Japanese Fifth Army

Japanese 5th Army (1945)
Parent unit	Japanese First Area Army
Components	124th Infantry Division 126th Infantry Division 135th Infantry Division 15th Border Patrol Brigade 1st Engineering Brigade

The Japanese 5th Army (第5軍 , Dai-go gun^?) was an army of the Imperial Japanese Army based in Manchukuo as a garrison force under the overall command of the Kwantung Army.

[edit] History

The Japanese 5th Army was initially raised on 7 December 1937 in Manchukuo as a garrison force to guard the eastern borders against possible incursions by the Soviet Red Army. It was temporarily disbanded on 26 February 1938, but was re-established on 19 May 1939. It afterwards came under the command of the Japanese First Area Army.

During the invasion of the Soviet Army in Operation August Storm, its forces were no match for the experienced battle-hardened Soviet armored divisions, and were driven back into defensive positions in Andong Province along the Korean border by the time of the surrender of Japan.

	Name	From	To
1	General Mikio Furusho	8 Dec 1937	26 Feb 1938
2	General Kenji Doihara	19 May 1939	28 September 1940
3	Lieutenant General Shigeichi Hada	28 September 1940	15 October 1941
4	Lieutenant General Jo Iimura	15 October 1941	29 October 1943
5	Lieutenant General Toshimichi Uemura	29 October 1943	27 June 1944
6	Lieutenant General Noritsune Shimizu	27 June 1944	September 1945

	Name	From	To
1	Lieutenant General Masatake Shina	8 Dec 1937	26 Feb 1938
2	Lieutenant General Shizuo Kurashige	19 May 1939	9 March 1940
3	Lieutenant General Shira Makino	9 March 1940	24 April 1941
4	Lieutenant General Senichi Tasaka	24 April 1941	1 July 1942
5	Major General Masazumi Ineda	1 July 1942	22 February 1943
6	Lieutenant General Tadasu Kataoka	22 February 1943	3 August 1944
7	Major General Shigesada Kawagoe	3 August 1944	September 1945

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