British Commonwealth Occupation Force

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Inspection of New Zealand soldiers by John Northcott , 1946

The British Commonwealth Occupation Force ( BCOF ) was the occupation force of the Commonwealth of Nations in occupied Japan after World War II .

history

Gurkha Battalion in Kure, 1946

In the course of the surrender of the Japanese troops in late summer 1945, the first units of the Royal Australian Navy landed near Tokyo on August 30th . The BCOF was officially set up on February 21, 1946 and was supposed to occupy the provinces of Shimane , Yamaguchi , Tottori , Okayama , Hiroshima and Shikoku and carry out the dismantling and demilitarization there . The headquarters were in Kure .

In addition to the British, soldiers from Australia , New Zealand and India also belonged to the occupation forces. India and the UK presented here the BRINDIV - Division , each consisting of a British brigade of and two British Indian Army was. This also included Gurkha associations. The New Zealand troops, however, were combined in the so-called J Force , which consisted in part of the 9th Brigade of the New Zealand Army and comprised about 4,000 men. The BCOF was also supported by the Women's Auxiliary Service, an all-female supply force that had previously served in Burma . In addition, the occupation forces belonged to several aviation associations, which were referred to as BCAIR .

In 1952 the British Commonwealth Occupation Force was disbanded, but some units found themselves as part of the UN forces in the Korean War .

units

infantry

Air Force

Further

  • Women's Auxiliary Service

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ [1]