Japanese Third Area Army

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Japanese Third Area Army

Capitulation of Japanese forces in Manchuria
Active 1943-10-29-1945-08-15
Country Empire of Japan
Branch Imperial Japanese Army
Type Infantry
Role Field Army
Garrison/HQ Mukden
Nickname 強 (Kyō = “mighty”)
Engagements Operation August Storm
Japanese Third Area Army (1943-1945)
Parent unit Kwangtung Army
Components
  • Japanese 30th Army
  • Japanese 44th Army
  • 108th Infantry Division
  • 136th Infantry Division
  • 79th Independent Mixed Brigade
  • 130th Independent Mixed Brigade
  • 134th Independent Mixed Brigade
  • 1st Independent Armored Brigade

The Japanese Third Area Army (第3方面軍 Dai san hōmen gun?) was a field army of the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II, based in southern Manchukuo and active in combat against the Soviet Union in the very final stages of the war.[1]

Contents

[edit] History

The Japanese 3rd Area Army was formed on 1943-10-29 under the control of the Kwangtung Army as a military reserve and garrison force to maintain security and public order in southern Manchukuo as many veteran divisions of the Kwangtung Army were transferred to the various southern fronts in the Pacific War. It consisted mostly of minimally-trained reservists, conscripted students and home guard militia, without adequate weapons or supplies. [2] The 3rd Area Army was headquartered in Mukden.

The units of the 3rd Area Army proved to be no match for the Red Army when the Soviet Union invaded Manchukuo in Operation August Storm towards the end of World War II. General Jun Ushiroku refused orders from Kwantung Army Headquarters to retreat, and launched a counterattack along the Mukden-Port Arthur railway, along which many Japanese civilians were fleeing. However, General Uchiroku was hampered by lack of armor and by insufficient ammunition, and by 13 August 1945, his formations were largely shattered. A mutiny by the Manchukuo Imperial Army at Shinkyō ended his attempts to regroup. [3] Many surviving soldiers of the 3rd Area Army, including General Ushiroku, became prisoners in Siberia and other parts of the Soviet Union after the surrender of Japan on 1945-08-15.

[edit] List of Commanders

[edit] Commanding officer

Name From To
1 Lieutenant General Naozaburo Okabe 29 October 1943 25 August 1944
2 General Jun Ushiroku 25 August 1944 15 August 1945

[edit] Chief of Staff

Name From To
1 Major General Yo Watanabe 29 October 1943 26 October 1944
2 Major General Masao Yano 26 October 1944 23 March 1945
3 Major General Kazama Otsubo 23 March 1945 23 March 1945

[edit] References

[edit] Books

  • Frank, Richard B (1999). Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire. New York: Random House. ISBN 0-679-41424-X. 
  • Glantz, David (2003). The Soviet Strategic Offensive in Manchuria, 1945 (Cass Series on Soviet (Russian) Military Experience, 7). Routledge. ISBN 0-7146-5279-2. 
  • 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. 
  • Hasegawa, Tsuyoshi. Racing the Enemy: Stalin, Truman, and the Surrender of Japan. Belknap Press. ISBN 0-674-01693-9. 

[edit] External links

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Jowett, The Japanese Army 1931-45
  2. ^ Frank, Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire
  3. ^ Glantz, The Soviet Strategic Offensive in Manchuria, 1945