th Division . Brigade (48th and 56th Infantry regiment) and the 22nd  cavalry - regiment , 24th  field artillery regiment and the 18th  pioneer - and transport regiment. The headquarters of the 15,000-strong division was in Kurume .

A 75mm Type 31 field gun of the 18th Division during the siege of Tsingtau.

On July 28, 1914, the First World War broke out in which Japan joined the German Empire , Austria-Hungary and its allies on the side of the Entente powers against the Central Powers . The closest enemy base was the Kiaoutschou area , which had been under German lease since 1898 and was located on the Shandong Peninsula on the east coast of China . The 18th division under Lieutenant General Kamio Mitsuomi received orders to besiege and capture the German leased area with its capital Tsingtao . Kamio was known for his cautious approach and, unlike 10 years earlier during the siege of Port Arthur , should avoid major losses. To this end, he received reinforcements from the 29th Brigade, which consisted of the 67th Infantry Regiment and a battalion of the 34th Infantry Regiment. The troops were supported by over 100 guns of various calibers from 10 cm to 28 cm and the 8th Infantry Regiment, which allowed the Japanese siege troops to grow to almost 60,000 men. On October 31, 1914, the Japanese guns opened fire on the defenders of Tsingtau. While the heavy Japanese guns destroyed the enemy batteries and fortifications, the Japanese 75 mm field guns, Type 31, shot shrapnel during the night to prevent repairs by the Germans and Austrians. On November 6th, the Japanese were able to take three of the five redoubts , so that the German commander Tsingtaus, sea ​​captain Meyer-Waldeck , capitulated the next day. Despite the two-month siege, the Japanese troops only had 415 dead and 1,500 wounded.

In order to save costs, the 18th division, along with the 13th , 15th and 17th divisions , was dissolved in 1925.

After the Second Sino-Japanese War broke out in July 1937 , the 18th Division was re-established in September 1937, again as the Karree Division. She was subordinate to the 10th Army , which was part of the Central China Regional Army . From December 1937, the division took part in the Battle of Nanking and was also involved in the Nanking massacre .

Soldiers from the 18th Division near Guangzhou

Soldiers of the 18th Division inspect a Chinese civilian, October 1938

From September 1938, the 18th Division was under Lieutenant General Kuno Seiichi of the 21st Army (Lieutenant General Furushō Motoo ), with which it took part in Operation Z , the attack on Guangdong Province . From November the division was involved in heavy fighting during the Chinese winter offensive 1939/1940 , in which over 500,000 Chinese attacked the Japanese troops on a broad front. The Chinese attack could not be stopped until April 1939. The Japanese offensive force on the Chinese theater of war had been severely restricted by the losses suffered.

In November 1941, the 18th Division under Lieutenant-General was Mutaguchi Renya the 25th Army assumed the beginning November 6 by Lieutenant General Tomoyuki Yamashita was commanded. Together with the 2nd Guard Division , the 5th Infantry Division and the 3rd Panzer Brigade, together about 60,000 men, they were commissioned to take part in the Japanese invasion of the Malay Peninsula on December 7, 1941 . The 18th Division landed at Kota Bharu and quickly pushed south towards Singapore . In the Battle of Singapore , parts of the division moved to the island of Singapore on February 8, 1942, which capitulated on February 15. 80,000 Allied soldiers were taken prisoner by Japan.

At the same time as the Malay campaign was taking place, the 35th Brigade of the 18th Division under Major General Kawaguchi Kiyotake took part in the Japanese invasion of Borneo . Because of its commander, the association was called the Kawaguchi Association . The main part of the Kawaguchi formation was provided by the 124th Infantry Regiment and the 33rd Field Artillery Battalion, which landed on Borneo on December 16 .

After the conquest of Singapore had been completed, the main part of the 18th Division was  shipped to Rangoon and placed under the 15th Army . In April 1942, three Japanese attack pillars moved north through Burma, with the 18th and 55th Divisions forming the middle pillar. After heavy fighting they were able to push the 22nd and 200th Divisions of the National Chinese back towards Mandalay . On May 1, 1942, they were able to take Mandalay, Burma's second largest city.

In April 1943, the 18th Division was officially reclassified as the Triangular Division (three infantry regiments instead of four), giving its 124th regiment to the 31st Division .

From March 1944, the 18th Division took part in Operation U-gō , the Japanese offensive against troops of the British Empire that had holed up in the Indian state of Manipur . The operation ended in defeat for Japanese troops as Chindits , British-Indian troops, severely disrupted the 18th Division's supply routes. The Japanese troops withdrew to the south of Burma, where they capitulated in 1945.

structure

1907

Formation on November 13, 1907 as a square division as follows:

• 23rd Brigade
  • 46th Infantry Regiment
  • 55th Infantry Regiment
• 24th Brigade
  • 48th Infantry Regiment
  • 56th Infantry Regiment
• 22nd Cavalry Regiment
• 24th Field Artillery Regiment
• 18th Engineer and Transport Battalion

1937

In September 1937 the reorganization, again as a square division, took place as follows:

• 18th Infantry Division Headquarters
  • 23rd Brigade
    • 55th Infantry Regiment
    • 56th Infantry Regiment
  • 35th Brigade
    • 114th Infantry Regiment
    • 124th Infantry Regiment
  • 22nd Cavalry Battalion
  • 18th Mountain Artillery Regiment
  • 12th Engineer Regiment
  • 18. Signal unit
  • 12th Transport Regiment
  • 18. Medical unit

1943

In April 1943 the reclassification to a type B "Standard" division as Triangular Division took place as follows:

• 18th Infantry Division Headquarters (350 men)
• 18th Infantry Brigade
  • 55th Infantry Regiment (3275 men)
  • 56th Infantry Regiment (3275 men)
  • 114th Infantry Regiment (3275 men)
• 22nd Cavalry Battalion (600 men)
• 18th Mountain Artillery Regiment (2,100 men; 36 75 mm mountain guns)
• 12th Engineer Regiment (900 men)
• 18. Signal unit (240)
• 12th Transport Regiment (1810 men)
• 18th Supply Company (80 men)
• 18th decontamination unit (224 men)
• 18. Field hospital (three field hospitals with 250 men each)
• 18.Water supply and treatment unit (235 men)
• 18. Veterinary hospital (120 men)
• 18. Medical unit (1110 men)

Total strength: 18,344 men

guide

Division commanders

• Kimura Aritsune, Lieutenant General: November 13, 1907 - November 30, 1910
• Osako Naomichi, Lieutenant General: November 30, 1910 - December 26, 1912
• Kamio Mitsuomi, Lieutenant General: December 26, 1912 - November 26, 1914
• Saito Saburo, Lieutenant General: November 26, 1914 - May 26, 1915
• Shiba Katsusaburo, Lieutenant General: June 4, 1915 - July 25, 1919
• Kozan Kimimichi, Lieutenant General: July 25, 1919 - August 15, 1922
• Kanaya Hanzo , Lieutenant General: August 15, 1922 - May 1, 1925

• Ushijima Sadao, Lieutenant General: September 11, 1937 - July 15, 1938
• Seiichi Kuno, Lieutenant General: July 15, 1938 - February 10, 1940
• Seikichi Hyakutake, Lieutenant General: February 10, 1940 - April 10, 1941
• Renya Mutaguchi, Lieutenant General: April 10, 1941 - March 18, 1943
• Tanaka Shinichi, Lieutenant General: March 18, 1943 - September 22, 1944
• Naka Eitaro, Lieutenant General: September 22, 1944 - September 1945

See also

• Divisions of the Imperial Japanese Army

Web links

• Website about the 18th IJA division , English
• 師 団 I. Organization of IJA, 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 .
• Bill Yenne: The Imperial Japanese Army: The Invincible Years 1941–42 . Osprey Publishing, Oxford 2014, ISBN 978-1-78200-932-0 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Underwood, p. 15
2. ↑ ^{a b c d} Colin Denis: Tsingtao Campaign. gwpda.org, November 3, 2000, accessed October 19, 2014 . 
3. ^ David Askew: Defending Nanking: An Examination of the Capital Garrison Forces. (PDF) chinajapan.org, accessed October 19, 2014 . 
4. ↑ Bob Hackett, Sander Kingsepp and Anthony Tully: RISING STORM - THE IMPERIAL JAPANESE NAVY AND CHINA 1931–1941. combinedfleet.com, 2012, accessed October 19, 2014 . 
5. ↑ C. Peter Chen: Winter Offensive 1 Dec 1939 - 30 Mar 1940. ww2db.com, 2007, accessed on October 19, 2014 . 
6. ↑ Yenne, p. 87
7. ↑ Yenne, p. 88
8. ↑ Yenne, p. 91
9. ↑ Yenne, p. 278
10. ↑ Yenne, p. 280
11. ^ Underwood, p. 43
12. ^ The War in Burma 1942–1945. (No longer available online.) Archive.iwm.org.uk, archived from the original on March 30, 2014 ; Retrieved October 20, 2014 . 
13. ^ 18th Division, Regular Infantry Division (Square). niehorster.org, accessed October 22, 2015 .