First General Army (Japan)

Infobox Military Unit
unit_name= First General Army


caption=
dates= 1945-04-08-1945-11-30
country= Empire of Japan
allegiance=
branch= Imperial Japanese Army
type= Infantry
role= Army group
garrison=Tokyo
nickname= nihongo|Toho|東方|Eastern
battles=Operation DownfallThe nihongo|First General Army|第1総軍 (日本軍)|Dai-ichi Sōgun was an army group of the Imperial Japanese Army responsible for the defense of eastern and northern Honshū, including the Tōkai and Kantō regions during the final stage of Pacific War.

History

The First General Army was established on 8 April 1945 with the dissolution of the General Defense Command into the First and Second General Army. It was essentially a home guard and garrison, responsible for civil defense, anti-aircraft defenses, and for organizing guerilla warfare cells in anticipation of the projected Allied invasion of the Japanese home islands in Operation Downfall (or nihongo|Operation Ketsugō|決号作戦|Ketsugō sakusen in Japanese terminology). Although its territory encompassed all of northern Japan, its primary mission was to ensure the security of the heavily populated Kantō region, which included Tokyo. Its forces consisted mostly of poorly-trained and poorly-armed reservists, conscripted students and home guard militia.

The First General Army remained active for several months after the surrender of Japan to help maintain public order until the arrival of the American occupation forces, and to oversee the final demobilization and dissolution of the Imperial Japanese Army.

Commanders

Commanding officer

=Chief of Staff=

Organization

* Japanese Eleventh Area Army
**IJA 50th Army
**IJA 72nd Division
**IJA 142nd Division
**IJA 222nd Division
**IJA 322nd Division
**IJA 113rd Independent Combined Brigade
*Japanese Twelfth Area Army
**IJA 36th Army
**IJA 51st Army
**IJA 52nd Army
**IJA 53rd Army
** Tokyo Port Defense Brigade
**IJA 321st Division
**IJA 1st Anti-Aircraft Brigade
**Tokyo Defense Army
**IJA 66th Independent Combined Brigade
**IJA 67th Independent Combined Brigade
*Japanese Thirteenth Area Army
**IJA 54th Army
**IJA 73rd Division
**IJA 153rd Division
**IJA 229th Division
**IJA 8th Independent Combined Brigade
**IJA 2nd Anti-Aircraft Brigade

ee also

*Armies of the Imperial Japanese Army

References

Books

*cite book
last = Brooks
first = Lester
year = 1968
title = Behind Japan's Surrender: The Secret Struggle That Ended an Empire
publisher = McGraw-Hill Book Company
location = New York
id =
*cite book
last = Drea
first = Edward J.
authorlink =
year = 1998
chapter = Japanese Preparations for the Defense of the Homeland & Intelligence Forecasting for the Invasion of Japan
title = In the Service of the Emperor: Essays on the Imperial Japanese Army
publisher = University of Nebraska Press
id = ISBN 0-8032-1708-0
*cite book
last = Frank
first = Richard B
coauthors =
year = 1999
title = Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire
publisher = Random House
location = New York
id = ISBN 0-679-41424-X
*cite book
last = Jowett
first = Bernard
coauthors =
year = 1999
title = The Japanese Army 1931-45 (Volume 2, 1942-45)
publisher = Osprey Publishing
id = ISBN 1841763543
*cite book
last = Madej
first = Victor
coauthors =
year = 1981
title = Japanese Armed Forces Order of Battle, 1937-1945
publisher = Game Publishing Company
id = ASIN: B000L4CYWW
*cite book
last = Marston
first = Daniel
coauthors =
year = 2005
title = The Pacific War Companion: From Pearl Harbor to Hiroshima
publisher = Osprey Publishing
id = ISBN 1841768820
*cite book
last = Skates
first = John Ray
coauthors =
year = 1994
title = The Invasion of Japan: Alternative to the Bomb Downfall
publisher = University of South Carolina Press
location = New York
id = ISBN 0-87249-972-3

External links

*cite web
last = Wendel
first = Marcus
url = http://www.axishistory.com/index.php?id=6758
title = Axis History Factbook
work = First General Army