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Fifth Army (Japan)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Japanese Fifth Army
ActiveJanuary 15, 1905 – August 15, 1945 
CountryEmpire of Japan
BranchImperial Japanese Army
TypeInfantry
RoleCorps
Garrison/HQAndong, Manchukuo
Nickname(s)Jōshudan (城集団, Castle)
EngagementsSoviet 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

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Russo-Japanese War

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The Japanese 5th Army, then known as the Yalu River 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

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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

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Commanding officer

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Name From To
1 General Kawamura Kageaki 15 January 1905 January 1906
X Disbanded
2 Lieutenant General Motoo Furusho 8 December 1937 26 February 1938
X Disbanded
3 Lieutenant General Kenji Doihara 19 May 1939 28 September 1940
4 Lieutenant General Shigeichi Hada 28 September 1940 15 October 1941
5 Lieutenant General Jo Iimura 15 October 1941 29 October 1943
6 Lieutenant General Toshimichi Uemura 29 October 1943 27 June 1944
7 Lieutenant General Shimizu Tsunenori 27 June 1944 September 1945

Chief of Staff

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Name From To
1 Major General Uchiyama Kojirō 15 January 1905 January 1906
X Disbanded
2 Lieutenant General Masatake Shina 8 December 1937 26 February 1938
X Disbanded
3 Lieutenant General Shizuo Kurashige 19 May 1939 9 March 1940
4 Lieutenant General Shiro Makino 9 March 1940 24 April 1941
5 Lieutenant General Senichi Tasaka 24 April 1941 1 July 1942
6 Major General Masazumi Inada 1 July 1942 22 February 1943
7 Lieutenant General Tadasu Kataoka 22 February 1943 3 August 1944
8 Major General Shigesada Kawagoe 3 August 1944 September 1945

Notes

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  1. ^ US General Staff 1907, p. 105.
  2. ^ Kowner 2009, p. 180.

References

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  • 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.
  • US General Staff (1907). Epitome of the Russo-Japanese War. US War Department.
  • Kowner, Rotem (2009). The A to Z of the Russo-Japanese War. Scarecrow Press Inc. ISBN 978-0-8108-6841-0.
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