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Japanese 5th Army (1938) |
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| | Parent unit | |
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| | Components |
- 11th Infantry Division
- 24th Infantry Division
- 12th Border Patrol Brigade
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Japanese 5th Army (1945) |
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| | Parent unit | |
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| | Components |
- 124th Infantry Division
- 126th Infantry Division
- 135th Infantry Division
- 15th Border Patrol Brigade
- 1st Engineering Brigade
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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 during World War II under the overall command of the Kwantung Army.
History
The Japanese 5th Army was initially raised on December 7, 1937 in Manchukuo as a garrison force to guard the eastern borders against possible incursions by the Soviet Red Army. As it was based on the eastern frontier, it was not a participant in the Nomonhan Incident, but was temporarily disbanded on February 26, 1938. It was re-established on May 19, 1939 under the direct control of the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff. It afterwards came under the command of the Japanese First Area Army, under the overall command of the Kwantung Army, and was used primarily as a training and garrison force. Its equipment and experienced troops were siphoned off to other commands in the southeast Asia theatre of operations as the war situation gradually deteriorated for Japan. By the time of the Soviet invasion of Manchuria, its poorly equipped and poorly trained forces were no longer a match for the experienced battle-hardened Soviet armored divisions, and it was driven back into defensive positions in Andong Province along the Korean border by the time of the surrender of Japan. It was formally disbanded at Jixi.
List of Commanders
Commanding officer
| | Name | From | To |
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| 1 | General Motoo Furusho | 8 December 1937 | 26 February 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 |
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Chief of Staff
| | Name | From | To |
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| 1 | Lieutenant General Masatake Shina | 8 December 1937 | 26 February 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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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 1-84176-354-3.
- 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 1-84176-882-0.
- Glantz, David (2003). The Soviet Strategic Offensive in Manchuria, 1945 (Cass Series on Soviet (Russian) Military Experience, 7). Routledge. ISBN 0-7146-5279-2.
External links