5th Division (Japanese Empire)

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5th division

Hiroshima Chindai Headquarters.JPG

Hiroshima Chindai, Hiroshima, the former headquarters of the 5th Division.
active May 14, 1888 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 15,000-20,000
Location Hiroshima
Nickname Koi-heidan ( 鯉 兵 団 , "carp division")
Butcher First Sino-Japanese War

Boxer Rebellion
Russo-Japanese War

Battle of Te-li-ssu
Battle of Tashihchiao
Battle of Hsimucheng
Battle of Liaoyang
Battle of the Shaho
Battle of Mukden

Siberian Intervention
Sino-Japanese War
Pacific War

Japanese invasion of the Malay Peninsula
Battle of Singapore

The 5th Division ( Japanese 第 5 師 団 , Dai-go shidan ) was a division of the Imperial Japanese Army , which existed from 1888 to 1945 . Your Tsūshōgō code (military code name) was Karpfen-Division ( 鯉 兵 団 , Koi-heidan ) or Koi 5171 or Koi 5191 .

General data

The origins of the 5th Division go back to the troops stationed in the Hiroshima Garrison. On the recommendation of the Prussian military advisor Jakob Meckel , the first six divisions were formed from the six regional commands that had existed since 1871. The division was activated on May 14, 1888 in Hiroshima and comprised about 15,000 men. She fought in the course of her operational history in the First and Second Sino -Japanese War , the Russo-Japanese War and the Pacific War . Their last location was Seram (formerly Ceram), the second largest island in the Moluccas archipelago .

History of unity

Lt. General Takuro Matsui , 5th Division Commander, during the Battle of Singapore .
Landing of 5th Division during the Malay invasion.

In May 1888 it was formed as a square division from the 9th Brigade (11th and 41st Infantry Regiment) and 21st Brigade (21st and 42nd Infantry Regiment), the 5th Cavalry Regiment and the 5th Artillery -Regiment established.

In 1895 she took part in the First Sino-Japanese War.

In 1900, under the command of Lieutenant General Motoomi Yamaguchi, it provided the main Japanese contingent in the suppression of the Boxer Rebellion .

During the Russo-Japanese War 1904–1905, she was initially subordinate to the 2nd Army under the command of Lieutenant General Ueda Arisawa and landed in May 1904 at Pitzuwo, about 80 km northeast of Port Arthur. Shortly thereafter, she took part in the battles of Te-li-ssu and Tashihchiao . In the last-mentioned battle, in Ueda's opinion, she had neglected her duty on the first day of the battle to achieve the goal set for her. Therefore, Ueda asked his commander in chief, General Oku Yasukata, for permission to carry out a night attack. The request was granted and on the night of July 25th the 5th Division attacked the Russian positions by moonlight. Three lines of defense were successfully overrun and the positions held thereafter. The night attack was thus one of the decisive factors for the successful outcome of the battle.

At the end of July, the division was assigned to the 4th Army and took part in the Battle of Hsimucheng . Subsequently, the 2nd and 4th Armies united to take part in the battles of Liaoyang and the Shaho . On November 2, 1904, Lieutenant General Kigoshi Yasutsuna took over the division, which was subsequently again subordinated to the 2nd Army , with which it took part in the Battle of Sandepu and the Battle of Mukden .

From 1918 to 1922 the 5th Division was involved in the Siberian Intervention . She was part of the Entente Powers that supported the White Army in the Russian Civil War against the Bolshevik Red Army . In the course of the operation, all ports and major cities in the Russian province of Primorye and eastern Siberia were occupied. Given the withdrawal of their allies and the high costs, the Japanese soldiers also withdrew in October 1922.

From 1937 the 5th Division took part in the Second Sino-Japanese War. It was one of the three home divisions whose relocation to northern China in July 1937 marked the beginning of the expansion of the fighting after the incident at the Marco Polo Bridge on July 7th. The division took part in 1937 under Itagaki Seishirō in the Battle of Peking-Tianjin , the Chahar Operation and the Battle of Taiyuan . In 1938 he took part in the Battle of Xuzhou before the division was moved to southern China to take part in the operation against Canton .

Soldiers of the 5th Division during the Japanese invasion of French Indochina near Đồng Đăng, 1940

From February 9, 1940, the division was subordinate to the 22nd Army and was primarily responsible for garrison service in the Chinese province of Guangxi . On September 22, 1940, parts of the 5th Division supported the Indochina Expeditionary Army in their invasion of northern French Indochina in order to cut off the supply lines of the national Chinese who were supplied via the railway lines from the French colony.

Victorious Japanese troops march into downtown Singapore, February 1942.

During the Pacific War , the 5th Division, under the command of Lieutenant General Takuro Matsui, was one of three Japanese divisions of the 25th Army that participated in the Japanese invasion of the Malay Peninsula and the Battle of Singapore , the greatest defeat of a force led by British officers led in history. Over 80,000 British, Indian and Australian soldiers were taken prisoners of war.

At the end of the Pacific War, her last location was on Seram (formerly Ceram), the second largest island in the Moluccas archipelago , where she was subordinate to the 19th Army .

structure

1888

  • 9th Brigade
    • 11th Infantry Regiment
    • 41st Infantry Regiment
  • 21st Brigade
    • 21st Infantry Regiment
    • 42nd Infantry Regiment
  • 5th Cavalry Regiment
  • 5th Artillery Regiment
  • 5th Engineer Regiment
  • 5th Transport Regiment

At the end of the war in 1945

  • 11th Infantry Regiment
  • 21st Infantry Regiment
  • 42nd Infantry Regiment
  • 5th Field Artillery Regiment
  • 5th Special Operations Regiment
  • 5th Engineer Regiment
  • 5th Transport Regiment

guide

Division commanders

  • Nozu Michitsura, Lieutenant General: May 14, 1888 - November 29, 1894
  • Oku Yasukata, Lieutenant General: November 29, 1894 - October 14, 1896
  • Yamaguchi Motomi, Lieutenant General: October 14, 1896 - March 17, 1904
  • Ueda Arisawa, Lieutenant General: March 17, 1904 - November 2, 1904
  • Kigoshi Yasutsuna, Lieutenant General: November 2, 1904 - September 3, 1909
  • Otani Kikuzo, Lieutenant General: September 3, 1909 - May 24, 1915
  • Ohara Den, Lieutenant General: May 24, 1915 - August 6, 1917
  • Fukuda Miyabi, Lieutenant General: August 6, 1917 - October 10, 1918
  • Yamada Ryuichi, Lieutenant General: October 10, 1918 - March 8, 1919
  • Suzuki Shoroku, Lieutenant General: March 18, 1919 - June 15, 1921
  • Yamada Rikutsuchi, Lieutenant General: June 15, 1921 - August 6, 1923
  • Kishimoto Shika, Lieutenant General: August 6, 1923 - July 28, 1926
  • Maki Tatsuyuki, Lieutenant General: July 28, 1926 - August 10, 1928
  • Haraguchi Hatsutaro, Lieutenant General: August 10, 1928 - August 1, 1930
  • Terauchi Hisaichi, Lieutenant General: August 1, 1930 - January 9, 1932
  • Ninomiya Harushige, Lieutenant General: January 9, 1932 - March 5, 1934
  • Koiso Kuniaki, Lieutenant General: March 5, 1934 - December 2, 1935
  • Hayashi Kei, Lieutenant General: December 2, 1935 - March 1, 1937
  • Itagaki Seishiro, Lieutenant General: March 1, 1937 - May 25, 1938
  • Andō Rikichi, Lieutenant General: May 25, 1938 - November 9, 1938
  • Hitoshi Imamura, Lieutenant General: November 9, 1938 - March 9, 1940
  • Nakamura Akito, Lieutenant General: March 9, 1940 - October 15, 1940
  • Takuro Matsui, Lieutenant General: October 15, 1940 - May 11, 1942
  • Yamamoto Tsutomu, Lieutenant General: May 11, 1942 - October 2, 1944
  • Yamada Seiichi, Lieutenant General: October 2, 1944 - August 15, 1945
  • Kobori Kinjo, Major General: August 15, 1945 - September 1945

See also

literature

Web links

  • 師 団 Ⅰ. Organization of IJA, accessed January 2, 2015 . , Japanese

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Madej, p. 30
  2. ↑ US General Staff, p. 107
  3. ^ Kowner, p. 105