26th Division (Japanese Empire)

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26th Division

active September 30, 1937 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. 13,000
Insinuation Garrison Army Mongolia
35th Army
Location Mudanjiang , Manchuria
Nickname Izumi-heidan ( 泉 兵 団 , "source division")
Butcher Pacific War

The 26th Division ( Japanese 第 26 師 団 , Dai-nijūroku Shidan ) was a division of the Imperial Japanese Army , which was established in 1937 and dissolved in 1945. Your Tsūshōgō code (military code name) was Quelle Division ( 泉 兵 団 , Izumi-heidan ).

History of unity

The 26th Division was on 30 September 1937 under the command of Lieutenant General Ushiroku June as a Type B "standard" division as Triangular Division set up and consisted of the 26th  Infantry - Brigade (11th, 12th and 13th Independent Infantry Regiment ) as well as the 26th  Reconnaissance Regiment , the 11th  Field Gun Regiment and the 26th  Pioneer and Transport Regiment. The headquarters of the approximately 13,000 strong division was in Nagoya , Japan .

North china

Shortly after its establishment, the 26th Division was relocated to Northern China and was subordinate to the Mongolian Garrison Army ( Northern China Regional Army ).

Philippines

Course of the battle during the Battle of Leyte in December 1944

After the Allies had advanced through the Solomon Islands and New Guinea in 1943 and early 1944 , they threatened to land in the Philippines next and thus cut off the Japanese supply routes to Indonesia , southern China and Burma . In anticipation , the Daihon'ei reinforced the troops in the Philippines and converted the 14th Army into the 14th Regional Army . The army, which had originally had two divisions, grew to 15 divisions. The reinforcements also included the 26th Division, which was withdrawn from northern China in August 1944 and placed under the 35th Army on Leyte .

On October 20, 1944, troops of the 6th US Army landed in the southern Leyte Valley and initiated the battle for Leyte . The 55,000 Japanese were compared to over 200,000 Americans. The 26th Division withdrew over the mountains in Central Leyte towards Ormoc . Between December 5 and 11, 1944, during Operation Wa , she supported the airborne company called Operation Te , which aimed to retake or destroy several airfields that had fallen into the hands of the American forces during the initial phase of the Battle of Leyte . The operations ended in failure, as the damage caused was repaired within two days.

The survivors of Operation Wa then finally withdrew to Ormoc, where the division was finally destroyed by the end of December 1944.

structure

In July 1937 the formation of a Type B "Standard" division took place as follows:

  • 26th Infantry Division Staff (90 men)
    • 26th Infantry Brigade Staff (100 men)
      • 11th Independent Infantry Regiment (2350 men)
      • 12th Independent Infantry Regiment (2350 men)
      • 13th Independent Infantry Regiment (2350 men)
    • 11th Field Artillery Regiment (1650 men)
    • 26th Reconnaissance Regiment (approx. 300 men)
    • 26. Signal unit (approx. 150)
    • 26th Engineer Regiment (600 men)
    • 26th Transport Regiment (750 men)
    • 26th field hospital (1 ×) (850 men)
      • Medical unit
      • Water supply and treatment unit
    • 26th Veterinary Hospital (60 men)
    • 26th Supply Company (185 men)

Total strength: approx. 13,700 men

guide

Division commanders

  • Ushiroku Yun , Lieutenant General: September 30 (October 5?) 1937 - August 1, 1939
  • Shigenori Kuroda, Lieutenant General: August 1, 1939 - June 30, 1941
  • Yano Otosaburo, Lieutenant General: June 30, 1941 - April 1, 1942
  • Shibayama Kenshiro, Lieutenant General: April 1, 1942 - April 8, 1943
  • Saeki Fumio, Lieutenant General: April 8, 1943 - July 18, 1944
  • Yamagata Kurihana, Lieutenant General: July 18, 1944 - February 5, 1945
  • Kurusu Takeo, Major General: February 7, 1945 - July 17, 1945

See also

Web links

literature

  • Victor Madej: Japanese Armed Forces Order of Battle, 1937-1945 . Game Publishing, 1981, OCLC 833591372 , OCLC 833591376 .
  • John Underwood: The Japanese Order of Battle in World War II, Vol I . The Nafziger Collection, Inc., 1999, ISBN 978-1-58545-044-2 .
  • Leland Ness: Rikugun: Guide to Japanese Ground Forces 1937-1945 . Helion & Company, 2014, ISBN 978-1-909982-00-0 .
  • Samuel E. Morison: History of United States Naval Operations in World War II. Vol. 12: Leyte, June 1944 – January 1945 . University of Illinois Press, 2002 ISBN 0-252-07063-1 .
  • Rottman & Takizawa: Japanese Paratroop Forces of World War II . Osprey Publishing, Oxford 2005, ISBN 978-1-8417-6903-5 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Madej, p. 54
  2. ↑ a b c Underwood, p. 16