2nd Division (Japanese Empire)

2nd division
Members of the 2nd Division celebrate their landing on Java on March 1, 1942
active	May 14, 1888 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
Insinuation	1st Army 6th Army 17th Army 38th Army
Nickname	Yūheidan ( 勇 兵 団 , "Brave Soldiers Division")
Butcher	First Sino-Japanese War Battle of Seonghwan Battle of Lüshunkou Russo-Japanese War Battle of the Yalu Battle of Motien Pass Battle of Liaoyang Battle of the Shaho Battle of Sandepu Battle of Mukden Manchuria Crisis. Second Sino- Japanese War. Japanese-Soviet border conflict Battle of Chalchin Gol Second World War Japanese-Soviet border conflict Japanese invasion of Java Battle for Guadalcanal Battle of Central Burma

The 2nd Division ( Japanese 第 2 師 団 , dai-ni-shidan ) was a division of the Imperial Japanese Army from 1888 to 1945 . Your Tsūshōgō code (military code name) was Brave Soldiers Division ( 勇 兵 団 , Yūheidan ) or Yūheidan 1339 .

General data

The division entered service on May 14, 1888 in Sendai and consisted of approximately 15,000 men. It was considered an elite division that fought against all opponents of the Japanese Empire in the course of its operational history ( Chinese Empire , Republic of China , Russia , Netherlands , USA , British). Your last higher-level unit was the 38th Army . Their last location was Saigon .

History of unity

Soldiers of the 2nd Division entered Mukden on November 19, 1931.

In May 1888, she has been as Square division from the 4th, 5th, 16th and 17th Infantry - Regiment with the division headquarters on the site of today's Tohoku University established. In January 1895 she took part in the storming of Weihaiwei in the First Sino-Japanese War under the orders of Lieutenant General Sakuma Samata . During the Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905, the division was commanded by Lieutenant General Nishi Kanjirō. She was subordinate to the 1st Army under the command of Kuroki Tamemoto and was distinguished by a successfully carried out night attack.

In 1931 she was stationed in Manchuria and involved in the Mukden incident ( Manchurian crisis ) and in July 1937 in the incident at the Marco Polo Bridge . In May 1938 she was used in the Battle of Xuzhou .

In 1939 the 2nd Division of the 6th Army was assigned as a strategic reserve during the Battle of Chalchin Gol . Before it could be used, an armistice was negotiated between the Soviets and the Japanese.

In 1940 the 2nd Division returned to Japan and was refreshed there.

As part of the Japanese offensive in Southeast Asia from December 1941, the 2nd Division took part in the invasion of Java in March 1942 under the command of Lieutenant General Maruyama Masao . In the Battle of Guadalcanal from August 1942 to February 1943 she was subordinate to the 17th Army and lost more than 7,000 men. On August 7, 1942, the American 1st Marine Division landed on the island and captured the Japanese airfield newly laid out on the island. In the weeks that followed, the 17th Army regained its troops to recapture the airfield, an attempt that was repulsed between September 13 and 15 in the Battle of Bloody Ridge. The 2nd Division suffered heavy losses and its remnants withdrew to the north of Guadalcanal. The heavy fighting on Guadalcanal, in which the 38th Division was also involved, lasted until February 1943. Only about 13,000 Japanese could be evacuated from the island. After that, the 2nd Division was stationed as an occupation force in Malaya and Singapore and was subordinate to the 38th Army there . From 1944 she fought in Burma against the British advancing there, where she was almost destroyed. The remnants of the division were placed under the 38th Army in French Indochina in February 1945 .

structure

1905

Status: February 1905

• 3rd brigade
  • 4th Infantry Regiment
  • 29th Infantry Regiment
• 15th Brigade
  • 16th Infantry Regiment
  • 30th Infantry Regiment
• 2nd Cavalry Regiment
• 2nd Artillery Regiment

1942 in Guadalcanal

see Handbook on Japanese Military Forces, Section II

At the end of the war in 1945

• 4th Infantry Regiment
• 16th Infantry Regiment
• 29th Infantry Regiment
• 2. reconnaissance regiment
• 2nd Field Artillery Regiment
• 2nd Engineer Regiment
• 2nd Supply Transport Regiment
• Divisional News Department
• Divisional Weapons Repair Department
• Divisional medical department
• 1. Division Field Hospital
• 2. Division Field Hospital
• 4. Division Field Hospital
• Divisional Veterinary Department
• Divisional water treatment department

guide

Division commanders

• Sakuma Samata, Lieutenant General: May 14, 1888 - April 5, 1895
• Nogi Maresuke, Lieutenant General: April 5, 1895 - October 14, 1896
• Nishi Kanjiro, Lieutenant General: October 14, 1896 - September 8, 1904
• Nishijima Jogi, Lieutenant General: September 8, 1904 - July 6, 1906
• Matsunaga Masatoshi, Lieutenant General: July 6, 1906 - February 18, 1912
• Hitoshi Shigeyuki, Lieutenant General: February 27, 1912 - February 15, 1915
• Tatsuhei Nanbu, Lieutenant General: February 15, 1915 - August 18, 1916
• Kawachi Reizo, Lieutenant General: August 18, 1916 - July 25, 1919
• Nakajima Masatake, Lieutenant General: July 25, 1919 - February 8, 1922
• Nagasaka Kensuke, Lieutenant General: February 8, 1922 - March 2, 1926
• Inoue Ichiji, Lieutenant General: March 2, 1926 - July 26, 1927
• Akai Harumi, Lieutenant General: July 26, 1927 - December 22, 1930
• Tamon Jiro, Lieutenant General: December 22, 1930 - August 1, 1933
• Prince Higashikuni Naruhiko, Lieutenant General: August 1, 1933 - August 1, 1934
• Hata Shintsugi, Lieutenant General: August 1, 1934 - August 1, 1935
• Yoshijiro Umezu, Lieutenant General: August 1, 1935 - March 23, 1936
• Okamura Yasuji Lieutenant General: March 23, 1936 - June 23, 1938
• Yasui Fuji, Lieutenant General: June 23, 1938 - November 6, 1939
• Yoshimoto Teiichi, Lieutenant General: November 6, 1939 - April 10, 1941
• Maruyama Masao, Lieutenant General: April 10, 1941 - June 10, 1943
• Okazaki Seisaburo, Lieutenant General: June 10, 1943 - February 24, 1945
• Manaki Takanobu, Lieutenant General: March 1, 1945 - August 1945

See also

• Divisions of the Imperial Japanese Army

literature

• US General Staff: Epitome of the Russo-Japanese War. US War Department. 1907 in the Google book search.
• Bill Yenne: The Imperial Japanese Army: The Invincible Years 1941-42 Osprey Publishing, 2014, ISBN 978-1-7820-0932-0 .
• Victor Madej: Japanese Armed Forces Order of Battle 1937–1945, Volume I + II , Game Marketing Company, 1981.

Web links

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

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Madej, p. 26.
2. ^ Yenne, p. 235.
3. ^ Gordon L. Rottman : Japanese Army in World War II, pp. 17 ff., 2005, Osprey Publishing, ISBN 1-841767-89-1 .
4. ↑ The Second World War: Japan is falling back, Lekturama Rotterdam 1978, 40 f.
5. ↑ US General Staff, "Epitome of the Russo-Japanese War," p. 106.
6. ↑ Chapter V: SPECIAL FORCES ( Memento of December 13, 2014 in the Internet Archive ).