35th Division (Japanese Empire)

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35th division

active February 7, 1939 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 1939: approx.17,000
1944: approx.12,000
Insinuation North China Regional Army
12th Army
2nd Army
Location Tokyo
Nickname Higashi-heidan ( 東 兵 団 , "Eastern Division")
Butcher Second Sino-Japanese War

Pacific War

The 35th Division ( Japanese 第 35 師 団 , Dai-sanjūgo Shidan ) was a division of the Imperial Japanese Army , which was set up in 1939 and disbanded in 1945. Your Tsūshōgō code (military code name) was Eastern Division ( 東 兵 団 , Higashi-heidan ) or Higashi 2935 or Higashi 2937 .

History of unity

The 35th Division was on 7 February 1939 the command of Lieutenant General Maeda Osamu than Type B "Standard" Division as Triangular Division set up and consisted of the 35th  Infantry - Brigade (219th, 220th and 221st Regiment) and the 25  Tanketten - company , the fourth self-employed mountain artillery regiment and the 35th  pioneer - and transport regiment. The headquarters of the 17,000 strong division was in Tokyo , Japanese Empire .

Second Sino-Japanese War

The division was shipped to the theater of the Second Sino-Japanese War in May 1939 after it was set up and was subordinate to the China Garrison Army ( Northern China Regional Army ). There she was used mainly in the provinces of Shanxi and Henan as a garrison unit in the hinterland to fight partisans .

From 1940 to March 1944 the division was stationed in Kaifeng in northern China. At the end of 1943 began a phase of regrouping the division, in which the mountain artillery regiment and the tankette company were disbanded. In addition, the pioneer and transport unit was drastically reduced in size, which reduced the division to a strength of 12,000 men by March 1944.

Pacific War

In April 1944, the Daihon'ei ordered reinforcements to be moved to the Southwest Pacific to counter the Allied advance. For this, the 219th regiment embarked Qingdao in order via Palau to New Guinea to be laid. The rest of the division was loaded in Shanghai and was to be transported to northwest New Guinea via Manila and Halmahera . For this purpose, a ship convoy was put together in Shanghai, the Take Ichi convoy (Eng. "Ship Association Bambus Eins") was called and consisted of 10 warships , 2 submarines and 15 troop carriers . In addition to the 35th division, the 32nd division was also on board the transport ships.

Using intercepted radio messages, the American submarine USS Jack was able to sight the convoy northwest of the coast of Luzon on the morning of April 26, and shortly afterwards sank the cargo ship Yoshida Maru . A complete regiment of the 32nd Division was on the ship. All approximately 3,000 people on the ship perished in the rapid sinking. The remaining Japanese ships continued their voyage and reached Manila on April 29 without further incident.

On May 6, the USS Gurnard discovered the convoy in the Celebes Sea near the northeastern tip of Sulawesi . The boat attacked the Japanese transporters and hit three of them with three torpedo compartments. The Gurnard attacks sank the transport ships Aden Maru and Tajima Maru and the cargo ship Tenshinzan Maru . Despite the rescue measures initiated, 1,290 people were killed in the attacks and large amounts of material were lost. Due to its heavy losses, the Take Ichi convoy was ordered to call at Halmahera instead of continuing towards New Guinea. He reached the island without incident on May 9th. Both divisions disembarked there before the ships began their march back to Manila on May 13, where they arrived on May 20 without losses.

Until the end of May, the remnants of the 35th Division were transported to Sorong in western New Guinea, while the 32nd Division remained on Halmahera. At the same time, from May 27, 1944, the Battle of Biak took place on the island of the same name, which is about 300 km from Sorong. Three companies of the 35th Division immediately set out to support the 36th Division , which was defending Biak . The Japanese, who were crossing over on small boats, were completely wiped out by August 1944. The reinforcement of Biak by further soldiers of the 35th was considered, but did not take place because of the Allied air superiority.

In mid-June it became clear that the Allies could also occupy the neighboring island of Noemfoor , so orders were given to send the 3rd Battalion of the 219th Regiment as reinforcements. The anticipated landing took place on July 2, 1944. Of the 2,000-strong garrison, 1,730 fell.

The remainder of the division remained at Sorong, where they held out until the end of the war in September 1945, without being involved in further combat operations. The 35th Division was disbanded shortly afterwards and the surviving soldiers were brought to Japan.

structure

In February 1939 it was set up as the Triangular Type B "Standard" Division as follows:

  • Staff (250 men)
    • Staff 35th Infantry Brigade (100 men)
      • 219th Infantry Regiment (3250 men)
      • 220th Infantry Regiment (3250 men)
      • 221st Infantry Regiment (3250 men)
    • 25th Tankette Company (100 men) 1
    • 4th Independent Mountain Artillery Regiment (2100 men; 36 Type 41 75 mm mountain guns ) 1
    • 35th Engineer Regiment (956 men) 2
    • 35.Signal unit (240)
    • 35th Transport Regiment (1,810 men) 3
    • 35th Supply Company (110 men)
    • 35th Field Hospital (310 men)
    • 35th water supply and treatment unit (235 men)
    • 35th Veterinary Hospital (40 men)

Total strength: 16,251 men

1 Disbanded at the end of 1943
2 In March 1944 downsized to 175 men and renamed the 35th pioneer unit
3 In March 1944 downsized to 370 men and renamed the 35th transport unit

guide

Division commanders

  • Maeda Osamu, Lieutenant General: March 9, 1939 - May 23, 1940
  • Harada Kumakichi, Lieutenant General: May 25, 1940 - March 2, 1942
  • Shigeta Tokumatsu, Lieutenant General: March 2, 1942 - February 28, 1942
  • Sakanishi Kazuyoshi, Lieutenant General: February 28, 1942 - March 4, 1944
  • Ikeda Shunkichi, Lieutenant General: March 4, 1944-1945

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 .
  • Charles Willoughby: Reports of General MacArthur: Japanese Operations in the Southwest Pacific Area Volume II - Part I. Washington DC: United States Government Printing Office, 1966
  • Robert Ross Smith: The Approach to the Philippines. CENTER OF MILITARY HISTORY UNITED STATES ARMY WASHINGTON, DC, 1996

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Madej, p. 62
  2. ↑ Japanese Officer. (No longer available online.) United States Army Combined Arms Center, archived from the original on September 28, 2015 ; Retrieved August 3, 2015 (Japanese). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / admiral3166.ddo.jp
  3. ↑ a b Underwood, p. 21.
  4. ↑ a b Madej, p. 63
  5. ^ Willoughby, p. 272.
  6. ↑ a b c Clay Blair: Silent Victory. The US Submarine War Against Japan. 2001, p. 623.
  7. ↑ a b c Willoughby, p. 273.
  8. ↑ Edward J. Drea: MacArthur's ULTRA. Codebreaking and the war against Japan, 1942-1945. 1992, p. 130.
  9. ↑ CombinedFleet.com: IJN Minelayer Shirataka: Tabular Record of Movement. Retrieved August 17, 2012.
  10. ^ Smith, p. 233
  11. ^ Smith, p. 350
  12. ^ Smith, p. 363