56th Division (Japanese Empire)

56th Division
A division officer presents a regimental flag, Burma 1944
active	July 10, 1940 to 1945
Country	Japanese Empire
Armed forces	Japanese armed forces
Armed forces	Japanese army
Branch of service	infantry
Type	division
Strength	approx. 21,000
Insinuation	25th Army 14th Army 15th Army 16th Army
Location	Kurume
Nickname	Ryū-heidan ( 龍 兵 団 , "Dragon Division")
Butcher	Pacific War Invasion of the Philippines Invasion of Java Invasion of Burma Burma campaign 1944/45

The 56th Division ( Japanese 第 56 師 団 , Dai-gojūroku Shidan ) was a division of the Imperial Japanese Army , which was established in 1940 and disbanded in 1945. Your Tsūshōgō code (military code name) was Dragon Division ( 龍 兵 団 , Ryū-heidan ) or Ryū 6705 .

History of unity

The division was on 10 July 1940 the command of Lt. Gen. Watanabe Masao as Triangular Division in Kurume set up and consisted mainly of the 56th  Infantry - Brigade (113th, 146th and 148th  Regiment ) and the 56th  reconnaissance regiment, the 56th Division Artillery Group and the 56th  Engineer and Transport Regiment.

It was initially subordinate to the 25th Army and was intended for use in the Japanese invasion of Malaysia shortly before the outbreak of the Pacific War .

Philippines

On December 8th, the 16th and 48th Divisions of the 14th Army landed in the Philippines and began the conquest of the Philippines . For a short time, the 56th Infantry Brigade, named Sakaguchi Detachement after its commander, Major General Sakaguchi Shizuo , was placed under the 14th Army. From the attack base in Palau , the troop transports ran in mid-December 1941 to Mindanao in the southern Philippines , where the unit took Davao on December 20 . From there she crossed over to Jolo in the Sulu Archipelago , which fell into her hands on December 24th.

The rest of the 56th Division was meanwhile assigned to the 15th Army , which was preparing to invade Burma .

Java

Sakaguchi then led his combat group to Tarakan (→ Battle of Tarakan ) on January 11, during the Japanese invasion of Dutch East India, and to Balikpapan on January 24 . From there she crossed to Java and landed at Kragan on March 1st , with the aim of taking Tjilatjap , which fell on March 8th. The next day, the KNIL troops surrendered under Major General Pierre Antoine Cox .

In late March 1941, the Sakaguchi Detachment was shipped to Burma, where the units returned to the core of the 56th Division.

Burma 1942

Japanese conquest of Burma, April – May 1942

On January 16, 1942, the 33rd and 55th Divisions of the 15th Army invaded Burma and opened the Japanese conquest of Burma . By March 6th, Rangoon was conquered, after which the Japanese forces were reinforced by the 18th and 56th Divisions, which landed in occupied Rangoon by sea. The Japanese troops then moved northward in three attack pillars, with the city of Lashio being the target of the 56th Division. From March 19, the battle of Toungoo took place , which was defended by the Chinese 200th Division of the 66th Army. On March 29, the Chinese had to give in to Japanese pressure and, after losing nearly 80% of their troops, withdrew to China via Lashio .

At the beginning of May 1942, the Allied troops had withdrawn from Burma and the fighting subsided. The 56th Division remained as a garrison in the country during the Japanese occupation of Burma .

On December 1, 1942, Lieutenant General Matsuyama Yūzō took over the division.

Burma 1944/45

In April 1944, the 56th Division of the 33rd Army  , which was defending northeast Burma, was subordinated. In the course of the British - Indian- Chinese counter-offensive in 1944/45, the 56th Division, like the other Japanese contingents, was destroyed in August 1945 or ceased to exist as a large unit.

structure

In July 1940 it was established as a Triangular Type B "Standard" Division as follows:

• 56th Infantry Division Staff (350 men)
  • 56th Infantry Brigade Staff (100 men)
    • 113th Infantry Regiment (3275 men)
    • 146th Infantry Regiment (3275 men)
    • 148th Infantry Regiment (3275 men)
    • 56th Infantry Brigade Tanketten Company (approx. 100 men)
  • 56th Reconnaissance Association (600 men)
  • 56th Field Artillery Regiment (2,100 men; 36 Type 41 75 mm mountain guns )
  • 56. Pioneer regiment (about 1,400 men)
  • 56th telecommunication unit (approx. 240)
  • 56th Transport Regiment (approx. 2500 men)
  • 56th Supply Company (approx. 200 men)
  • 56th Medical Association (approx. 1500 men)
  • 56th Field Hospital (three field hospitals with approx. 500 men each)
  • 56th water supply and treatment unit (approx. 235 men)
  • 56th Veterinary Hospital (approx. 200 men)

Total strength: approx. 21,660 men

See also

• Divisions of the Imperial Japanese Army

Web links

• 師 団 Ⅰ. Organization of IJA, accessed January 2, 2015 .  , Japanese
• Japanese 15th Army, April 20, 1942. United States Army Combined Arms Center, accessed July 9, 2015 . 

literature

• John Underwood: The Japanese Order of Battle in World War II. Vol I, The Nafziger Collection, 1999, ISBN 1-58545-044-8 .
• 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, Conquest of the Pacific 1941–42. Osprey Publishing, 2005, ISBN 1-84176-789-1 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Madej, p. 81
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Underwood, p. 33.
3. ^ Rottman, p. 16
4. ^ Frank McLynn: The Burma Campaign: Disaster into Triumph , 1942-1945. 1957, p. 57

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . Thus Watanabe is the family name, Masao the first name.