Japanese Fourteenth Area Army

The Japanese Fourteenth Area Army (第14方面軍, Dai-jyūyon hōmen gun^?) was a field army of the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II.

History

The Japanese 14th Army was formed on November 6, 1941 under the Southern Expeditionary Army Group for the specific task of invading and occupying the Philippines. It initially consisted of the IJA 16th Division, IJA 48th Division, IJA 56th Division and 65th Independent Mixed Infantry Brigade. In January 1942, the 48th Division was detached and re-assigned to the Japanese Sixteenth Army for the invasion of the Netherlands East Indies.^[1] but was replaced with 4th Division in which General Homma despised it so much as the battle of the Philippines wasn't over yet and requested more reinforcements. With this 10th Independent Garrison was sent to the Philippines and 21st Division Infantry Group, also sent was 1st Field Artillery Headquarters to command the field artillery units. 4th and 7th Tank Regiments were part of the 14th Army as well as 1st, 8th, 16th Field Artillery Regiments and the 9th Independent Field Artillery Battalion. This Army was responsible for the Bataan Death March after the surrender of US and Filipino forces in Bataan, 65th Independent Brigade was also accused of the Mariveles Massacre. After the surrender of the Corregidor Island and remaining forces of southern Philippines, General Homma was immediately replaced by General Tanaka Shizuichi

In June 1942, the 14th Army came under the direct control of Imperial General Headquarters; however, the Southern Expeditionary Army Group from its headquarters in Saigon continued to issue orders, at times in conflict with orders received from Tokyo, and its commanding officer, General Masaharu Homma was plagued by insubordination by junior officers who used the situation to issue orders without his approval or to countermand orders with which they did not agree.^[2] In March 1944, the 14th Army officially reverted to the control of the Southern Expeditionary Army Group.

In July 1942, the IJA 4th Division came under control of the 14th Army, as did the IJA 30th Division, which was assigned to the defense of Mindanao.

As the war situation continued to deteriorate for Japan, and Allied forces began preparations for invading the Philippines, the 14th Army restructured its Independent Infantry Brigades and reserves to form the new IJA 100th Division, IJA 102nd Division, IJA 103rd Division, and IJA 105th Divisions.

On July 28, 1944, the Japanese 14th Army officially became the Japanese 14th Area Army. Two more divisions (the IJA 8th Division and IJA 10th Division) arrived in August 1944 as reinforcements, and also in August, the Japanese 35th Army also came under its control.

In the various battles of the Philippines campaign (1944–45) against combined American and Philippine Commonwealth armed forces in Leyte, Mindanao and parts of Luzon, the Japanese 14th Area Army suffered over 350,000 casualties, including virtually all of the 18,000 man IJA 16th Infantry Division in the Battle of Leyte.

The 14th Area Army was responsible for the Palawan Massacre of December 14, 1944.

List of Commanders

Commanding Officer

Chief of Staff

References

Books

• Breuer, William B. (1986). Retaking The Philippines: America's Return to Corregidor & Bataan, 1944-1945. St Martin's Press. ASIN B000IN7D3Q. 
• 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. 
• Nalty, Bernard (1999). War in the Pacific: Pearl Harbor to Tokyo Bay : The Story of the Bitter Struggle in the Pacific Theater of World War II. University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0806131993. 
• Rottman, Gordon (2005). Japanese Army in World War II: "The South Pacific and New Guinea, 1942-43" (Battle Orders). Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1841767891. 
• Weist, Andrew A (2005). The Pacific War: Campaigns of World War II (The Campaigns of World War II). Motorbooks International. ISBN 0760311463. 

External links

• Wendel, Marcus. "Axis History Factbook". Japanese Fourteenth Area Army. http://www.axishistory.com/index.php?id=6748. 

Notes