2nd Panzer Division (Japanese Empire)

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2nd Panzer Division

active March 1942 to 1945
Country JapanJapan Japanese Empire
Armed forces JapanJapan (war flag) Japanese armed forces
Armed forces JapanJapan (war flag) Japanese army
Branch of service tank
Type Armored Division
Insinuation 1st regional army
14th regional army
Location Mudanjiang , Manchuria
Nickname Geki ( 撃 , "attack division")
Butcher Second Sino-Japanese War
Second World War
commander
commander GenLt Okada Tasuku
commander Lieutenant General Iwanaka Yoshiharu

The 2nd Panzer Division ( Japanese 戦 車 第 2 師 団 , Sensha Dai-ni Shidan ) was a tank division of the Imperial Japanese Army , which was established in 1942 and dissolved in 1945. Your Tsūshōgō code (military code name) was Geki ( Japanese 撃 , "attack").

General data

The 2nd Panzer Division was, along with the 1st , 3rd and 4th , one of the Panzer divisions that were set up between 1942 and 1944. The headquarters of the Panzer Division was initially in Mudanjiang , Manchuria and was relocated to Tokyo in 1945 .

History of unity

The Panzer Division was set up in March 1942 under the command of Lieutenant General Okada Tasuku and initially consisted of the 3rd Panzer Brigade (6th and 7th Panzer Regiments) and the 4th Panzer Brigade (10th and 11th tanks -Regiment), as well as the 2nd Motorized Infantry Regiment, the 2nd Motorized Artillery Regiment and other smaller units. The division was subordinate to the 1st Regional Army and was deployed in Manchuria in order to be able to counter potential attacks by the Soviet Union .

The 6th Panzer Regiment took part in the Japanese invasion of the Malay Peninsula and the Battle of Singapore in 1941/42 under the 25th Army . The regiment was commanded by Colonel Kawamura, who commanded twelve Type 95 Ha-Go light tanks and 25 of the Type 97 Chi-Ha medium tanks . The Commonwealth troops could not counter the tank attacks and so the Japanese penetrated one defensive position after the other.

In July 1944, the 2nd Panzer Division was subordinated to the 14th Regional Army in the Philippines . From October 1944 there was fighting with US-American and Filipino troops in the course of the reconquest of the Philippines , as a result of which the 2nd Panzer Division was completely destroyed.

In mid-1945 the 2nd Panzer Division was re-established in Japan and the 11th Panzer Regiment was ordered to the Kuril island of Paramushir . On August 18, 1945, it came to the Soviet invasion of Kurilengruppe in which the 11th Armored Regiment was destroyed again.

In September 1945 the 2nd Panzer Division was disbanded.

structure

Listed in March 1942 as follows:

  • 2nd Panzer Division headquarters
    • 3rd Panzer Brigade
      • 6th Panzer Regiment
      • 7th Panzer Regiment
    • 4th Panzer Brigade
      • 10th Panzer Regiment
      • 11th Panzer Regiment
    • 2nd Motorized Infantry Regiment
    • 2nd Motorized Artillery Regiment
    • 2nd anti-aircraft unit
    • 2nd tank reconnaissance unit
    • 2. Motorized anti-tank unit
    • 2nd tank pioneer unit
    • 2nd tank transport unit
    • 2nd tank maintenance unit
    • Tank telecommunications training unit

Web links

See also

literature

  • John Underwood: The Japanese Order of Battle in World War II, Vol I The Nafziger Collection, Inc., 1999, ISBN 978-1-5854-5044-2 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Underwood, p. 89.
  2. ^ Tank Formations of IJA. August 6, 2014, accessed August 20, 2014 . , English
  3. ↑ THE HISTORY OF BATTLES OF IMPERIAL JAPANESE TANKS. August 6, 2014, accessed August 20, 2014 . , English
  4. ^ Tank Formations of IJA. August 6, 2014, accessed August 20, 2014 .