Forty-Fourth Army (Japan)

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Japanese Fortieth-Fourth Army
Active 1945-01-12-1945-08-15　
Country Empire of Japan
Branch Imperial Japanese Army
Type Infantry
Role Corps
Garrison/HQ Mukden, Manchukuo
Nickname Ensei (遠征 expeditionary?)
Engagements Operation August Storm
Japanese 44th Army (1945)
Parent unit Japanese Third Area Army
Components
  • 63rd Infantry Division
  • 107th Infantry Division
  • 117th Infantry Division
  • 9th Independent Armored Brigade

The Japanese 44th Army (第44軍 Dai-yonjyū yon gun?) was an army of the Imperial Japanese Army during the final stages of World War II.

Contents

[edit] History

The Japanese 44th Army was initially raised in July 1941 as the Kwangtung Defense Army (関東防衛軍 Kanto boei gun?), an auxiliary force of the Kwantung Army based in the Manchukuo capital of Hsinking for public security and training. As the war situation on the Pacific front grew increasingly desperate for Japan, the Imperial Japanese Army transferred more and more experienced divisions out of Manchukuo to other fronts. By early 1945, the vaunted Kwantung Army was largely hollowed out, and indications of a buildup of Soviet Red Army forces on the borders on Mengjiang and Manchukuo were alarming. The Kwantung Defense Army was renamed the Japanese 44th Army on 1945-05-30 and assigned to the Japanese Third Area Army, based in southern Manchukuo. It saw combat against the Soviet Army in Operation August Storm, and was disbanded at Mukden at the surrender of Japanese forces in Manchukuo.

[edit] List of Commanders

[edit] Commanding Officer

Name From To
1 General Tomoyuki Yamashita 17 July 1941 6 November 1941
2 Lieutenant General Tatsumi Kusaba 6 November 1941 21 December 1942
3 Lieutenant General Satoshi Kinoshita 21 December 1942 7 December 1943
4 Lieutenant General Shin Yoshida 7 December 1943 1 March 1945
5 Lieutenant General Yoshio Honjo 1 March 1945 September 1945

[edit] Chief of Staff

Name From To
1 Lieutenant General Yasunori Yoshioka 17 July 1941 1 July 1942
2 Major General Senichi Tasaka 1 July 1942 16 May 1944
3 Major General Hiroshi Tamura 16 May 1944 2 October 1944
4 Major General Nobuyoshi Obata 2 October 1944 September 1945

[edit] References

  • Frank, Richard B (1999). Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire. New York: Random House. ISBN 0-679-41424-X. 
  • Jowett, Bernard (1999). The Japanese Army 1931-45 (Volume 2, 1942-45). Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1841763543. 
  • Madej, Victor (1981). Japanese Armed Forces Order of Battle, 1937-1945. Game Publishing Company. ASIN: B000L4CYWW. 
  • Marston, Daniel (2005). The Pacific War Companion: From Pearl Harbor to Hiroshima. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1841768820. 
  • Glantz, David (2003). The Soviet Strategic Offensive in Manchuria, 1945 (Cass Series on Soviet (Russian) Military Experience, 7). Routledge. ISBN 0-7146-5279-2. 

[edit] External links

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