20th Division (Japanese Empire)

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20th division

IJA 20th division on Papua New Guinea, 1943.jpg

Soldiers of the 20th Division in New Guinea , 1943
active December 24, 1915 to 1945
Country JapanJapan Japanese Empire
Armed forces JapanJapan (war flag) Japanese armed forces
Armed forces JapanJapan (war flag) Japanese army
Branch of service infantry
Type division
Strength approx. 25,000
Location Keijō
Nickname Asa-heidan ( 朝 兵 団 , "morning division")
Butcher Second Sino-Japanese War

Pacific War

The 20th Division ( Japanese 第 20 師 団 , Dai-nijū Shidan ) was a division of the Imperial Japanese Army , which was set up in 1915 and disbanded in 1945. Your Tsūshōgō code (military code name) was Morgen-Division ( 朝 兵 団 , Asa-heidan ) or Asa 2086 .

History of unity

The 20th Division was on 24 December 1915 as Square division set up and consisted mainly of the 39th  Infantry - Brigade (77th and 78th Infantry Regiment ), the 40th Infantry Brigade (79th and 80th Infantry regiment) and the 28th  cavalry regiment, the 26th  field artillery regiment and the 20th  pioneer - and transport - battalion . In addition to the 19th Division, it provided the garrison for Korea, which was under Japanese rule . The headquarters of the 15,000 strong division was in Keijō . The task of the division was on the one hand to provide protection against a possible invasion by China or the Soviet Union , on the other hand to prevent emerging anti-Japanese currents.

Manchuria crisis

On September 18, 1931, an explosives attack on the South Manchurian Railway was carried out near the city of Mukden . This incident was called the Mukden incident . It is certain that this incident was orchestrated by the Kwantung Army in order to obtain a reason for an invasion. This immediately attacked the nearby Chinese garrison . The army's action was allegedly not planned by the Japanese government. Since China was already in the Chinese civil war at this time and was poorly equipped militarily, the Japanese were able to take Manchuria by early 1932. The 20th Division advanced into Manchuria in December 1931, together with the 38th Brigade of the 19th Division and participated in the occupation of the same.

The puppet state of Manchukuo was established to administer Manchuria and was headed by Puyi , the former emperor of China .

Second Sino-Japanese War

Soldiers of the 77th Regiment at the Langfang train station near Beijing , shortly after the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War , July 1937

On December 1, 1936 Lieutenant General Kawagishi Bunzaburō took over the division, under whose command in 1937 the engineer and transport battalion was brought to regimental strength. Shortly thereafter, the division was ordered to the theater of the Second Sino-Japanese War , which had broken out since July 7, 1937, and took part as one of the first Japanese divisions in the Battle of Peking-Tianjin . This was followed by fighting over the Nankow Pass northwest of Beijing. In September 1937, she was moving along the Peking- Hankou railway line and was involved in fighting on the railway line . These battles went directly into the Battle of Taiyuan , which lasted until November 9, 1937 and was victorious for the Japanese. After that, the division remained in the Shanxi region until the end of 1939, but was ordered back to Korea to refresh.

Pacific War

In view of the poor outcome of the Battle of Guadalcanal , the Daihon'ei (Japanese General Staff) decided in December 1942 to order over 100,000 men to Lae on the territory of New Guinea . The company became Operation No. 81 and provided for the 20th, 41st and 51st Divisions to be brought to Lae in New Guinea in January / February 1943 to reinforce the 18th Army stationed there . While the 51st Division suffered heavy losses while approaching by sea in the Battle of the Bismarck Sea , the 20th Division arrived on January 19 without losses. A few months after their arrival in Madang , New Guinea, the commander of the 20th Division, Lieutenant General Aoki Shigemasa , died of malaria in late June 1943 and was replaced by Lieutenant General Katagiri Shigeru . Katagiri had been commissioned to build a 200 km long road with his men across the jungle to Lae.

In June 1943, the 20th Division was converted into a Triangular Division Type A "Reinforced" Division, among other things a measure by the General Staff to set up new divisions by saving one regiment. In this case, the 77th Infantry Regiment was assigned to the 30th Division .

On June 30, 1943, American and Australian troops landed in Nassau Bay to retake New Guinea. Numerous battles developed between the five landed Allied divisions and the 18th Army, in which the Japanese were pushed further and further towards the Huon Peninsula . There the battle for the Huon Peninsula developed from September 1943 , which lasted until March 1, 1944 and ended with the withdrawal of the Japanese. In April 1944, Lieutenant General Katagiri was killed in action during Allied Operation Reckless and replaced by Major General Nakai Masutaro , who was promoted to Lieutenant General that same day. In the meantime the 20th division had been reduced further and further due to fighting, illness and malnutrition and in July 1944 had only about 4,000 soldiers from the former 25,000 men. Towards the end of the war, the division only had around 1,700 survivors who surrendered to the Allies in September 1945.

The 20th division was disbanded in September 1945.

structure

1915

The 20th Division was set up on December 24, 1915 as the Karree Division as follows:

  • 20. Divisional staff
    • 39th Infantry Brigade
      • 77th Infantry Regiment
      • 78th Infantry Regiment
    • 40th Infantry Brigade
      • 79th Infantry Regiment
      • 80th Infantry Regiment
    • 28th Cavalry Regiment
    • 26th Field Artillery Regiment
    • 20th Engineer Battalion
    • 20th Transport Battalion

1943

In June 1943 the regrouping as a type A "reinforced" division took place as a triangular division as follows:

  • 20th Infantry Division Headquarters (approx. 410 men)
    • 20th Infantry Division Brigade Staff (approx. 150 men)
      • 78th Infantry Regiment (approx. 4830 men)
      • 79th Infantry Regiment (approx. 4830 men)
      • 80th Infantry Regiment (approx. 4830 men)
    • 20th reconnaissance regiment
      • Staff (approx. 30 men)
      • Mounted (approx. 300 men)
      • Type 92 tankettes (approx. 100 men)
      • 1st motorized company (approx. 160 men)
      • 2nd motorized company (approx. 160 men)
      • Supply company (approx. 100 men)
    • 20th Division Artillery Group, staff (approx. 178 men)
      • 26th Field Artillery Regiment staff (approx. 265 men)
      • 1st Battalion (8 × 75 mm guns, 8 × 105 mm howitzers (approx. 900 men))
      • 2nd Battalion (8 × 75 mm guns, 8 × 105 mm howitzers (approx. 900 men))
      • 3rd Battalion (8 × 75 mm guns, 8 × 105 mm howitzers (approx. 900 men))
    • 20th Engineer Regiment (approx. 900 men)
    • 20. Signal and telecommunication unit (approx. 220)
    • 20th Transport Regiment (approx. 2820 men)
    • 20th supply company (approx. 185 men)
    • 20. Field hospital (four field hospitals with approx. 250 men each)
    • 20. Water supply and treatment unit (approx. 160 men)
    • 20. Veterinary hospital (approx. 100 men)
    • 20. Medical unit (approx. 1000 men)

Total strength: approx. 25,428 men

guide

Division commanders

  • Joboji Goro, Lieutenant General: April 1, 1919 - February 8, 1922
  • Sugaya Shoichi, Lieutenant General: February 8, 1922 - August 20, 1924
  • Hikita Inuisaku, Lieutenant General: August 20, 1924 - July 26, 1927
  • Uehara Heitaro, Lieutenant General: July 26, 1927 - August 1, 1930
  • Shitsu Kenji, Lieutenant General: August 1, 1930 - August 8, 1932
  • Umezaki Nobutaro, Lieutenant General: August 8, 1932 - March 15, 1935
  • Miyake Koji, Lieutenant General: March 15, 1935 - December 1, 1936
  • Bunzaburō Kawagishi, Lieutenant General: December 1, 1936 - June 23, 1938
  • Ushijima Jitsutsune, Lieutenant General: June 23, 1938 - September 7, 1939
  • Shichida Ichiro, Lieutenant General: September 7, 1939 - April 10, 1941
  • Nagatsu Hisashige, Lieutenant General: April 10, 1941 - August 17, 1942
  • Aoki Shigemasa, Lieutenant General: August 17, 1942 - June 29, 1943
  • Katagiri Shigeru, Lieutenant General: July 2, 1943 - April 28, 1944
  • Nakai Masutaro, Major General: May 10, 1944 - September 1945

See also

Web links

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
  • Gordon Rottman: Japanese Army in World War II (The South Pacific and New Guinea, 1942-43) , Osprey Publishing, ISBN 978-1-8417-6870-0
  • Kengoro Tanaka: Operations of the Imperial Japanese Armed Forces in the Papua New Guinea Theater During World War II , Tokyo: Japan Papua New Guinea Goodwill Society, 1980
  • Louis G. Perez: Japan at War: An Encyclopedia , ABC-CLIO, 2013, ISBN 978-1-5988-4741-3
  • Leland Ness: Rikugun: Guide to Japanese Ground Forces 1937-1945. Helion & Company, 2014, ISBN 978-1-909982-00-0 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Madej, p. 49
  2. ↑ a b c Underwood, p. 66
  3. ↑ Ness, p. 18
  4. ↑ The war between Japan and China. Retrieved April 6, 2015 . , Japanese
  5. ↑ Madej, p. 50
  6. ^ Rottman, p. 82
  7. ^ Rottman, p. 87