6th Division (Japanese Empire)

6th division
Soldiers of the 2nd Battalion of the 23rd Regiment attack Shashi , June 8, 1940.
active	May 12, 1888 to 1945
Country	Japanese Empire
Armed forces	Japanese armed forces
Armed forces	Japanese army
Branch of service	infantry
Type	division
Strength	15,000-20,000
Location	Kumamoto
Nickname	Akari-heidan ( 明 兵 団 , "light division")
Butcher	First Sino-Japanese War Russo-Japanese War Battle of Tashihchiao Battle of Liaoyang Battle of the Shaho Battle of Mukden Mukden Incident Second Sino-Japanese War Battle for Nanking Battle of Xuzhou Battle for Wuhan Second World War

The 6th Division ( Japanese 第 6 師 団 , Dai-roku shidan ) was a division of the Imperial Japanese Army , which existed from 1888 to 1945 . Your Tsūshōgō code (military code name) was Light Division ( 明 兵 団 , Akari-heidan ) or 9015 or 9016 .

General data

The origins of the 6th Division go back to the troops stationed in the Kumamoto 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 12, 1888 in Kumamoto 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 on the island of Bougainville in the Pacific , where the remnants of the division with the other Japanese units surrendered to US and Australian troops on August 21, 1945 .

History of unity

In May 1888 it was formed as a square division from the 11th Brigade (13th and 45th Infantry Regiment) and 24th Brigade (23rd and 48th Infantry Regiment), the 6th Cavalry Regiment and the 6th Artillery -Regiment established.

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

During the Russo-Japanese War 1904–1905, she was initially subordinate to the 3rd Army under the command of Lieutenant General Ōkubo Haruno and landed in May 1904 at Dalny, about 30 km northeast of Port Arthur. Shortly afterwards she took part in the battles of Tashihchiao , Liaoyang , Shaho and Mukden .

From 1931 to 1932 the 6th Division took part in the occupation of Manchuria immediately after the Mukden incident .

Soldiers from the Ikeda unit cross a tributary of the Han River during the Battle of Zaoyang-Yichang .

From 1937 the 6th Division took part in the Second Sino-Japanese War and was assigned to the 10th Army from October 20, 1937 to February 14, 1938 . From May 1, 1940 to June 18, 1940, the battle of Zaoyang-Yichang took place, in which parts of the 6th Division, named after their commander Ikeda Naomi Ikeda unit , took part.

During the Second World War , their last location was on the island of Bougainville ( 17th Army ) in the Pacific , where the division surrendered on August 21, 1945 after months of fighting with the other Japanese units.

structure

1888

• 11th Brigade
  • 13th Infantry Regiment
  • 45th Infantry Regiment
• 24th Brigade
  • 23rd Infantry Regiment
  • 48th Infantry Regiment
• 6th Cavalry Regiment
• 6th Artillery Regiment

At the end of the war in 1945

• 13th Infantry Regiment
• 23rd Infantry Regiment
• 45th Infantry Regiment
• 6th Field Artillery Regiment
• 6th Engineer Regiment
• 6th Transport Regiment

guide

Division commanders

• Yamaji Motoharu, Lieutenant General: May 14, 1888 - June 7, 1890
• Nozaki Sada Kiyoshi, Lieutenant General: June 7, 1890 - December 8, 1892
• Prince Kitashirakawa Yoshihisa , Lieutenant General: December 8, 1892 - November 10, 1893
• Kuroki Tamemoto, Lieutenant General: November 10, 1893 - October 14, 1896
• Ibaraki Ken (Akira?), Lieutenant General: October 14, 1896 - April 25, 1900
• Iseratomo Yoshinari, Lieutenant General: April 25, 1900 - May 5, 1902
• Ōkubo Haruno, Lieutenant General: May 5, 1902 - July 6, 1906
• Nishijima Jogi, Lieutenant General: July 6, 1906 - September 3, 1909
• Kigoshi Yasutsuna, Lieutenant General: September 3, 1909 - September 6, 1911
• Umezawa Michiharu, Lieutenant General: September 6, 1911 - October 4, 1915
• Akashi Motojirō, Lieutenant General: October 4, 1915 - June 6, 1918
• Koike Yasuyuki, Lieutenant General: June 10, 1918 - June 28, 1921
• Yamada Torao, Lieutenant General: June 28, 1921 - November 24, 1922
• Kanzo Yuhara, Lieutenant General: November 24, 1922 - March 2, 1926
• Hikosuke Fukuda, Lieutenant General: March 2, 1926 - August 1, 1929
• Sadao Araki, Lieutenant General: August 2, 1929 - August 1, 1931
• Sakamoto Seimigi, Lieutenant General: August 1, 1931 - March 5, 1934
• Kashii Kohei, Lieutenant General: March 5, 1934 - December 2, 1935
• Hisao Tani, Lieutenant General: December 2, 1935 - December 28, 1937
• Inaba Shiro, Lieutenant General: December 28, 1937 - December 1, 1939
• Kacumoto Machijiri, Lieutenant General: December 1, 1939 - April 1, 1941
• Masatane Kanda, Lieutenant General: April 1, 1941 - April 1, 1945
• Akinaga Tsutomi, Lieutenant General: April 1, 1945 - August 1945

See also

• Divisions of the Imperial Japanese Army

literature

• US General Staff: Epitome of the Russo-Japanese War . US War Department, 1907.
• Rotem Kowner : The A to Z of the Russo-Japanese War. Scarecrow Press, Lanham 2009, ISBN 978-0-8108-6841-0 .
• Victor Madej: Japanese Armed Forces Order of Battle 1937–1945. Volume I + II, Game Marketing Company, 1981.

Web links

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

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Madej, p. 31
2. ↑ US General Staff, p. 106
3. ^ Kowner, p. 105