Thirty-First Army (Japan)

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Japanese Thirty First Army

Japanese POWs at Guam at time of the surrender of Japan
Active 1944-02-18-1945-08-15
Country Empire of Japan
Branch Imperial Japanese Army
Type Infantry
Role Corps
Garrison/HQ Truk
Engagements Operation Hailstone
Battle of Saipan
Battle of Guam
Japanese 31st Army (1945)
Parent unit Imperial General Headquarters
Components

Southern Marianas Force

  • 29th Infantry Division
  • IJA 48th Independent Infantry Brigade

Northern Marianas Force

  • 43rd Infantry Division
  • IJA 47th Independent Infantry Brigade

Truk Garrison Force

  • 52nd Infantry Division
  • IJA 50th Independent Infantry Brigade
  • IJA 51st Independent Infantry Brigade
  • IJA 52nd Independent Infantry Brigade

The Japanese 31th Army (第31軍 Dai-sanjyū-ichi gun?) was an army of the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II.

Contents

[edit] History

The Japanese 31st Army was formed on 18 February 1944 under the Imperial General Headquarters as a garrison force to contest landings by Allied forces in the Japanese South Seas Mandate island-by-island, and to inflict such losses in a war of attrition that it would deter an American invasion of the Japanese home islands. The South Seas Mandate was divided into three sections (Northern Mariana Islands, southern Mariana Islands, and Truk). The 80,000 man Japanese 31st Army was initially headquartered on Truk.

After Operation Hailstone, the Japanese garrison on Truk was isolated as American forces continued their advance towards Japan by invading other Pacific islands. Cut off, the Japanese forces on Truk and other central Pacific islands ran low on food and faced starvation before Japan surrendered in August 1945. (Stewart, 1986)

The garrisons in the Marianas were largely annihilated at the Battle of Saipan and Battle of Guam.

[edit] List of Commanders

[edit] Commanding officer

Name From To
1 General Hideyoshi Obata 25 February 1944 11 August 1944
2 Major General Yoshitomo Tamura 11 August 1944 22 August 1944
3 Lieutenant General Toshisaburo Mugikura 22 August 1944 1 September 1945

[edit] Chief of Staff

Name From To
1 Major General Keiji Igeta 25 February 1944 6 July 1944
2 Major General Yoshitomo Tamura 14 July 1944 11 August 1944

[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. 
  • Denfeld, D. Colt (1997). Hold the Marianas: The Japanese Defense of the Mariana Islands. White Mane Pub. ISBN 1-57249-014-4. 
  • Goldberg, Harold J. (2007). D-day in the Pacific: The Battle of Saipan. Indiana University Press. ISBN 0-253-34869-2. 
  • Jones, Don (1986). Oba, The Last Samurai. Presidio Press. ISBN 0-89141-245-X. 

[edit] External links

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