Third Army (Japan)

The Japanese 3rd Army (第3軍, Dai-san gun) was an army of the Imperial Japanese Army based in Manchukuo as a garrison force under the overall command of the Kwantung Army during World War II, but its history dates to the Russo-Japanese War.

Japanese Third Army
IJA 3rd Army at Port Arthur, 1904
ActiveMay 1904-August 1945　
Country Empire of Japan
Branch Imperial Japanese Army
TypeInfantry
RoleCorps
Garrison/HQYanji, Manchukuo
Nickname(s)Iwa (岩, rock)
EngagementsRusso-Japanese War
Soviet invasion of Manchuria

History

The Japanese 3rd Army was initially raised during the Russo-Japanese War under the command of General Nogi Maresuke. In the initial stages of the war, its primary mission was the Siege of Port Arthur. After the fall of that Russian stronghold, it was transferred north, where it played a crucial role in the subsequent Japanese drive towards Mukden in the closing stages of the war. It was disbanded at the end of the war.

The Japanese 3rd Army was raised again on January 13, 1938, in Manchukuo as a garrison force to guard the eastern borders against possible incursions by the Soviet Red Army. It afterwards came under the command of the Japanese First Area Army in July 1942. As the war situation deteriorated for the Japanese in southeast Asia, the more experienced units and much of the equipment of the IJA 3rd Army were transferred to other units.

During the Soviet invasion of Manchuria, its poorly trained and under-equipped forces were no match for the experienced battle-hardened Soviet Army, and it was forced back from various locations in Kirin province to the Korean border, surrendering at the end of the war in Yanji and Hunchun, in what is now part of the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture of northeast China.

List of commanders

Commanding officer
NameFromTo
1General Nogi MaresukeAugust 1904January 1906
2General Otozō Yamada13 January 193810 December 1938
3General Hayao Tada10 December 193812 September 1939
4General Kamezo Suetaka12 September 19391 March 1941
5General Masakazu Kawabe1 March 194117 August 1942
6Lieutenant General Eitaro Uchiyama17 August 19427 February 1944
7Lieutenant General Hiroshi Nemoto7 February 194422 November 1944
8Lieutenant General Murakami Keisaku22 November 1944September 1945

Chief of Staff
NameFromTo
1Major General Ijichi KōsukeAugust 1904January 1905
2Major General Masatoshi MatsunagaFebruary 1905March 1905
3Major General Ichinohe HyoeMarch 1905January 1906
4Lieutenant General Aketo Nakamura20 January 193814 April 1938
5Lieutenant General Teiichi Suzuki14 April 193810 December 1938
6Lieutenant General Masami Maeda10 December 19389 March 1940
7Lieutenant General Toshimichi Uemura9 March 19401 April 1941
8Lieutenant General Takezo Numata1 April 19411 July 1942
9Major General Akio Doi1 July 194211 March 1943
10Major General Tatsuhiko Takashima11 March 194316 December 1944
11Major General Hanjiro Ikeya16 December 1944September 1945

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.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.