Air Main Army
|
Air Main Army |
|
|---|---|
| active | April 15, 1945 to September 1945 |
| Country |
 Japanese Empire
|
| Armed forces |
 Japanese armed forces
|
| Armed forces |
Japanese army
|
| Branch of service | air force |
| Type | Main army ( army group ) |
| Location | Tokyo |
| Nickname | Sui ( 帥 , "commander") |
| Butcher | Pacific War |
The main air Army ( Jap. 航空総軍 , Koku Sōgun ) was a main Army ( military group ) of the military air force of the Imperial Japanese Army during the Pacific War . In 1945, it was one of three main armies alongside the 1st and 2nd armies that were set up on the Japanese mainland because of the feared Allied landings . Your Tsūshōgō code (military code name) was the commander ( 帥 , Sui ).
history
In the spring of 1945 the situation for the Japanese Empire had worsened dramatically, because from November 1944 the strategic bombing of Japan by B-29 bombers was significantly expanded after the Marianas had been captured and the airfields there became available. The attacks were originally directed mainly against industrial facilities and from March 1945 onwards were generally aimed at urban areas. Carrier-based and after the conquest of Okinawa started bombers attacked in 1945 in addition to Japan, the October 1945 planned invasion of the main islands prepare.
In the course of this dangerous situation for Japan, and also in the sense of Operation Ketsu-gō , the Daihon'ei decided in early April 1945 to found the Air Main Army on April 15. On the occasion, the two branches of the army and the navy overcame their rivalry and united their respective air forces. The Commander in Chief of the Air Army became General Kawabe Masakazu . While the strength of the Air Main Army looked considerable on paper, the existing aircraft and personnel strength were worrying. The 10th Air Division had only 95 operational aircraft of the original 400 aircraft in the summer of 1944. The 11th Air Division had shrunk from 200 to 130 aircraft.
The main air army waged a desperate battle against the growing number of B-29 attacks. According to US reports, the B-29 crews were able to shoot down 914 Japanese fighters , 456 of which exploded in midair. Another 770 fighters were damaged. According to Japanese figures, the Air Main Army recorded around 4,000 fighter casualties during the anti-aircraft battle for Japan , 1,450 of them in aerial battles. Approx. 300 B-29 bombers were shot down by the main air force. Nevertheless, the area-wide bombing of industrial plants, and later also civil targets, could not be prevented or restricted.
The Air Main Army was disbanded after the end of the war in September 1945.
Commander in chief
Commanders
| Surname | From | To | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | General Kawabe Masakazu | April 7, 1945 | September 1945 |
Chiefs of Staff
| Surname | From | To | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Lieutenant General Tafukuto | April 6, 1945 | September 1945 |
Subordinate units
The following units were subordinate to the Air Main Army:
- 51st Air Division
- 52nd Air Division
- 53rd Air Division
- 20th Combat Squadron
- 30. Combat Squadron
- 12th hunting squadron
- 12th hunting squadron
-
1st Air Army
- 10th Air Division
- 11th Air Division
- 12th Combat Squadron
-
2nd Air Army
- 15. Independent Combat Squadron
- 101st Independent Training Combat Squadron
-
5th Air Army
- 1st Combat Squadron
- 2nd Combat Squadron
- 8th Combat Squadron
- 105. Independent Training Combat Squadron
- 5th Air Force Communications Squadron
-
6th Air Army
- 12th Air Division
- 27. Combat Squadron
- 1st Air Force Communications Squadron
- Railway Corps
- Shipping Corps
literature
- Clayton KS Chun: Japan 1945 . Osprey Publishing, Oxford, 2008. ISBN 978-1-84603-284-4 . (English)
- Steven Zaloga: Defense of Japan 1945 . (= Fortress, Volume 99). Osprey Publishing, Oxford, 2010. ISBN 978-1-8460-3687-3 . (English)
- DM Giangreco: Hell to Pay: Operation DOWNFALL and the Invasion of Japan, 1945-47. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, 2009. ISBN 978-1-5911-4316-1 . (English)
Web links
- 総 軍 ・ 方面軍. Organization of IJA, accessed January 2, 2015 (Japanese).
- List of Higher Echeron Army Headquarters. Organizations of IJA & N, accessed January 1, 2015 .
- Japanese Homeland Land Armies, April 8, 1945. Combined Arms Research Library, accessed November 30, 2015 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e Zaloga, p. 54
- ↑ Japanese Air General Army, May 1945. (No longer available online.) United States Army Combined Arms Center, archived from the original on January 8, 2016 ; accessed on January 8, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Japanese Air General Army, July - August 1945. (No longer available online.) United States Army Combined Arms Center, archived from the original on January 8, 2016 ; accessed on January 8, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
