41st Division (Japanese Empire)

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41st Division

active June 30, 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 approx. 20,000
Insinuation 1st Army
18th Army
Location Yongsan , Korea
Nickname Kawa-heidan ( 河 兵 団 , "river division")
Butcher Second Sino-Japanese War

Pacific War

The 41st Division ( Japanese 第 41 師 団 , Dai-yonjū-ichi Shidan ) was a division of the Imperial Japanese Army , which was established in 1939 and disbanded in 1945. Your Tsūshōgō code (military code name) was River Division ( 河 兵 団 , Kawa-heidan ) or Kawa 3560 .

History of unity

The 41st Division was founded on June 30, 1939 under the command of Lieutenant General Moritake Tanabe as Triangular Division in Utsunomiya , placed Japan and consisted mainly of the 41th  Infantry - Brigade (237th, 238th and 239th Infantry Regiment ) the 41st  Cavalry Regiment , the 41st  Mountain Artillery Regiment and the 41st Engineer and Transport Regiment. The headquarters of the 15,000-strong division was in Yongsan-gu , Korea .

During the Second Sino-Japanese War , the division was ordered to China in October 1939 in the Shanxi Province , where it was subordinate to the 1st Army and took over security tasks in the hinterland . From March 1, 1941, Lieutenant General Shimizu Tsunenori took over the division. On July 1, 1942, Tsunenori was replaced by Lieutenant General Abe Heisuke .

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 planned to bring the 20th , 41st and 51st Divisions to Lae in New Guinea in January / February 1943 in order to strengthen the 18th Army stationed there . While the 51st Division suffered heavy losses while approaching by sea in the Battle of the Bismarck Sea , the 41st Division arrived in Madang , New Guinea in February via the Tsingtau and Palau stations without losses .

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 the fighting, Lieutenant General Abe was wounded and was replaced by Lieutenant General Mano Gorō . In the meantime the 41st Division had been reduced further and further due to fighting, illness and malnutrition and in July 1944 had only about 8,500 soldiers from the 20,000 men it had previously. Towards the end of the war, the division had only a few survivors who surrendered to the Allies in September 1945.

The 41st Division was disbanded in September 1945.

structure

In June 1939 it was set up as a Type B "Standard" Division as a Triangular Division as follows:

  • 41st Infantry Division staff (approx. 410 men)
    • 41st Infantry Brigade Staff (approx. 150 men)
      • 237th Infantry Regiment (approx. 3845 men)
      • 238th Infantry Regiment (approx. 3845 men)
      • 239th Infantry Regiment (approx. 3845 men)
    • 41st Cavalry Regiment (approx. 600 men)
    • 41st Mountain Artillery Regiment (2100 men; 36 Type 41 75 mm mountain guns )
    • 41st Engineer Regiment (approx. 900 men)
    • 41.Signal and telecommunication unit (approx. 220)
    • 41st Transport Regiment (approx. 2820 men)
    • 41st Supply Company (approx. 185 men)
    • 41st Medical Unit (approx. 1000 men)
    • 41st Field Hospital (three field hospitals with approx. 250 men each)
    • 41. Water supply and treatment unit (approx. 160 men)
    • 41st Veterinary Hospital (approx. 100 men)

Total strength: approx. 20,686 men

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 978-1-84176-870-0
  • 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

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Madej, p. 68
  2. ↑ a b Underwood, p. 25
  3. ^ Rottman, p. 87