7th Division (Japanese Empire)

7th division
active	May 12, 1896 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	Asahikawa
Nickname	Kuma-heidan ( 熊兵 団 , "Bear Division")
Butcher	Russo-Japanese War Siege of Port Arthur Battle of Mukden Siberian Intervention Japanese-Soviet Border Conflict Second Sino-Japanese War Second World War Battle for Guadalcanal

The 7th Division ( Japanese 第 7 師 団 , Dai-nana Shidan ) was a division of the Imperial Japanese Army , which existed from 1896 to 1945.

General data

The 7th Division was the first newly founded division after the first divisions of the Imperial Japanese Army had been formed from the six regional commands that had existed since 1871 on the recommendation of the Prussian military adviser Jakob Meckel in 1888 . Responsible for Hokkaidō was the headquarters of the 15,000 strong division in Asahikawa , where it was disbanded in September 1945.

History of unity

Fallen Japanese soldiers from Colonel Ichiki's regiment, half-buried under sand by the tide.

In May 1896 it was formed as a square division from the 13th Brigade (25th and 26th Infantry Regiment) and 14th Brigade (27th and 28th Infantry Regiment), the 7th Cavalry Regiment and the 7th Artillery -Regiment established.

During the Russo-Japanese War 1904–1905 she was initially subordinate to the 3rd Army under the command of Lieutenant General Ōsako Naotoshi , with whom she only intervened in the siege of Port Arthur at the end of 1904 . After the victorious end of the siege, the 7th Division marched as quickly as possible to Mukden to take part in the last great battle of the war, the Battle of Mukden .

From 1918 to 1922 the 7th 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.

In 1939 the 7th Division was involved in the Nomonhan incident , which was disastrous for Japan . In 1940 the division was converted into a triangular division with three regiments.

During the Pacific War , the division's 28th regiment, under the command of Colonel Ichiki Kiyonao, was scheduled for the Midway invasion . Due to the Japanese defeat in the Battle of Midway , the regiment was diverted to Guadalcanal , where it was almost destroyed during the Battle of Guadalcanal . Of the 2500 soldiers in the 28th regiment, only 140 returned to Japan.

The division remained on Hokkaidō until the end of the war , where it was subordinate to the 5th Regional Army and was disbanded on Hokkaidō in September 1945.

structure

1896

• 13th Brigade
  • 25th Infantry Regiment
  • 26th Infantry Regiment
• 14th brigade
  • 27th Infantry Regiment
  • 28th Infantry Regiment
• 7th Cavalry Regiment
• 7th Artillery Regiment

At the end of the war in 1945

• 26th Infantry Regiment
• 27th Infantry Regiment
• 28th Infantry Regiment
• 7th Cavalry Regiment
• 7th Field Artillery Regiment
• 7th Engineer Regiment
• 7th Transport Regiment

guide

Division commanders

• Nagayama Takeshiro, Major General: May 12, 1896 - April 25, 1900
• Ōsako Naotoshi, Naoharu, Lieutenant General: April 25, 1900 - July 6, 1906
• Ueda Arisawa, Lieutenant General: July 6, 1906 - December 21, 1908
• Uehara Yusaku, Lieutenant General: December 21, 1908 - September 6, 1911
• Hayashi Taichiro, Lieutenant General: September 6, 1911 - May 11, 1914
• Utsunomiya Taro, Lieutenant General: May 11, 1914 - August 18, 1916
• Fujii Saiwaitsuchi, Lieutenant General: August 18, 1916 - November 25, 1919
• Naiya Tatsujiro, Lieutenant General: November 25, 1919 - August 6, 1923
• Kunischi Gonana, Lieutenant General: August 6, 1923 - March 2, 1926
• Watanabe Jōtarō , Lieutenant General: March 2, 1926 - March 14, 1929
• Arai Kametaro, Lieutenant General: March 16, 1929 - August 1, 1931
• Sato Nenosuke, Lieutenant General: August 1, 1931 - August 1, 1933
• Sugihara Miyotaro, Lieutenant General: August 1, 1933 - August 1, 1935
• Usami Kyoya, Lieutenant General: August 1, 1935 - March 23, 1936
• Mike Kazuo, Lieutenant General: March 23, 1936 - August 2, 1937
• Sonobe Waichiro, Lieutenant General: August 2, 1937 - August 1, 1939
• Kunisaki Noboru, Lieutenant General: August 1, 1939 - November 6, 1941
• Koito Koichi, Lieutenant General: November 6, 1941 - September 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 .

Web links

• 師 団 Ⅰ. Organization of IJA, accessed January 2, 2015 .  , Japanese
• Japanese Forces in Outer Mongolia Nomonhan Incident June - September 1939. http://usacac.army.mil , accessed December 19, 2017 . 

Individual evidence

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