Twenty-Third Army (Japan)

The Japanese 23rd Army (第23軍, Dai-nijyusan gun) was an army of the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II.

Japanese Twenty-Third Army
ActiveJune 26, 1941 - August 15, 1945
CountryEmpire of Japan
BranchImperial Japanese Army
TypeInfantry
RoleCorps
Garrison/HQGuangdong
EngagementsSecond Sino-Japanese War
Commanders
Notable
commanders
Hitoshi Imamura
Takashi Sakai
Hisakazu Tanaka

History

The Japanese 23rd Army was established on June 26, 1941, under the command of the Imperial General Headquarters. It was transferred to the control of the China Expeditionary Army on August 12 of the same year. It was based in Guangdong province and on Hainan Island to replace the Southern China Area Army which was disbanded June 26, 1941.

The Japanese 23rd Army was primarily a garrison force to deter the possible landings of Allied forces in southern China. It was involved in the Battle of Guilin-Liuzhou (part of Operation Ichi-Go) from August–November 1944. The Japanese 23rd Army surrendered to the Chinese Kuomintang forces on August 15, 1945, with the surrender of Japan and was disbanded in Guangzhou.

After the war, Imamura, Sakai, and Tanaka were all tried and convicted of war crimes. Sakai and Tanaka were tried in China and executed, while Imamura received a life sentence from an Australian military court. He was released in 1954. Viewing his own sentence as too lenient, Imamura built his own prison in which he imprisoned himself until his death in 1967.

List of Commanders

Commanding officer

NameFromTo
1General Hitoshi Imamura28 June 19416 November 1941
2Lt. General Takashi Sakai6 November 19411 March 1943
3Lt. General Hisaichi Tanaka1 March 19439 September 1945

Chief of staff

NameFromTo
1Lt. General Seizo Arisue28 June 194115 September 1941
2Lt. General Tadamichi Kuribayashi15 September 194110 June 1943
3Major General Yosuke Adachi10 June 194316 December 1944
4Major General Katsunobu Uzawa16 December 194415 April 1945
5Major General Naosuke Tomita15 April 19451 September 1945

See also

References

Books

  • Dorn, Frank (1974). The Sino-Japanese War, 1937-41: From Marco Polo Bridge to Pearl Harbor. MacMillan. ISBN 0-02-532200-1.
  • Madej, Victor (1981). Japanese Armed Forces Order of Battle, 1937-1945. Game Publishing Company. ASIN: B000L4CYWW.
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