Fifth Army (Japan)

Japanese Fifth Army
Active January 15, 1905 – August 15, 1945 
Country Empire of Japan
Branch Imperial Japanese Army
Type Infantry
Role Corps
Garrison/HQ Andong, Manchukuo
Nickname(s) Jōshudan (城集団 Castle)
Engagements Soviet invasion of Manchuria

The Japanese 5th Army (第5軍 Dai-go gun) was an army of the Imperial Japanese Army based in Manchukuo from the Russo-Japanese War until the end of World War II. During World War II it was under the overall command of the Kwantung Army.

History

Russo-Japanese War

The Japanese 5th Army was initially raised on January 15, 1905 in the final stages of the Russo-Japanese War under the command of General Kawamura Kageaki out of only the 11th Infantry Division and three reserve brigades.[2] It took successfully part in the battle of Mukden, when the 5th Army flanked the Russian left wing. It was disbanded at Mukden in January, 1906 after the signing of the Treaty of Portsmouth at the end of the war.

Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II

The Japanese 5th Army was raised again 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
1 General Kawamura Kageaki15 January 1905 January 1906
X Disbanded
2 General Motoo Furusho8 December 1937 26 February 1938
X Disbanded
3 General Kenji Doihara19 May 1939 28 September 1940
4 Lieutenant General Shigeichi Hada28 September 1940 15 October 1941
5 Lieutenant General Jo Iimura15 October 1941 29 October 1943
6 Lieutenant General Toshimichi Uemura29 October 1943 27 June 1944
7 Lieutenant General Noritsune Shimizu27 June 1944 September 1945

Chief of Staff

Name From To
1 Major General Uchiyama Kojirō15 January 1905 January 1906
X Disbanded
2 Lieutenant General Masatake Shina8 December 1937 26 February 1938
X Disbanded
3 Lieutenant General Shizuo Kurashige19 May 1939 9 March 1940
4 Lieutenant General Shira Makino9 March 1940 24 April 1941
5 Lieutenant General Senichi Tasaka24 April 1941 1 July 1942
6 Major General Masazumi Ineda1 July 1942 22 February 1943
7 Lieutenant General Tadasu Kataoka22 February 1943 3 August 1944
8 Major General Shigesada Kawagoe3 August 1944 September 1945

Notes

References

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, February 13, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.