2nd Tank Division (Imperial Japanese Army)

Infobox Military Unit
unit_name= 2nd Tank Division


caption=Japanese light tanks moving toward Manila
dates= 1942 - 1945
country=Empire of Japan
allegiance=
branch=Imperial Japanese Army
type=Armored division
role=
size=
command_structure=
garrison=Tokyo, Japan
current_commander=
ceremonial_chief=
colonel_of_the_regiment=
notable_commanders=
identification_symbol=
identification_symbol_2=
nickname=撃 = "Geki"
patron=
motto=
colors=
colors_label=
march=
mascot=
battles=Second Sino-Japanese War World War II
anniversaries=
decorations=
battle_honours= command structure
name= Japanese 2nd Tank Division
date=1945
parent=Japanese Fourteenth Area Army
subordinate=

* IJA 3rd Armored Brigade
** IJA 6th Armored Regiment
** IJA 7th Armored Regiment
* IJA 4th Armored Brigade
** IJA 10th Armored Regiment
** IJA 2nd Mechanized Infantry Regiment

The nihongo|2nd Tank Division|戦車第2師団|Sensha Dai-ni Shidan, was one of four armored divisions of the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II

History

The 2nd Tank Division was raised in Manchukuo on March 24 1942.

Stationed in Mudanjiang in northeastern Manchukuo, it was tasked primarily with border patrol of Manchukuo's eastern frontier with the Soviet Union under the overall command of the Japanese First Area Army.

In February 1945, its IJA 11th Armored Regiment was transferred to the control of the Japanese Fifth Area Army and redesignated the IJA 91st Division. It was stationed in the northern Kurile islands, where it was in combat against the Soviet Red Army at Paramushir during Operation August Storm at the end of World War II.

As the situation in the Pacific War against the Allies deteriorated for Japan, in July 1944, the remaining units of the 2nd Tank Division was reassigned to the Japanese Fourteenth Area Army, and sent to the Philippines, where it was annihilated at the subsequent Battle of the Philippines in various engagements on Luzon, Leyte and Mindanao from the battles by joint Filipino and American troops.

The 2nd Tank Division was reconstituted in Japan as a training unit after the disaster in the Philippines. It was officially demobilized in September 1945 with the rest of the Imperial Japanese Army.

Commanding officer

ee also

* List of Japanese armored divisions

References

*cite book
last = Breuer
first = William B.
authorlink =
coauthors =
year = 1986
title = Retaking The Philippines: America's Return to Corregidor & Bataan, 1944-1945
publisher = St Martin's Press
location =
id = ASIN B000IN7D3Q
*cite book
last = Morison
first = Samuel Eliot
authorlink = Samuel Eliot Morison
coauthors =
year = 2001 (Reissue)
chapter =
title = The Liberation of the Philippines: Luzon, Mindanao, the Visayas 1944-1945, "vol. 13 of "History of United States Naval Operations in World War II
publisher = Castle Books
location =
id = ISBN 0785813144
*cite book
last = Smith
first = Robert Ross
authorlink =
coauthors =
year = 2005
title = Triumph in the Philippines: The War in the Pacific
publisher = University Press of the Pacific
location =
id = ISBN 1410224953
*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
location =
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
location =
id = ASIN: B000L4CYWW

External links

*cite web
last = Wendel
first = Marcus
url = http://www.axishistory.com/index.php?id=894
title = Axis History Factbook
work = 2nd Tank Division