38th Division (Japanese Empire)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

38th Division

228 regiment in HK.jpg

Soldiers of the 228th Regiment of the 38th Division march into the city after the fall of Hong Kong , December 1941.
active February 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 18,000-23,000
Insinuation 21st Army
23rd Army
16th Army
17th Army
Location Nagoya
Nickname Numa-heidan ( 沼 兵 団 , "swamp division")
Butcher Second Sino-Japanese War

Second World War

The 38th Division ( Japanese 第 38 師 団 , San-jūhachi Shidan ) was a division of the Imperial Japanese Army , which was established in 1939 and dissolved in 1945. Your Tsūshōgō code (military code name) was Swamp Division ( 沼 兵 団 , Numa-heidan ) or 38D .

History of unity

The division was in February 1939 under the command of Lieutenant General Fujii Yoji as Triangular Division in Nagayo set up and consisted mainly of the 38th  Infantry - Brigade (228th, 229th and 230th Infantry Regiment), the 38th-Tanketten company, 38th  mountain artillery regiment and the 38th  pioneer - and transport - regiment .

In December 1939, after only ten months of training, the 20,000-strong division was shipped to Guangzhou in China , where it was subordinate to the 21st Army .

In June 1941, the 38th Division, now under Lieutenant General Sano Tadayoshi , was placed under the newly formed 23rd Army , which was tasked with the conquest of Hong Kong ( Operation C ). Major General Itō Takeo was in command of the 38th Infantry Brigade . The 228th Regiment was commanded by Colonel Doi Teihichi, the 229th Regiment by Colonel Tanaka Ryōsaburō and the 230th Infantry Regiment by Colonel Shōji Toshishige . In November 1941 the division numbered 23,228 men. In addition, it was reinforced with the 66th Infantry Regiment of the 55th Division and a few units of heavy artillery (including Type 45 24 cm howitzers ) to attack the crown colony defended by almost 14,000 British , Canadian , Indian and Chinese soldiers .

At 3:55 a.m. on December 8, 1941 Hong Kong time, nine hours before the attack on Pearl Harbor , the 23rd Army, and with it the 38th Division, reached the code word Blossom Blossom and 11 minutes later Lieutenant General Sano gave the order to Attack on Hong Kong. The Japanese landed on Hong Kong Island on December 18 and the British Governor Sir Mark Young had to surrender on December 25 . During and after the fighting, Japanese war crimes committed against Allied soldiers and civilians captured and wounded. After the war, Major General Itō was brought before a war crimes tribunal in Rabaul and sentenced to death on May 24, 1946 . However, at the end of the same year he was pardoned and returned to Japan.

For the conquest of Java , which was part of the Dutch East Indies , the division was placed under the 16th Army . A battalion from the 229th Regiment secured Banka Island off the coast of Palembang during the Battle of Palembang . The remnants of the 229th Regiment (Colonel Tanaka) plus the 3rd Battalion of the 230th Regiment drove up the Musi River to support the paratroopers who had landed at Palembang .

In the second phase of the conquest of Southeast Asia, the 229th regiment landed in Portuguese Timor near Dili on February 20, 1942 and held it occupied. The 230th regiment went ashore on March 1, 1942 near Kragan on Java.

In autumn 1942, the 38th Division of the 17th Army was placed on Guadalcanal and took part in the Battle of Guadalcanal . On August 7, 1942, the American 1st Marine Division landed on the island and captured the newly created Japanese airfield, which was named Henderson . 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. In addition to the 2nd Division, more and more parts of the 38th Division were brought to Guadalcanal under the command of Lieutenant General Sano Tadayoshi, so that in mid-October around 20,000 men were ready to attack. In mid-November 1942, other parts of the 38th Division landed and intervened in the fighting over the Matanikau River. In the fighting, which lasted until February 8, 1942, the 38th Division was largely destroyed. From the remnants of the 230th Regiment, the 40th Independent Mixed Brigade was founded in 1944  under Major General Itō. The rest of the division never regained full strength and in 1945 it was disbanded.

structure

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

  • 38th Infantry Division Headquarters (350 men)
    • 38th Infantry Brigade Leadership (100 men)
      • 228th Infantry Regiment (3800 men)
      • 229th Infantry Regiment (3800 men)
      • 233rd Infantry Regiment (3800 men)
    • 38th Tankette Company (100 men)
    • 38th Mountain Artillery Regiment (2100 men; 36 Type 41 75 mm mountain guns )
    • 38th Engineer Regiment (900 men)
    • 38.Signal unit (240)
    • 38th Transport Regiment (2800 men)
    • 38th Supply Company (80 men)
    • 38th Field Hospital (two field hospitals with 250 men each)
    • 38th water supply and treatment unit (200 men)
    • 38th Veterinary Hospital (50 men)
    • 38th Medical Unit (700 men)

Total strength: 19,520 men

guide

Division commanders

  • Fujii Yoji, Lieutenant General: October 2, 1939 - June 20, 1941
  • Sano Tadayoshi, Lieutenant General: June 20, 1941 - June 10, 1943
  • Kagesa Sadaaki, Lieutenant General: June 10, 1943 - September 1945

See also

Web links

literature

  • John Underwood: The Japanese Order of Battle in World War II. Vol I, The Nafziger Collection, 1999, ISBN 1-58545-044-8 .
  • Gordon Rottman: Japanese Army in World War II, Conquest of the Pacific 1941–42. Osprey Publishing, 2005, ISBN 1-84176-789-1 .
  • Benjamin Lai: Hong Kong 1941-45, First Strike in the Pacific War. Osprey Publishing, 2014, ISBN 978-1-78200-268-0 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Underwood, p. 23.
  2. ^ Rottman, p. 17.
  3. ↑ Lai, p. 13.
  4. ^ Wartime Infantry Division (Triangular). (No longer available online.) World War II Armed Forces, archived from the original on October 21, 2014 ; accessed on January 11, 2015 .
  5. ↑ Lai, p. 19.
  6. ↑ Lai, p. 15.
  7. ↑ Lai, p. 37.
  8. ↑ a b Rottman, p. 80.
  9. ↑ The Second World War: Japan is falling back , Lekturama Rotterdam 1978, pp. 40–52.