Japanese Third Army

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Japanese Third Army

IJA 3rd Army at Port Arthur, 1904
Active May 1904-Aug 1945　
Country Empire of Japan
Branch Imperial Japanese Army
Type Infantry
Role Corps
Garrison/HQ Yanji, Manchukuo
Nickname Iwa (岩 rock?)
Engagements Russo-Japanese War
Operation August Storm
Japanese 3rd Army (30 July 1945)
Parent unit Japanese First Area Army
Components
  • 3rd Army Headquarters
    • 132nd Independent Mixed Brigade
    • 101st Mixed Regiment
    • 101st Mixed Regiment
    • 2nd Heavy Artillery Regiment
    • 3rd Heavy Artillery Regiment
    • Tungning Heavy Artillery Regiment
    • 2nd Independent Heavy Artillery Company
    • 1st Independent Heavy Mortar Company
    • 55th Signal Regiment
    • Najin Fortress Garrison
    • Najin Fortress Artillery Unit
    • 460th Specially Established Guard Battalion
    • 623d Specially Established Guard Company
    • 651st Specially Established Guard Company
  • 79th Infantry Division
  • 122th Infantry Division
  • 127th Infantry Division
  • 128th Infantry Division

The Japanese 3rd Army (第3軍 Dai-san gun?) was an army of the Imperial Japanese Army based in Manchukuo as a garrison force under the overall command of the Kwantung Army.

Contents

[edit] History

The Japanese 3rd Army was initially raised during the Russo-Japanese War under the command of General Nogi Maresuke. In the initial stages of the war, its primary mission was the Siege of Port Arthur. After the fall of that Russian stronghold, it was transferred north, where it played a crucial role in the subsequent Japanese drive towards Mukden in the closing stages of the war. It was disbanded at the end of the war.

The Japanese 3rd Army was raised again on 13 January 1938 in Manchukuo as a garrison force to guard the eastern borders against possible incursions by the Soviet Red Army. It afterwards came under the command of the Japanese First Area Army in July 1942.

During the invasion of the Soviet Army in Operation August Storm, its forces were no match for the experienced battle-hardened Soviet Army, and it was forced back from various locations in Kirin province to the Korean border, surrendering at the end of the war in Yanji and Hunchun, in what is now part of the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture

[edit] List of Commanders

[edit] Commanding officer

Name From To
1 General Nogi Maresuke August 1904 January 1906
2 General Otozo Yamada 13 January 1938 10 December 1938
3 General Hayao Tada 10 December 1938 12 September 1939
4 General Kamezo Suetaka 12 September 1939 1 March 1941
5 General Masamitsu Kawabe 1 March 1941 17 August 1942
6 Lieutenant General Eitaro Uchiyama 17 August 1942 7 February 1944
7 Lieutenant General Hiroshi Nemoto 7 February 1944 22 November 1944
8 Lieutenant General Murakami Keisaku 22 November 1944 September 1945

[edit] Chief of Staff

Name From To
1 Major General Ijichi Kousuke August 1904 January 1905
2 Major General Masatoshi Matsunaga February 1905 March 1905
3 Major General Ichinohe Hyoe March 1905 January 1906
4 Lieutenant General Akita Nakamura 20 January 1938 14 April 1938
5 Lieutenant General Teiichi Suzuki 14 April 1938 10 December 1938
6 Lieutenant General Masami Maeda 10 December 1938 9 March 1940
7 Lieutenant General Toshimichi Uemura 9 March 1940 1 April 1941
8 Lieutenant General Takezo Numata 1 April 1941 1 July 1942
9 Major General Akio Doi 1 July 1942 11 March 1943
10 Major General Tatsuhiko Takashima 11 March 1943 16 December 1944
11 Major General Hanjiro Ikeya 16 December 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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