Second General Army (Japan)

Infobox Military Unit
unit_name= Second 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|Saiho|西方|Western
battles=Operation DownfallThe nihongo|Second General Army|第2総軍 (日本軍)|Dai-ni Sōgun was an army group of the Imperial Japanese Army responsible for the defense of western Honshū and Kyushu during the final stage of Pacific War.

History

The Second 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 eastern Japan, its primary mission was to ensure the security of southern Kyushu, which was regarded as the most probable target for invasion. Its forces consisted mostly of poorly-trained reservists, conscripted students and home guard militia.

After the fall of Okinawa, the command of the Second General Army was relocated to Hiroshima. When the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, most of the command staff of the Second General Army was killed. Survivors regrouped at Ujina Air Base at the outskirts of Hiroshima, where they organized relief efforts and maintained public order in Hiroshima once martial law was proclaimed. However, the atomic bombing ended the Second General Army as an effective command organization for Imperial Japanese Army units in eastern Japan.

Commanders

Commanding officer

=Chief of Staff=

Organization

* Japanese Fifteenth Area Army
**IJA 55th Army
**IJA 59th Army
**IJA 144th Division
**IJA 225th Division
**IJA 123rd Independent Combined Brigade
**IJA 3rd Anti-Aircraft Brigade
** Yura Fortress Garrison
*Japanese Sixteenth Area Army
**IJA 40th Army
**IJA 56th Army
**IJA 57th Army
**IJA 25th Division
**IJA 57th Division
**IJA 77th Division
**IJA 206th Division
**IJA 212th Division
**IJA 216th Division
**IJA 4th Anti-Aircraft Brigade
**IJA 64th Independent Combined Brigade
**IJA 107th Independent Combined Brigade
**IJA 118th Independent Combined Brigade
** [IJA 122nd Independent Combined Brigade]
**IJA 126th Independent Combined Brigade
**Tsushima Fortress Garrison

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=6759
title = Axis History Factbook
work = Second General Army