- 18th Division (Imperial Japanese Army)
.
History
The 18th Division was formed in
Kurume ,Kyūshū on13 November ,1907 , together with the 17th Division, as part of the postRusso-Japanese War expansion of the standing Japanese military. InWorld War I it was strengthened by an additional infantry regiment (the 29th) and given an independent command in the siege of the German colony ofTsingtao in theShandong peninsula ,China . Abolished at the end ofWorld War I , it was revived for participation in theSiberian Intervention .However, in 1925, it was again dissolved as one of the four divisions cancelled by Minister of War
Ugaki Kazushige as part of a cost saving measure during theKato Takaaki administration.The 18th Division was resurrected in September 1937, and assigned to the 10th Army with the start of the
Second Sino-Japanese War . It took part in theBattle of Shanghai . As part of theChina Expeditionary Army , it participated in theBattle of Nanjing (and subsequentNanjing Massacre ), and various campaigns throughout China, cumulating in theCanton Operation of 1938.In 1941 the division was under the command of Lieutenant-General
Renya Mutaguchi . It was re-assigned to the 25th Army (which was under the command of GeneralYamashita Tomoyuki ). It participated in the invasion of Malaya andSingapore . Afterwards, it was transferred to theJapanese Fifteenth Army and the Burma front, were it suffered over 3000 casualties from food poisoning andmalaria .Late in 1943, Mutaguchi was promoted, and replaced in command of the division by Lieutenant-General
Shinichi Tanaka . Transferred to theJapanese Thirty-Third Army , and operations in northern Burma, 18th Division fought against the American-led Chinese divisions advancing onMogaung andMyitkyina , and against the BritishChindits operating behind their lines. Although sufferering heavy losses, the division nevertheless inflicted many casualties and imposed severe delays on the Allies.In the aftermath of the disastrous invasion of India in 1944, Lieutenant-General Tanaka exchanged appointments with Lieutenant-General
Eitaro Naka , formerly Chief of Staff atBurma Area Army . In the 1945 campaigning season, the division once again lost many thousands of men in theBattle of Central Burma , particularly at theBattle of Meiktila south ofMandalay . It ended the war in southern Burma.Of the 31,444 men sent to Burma, more than 20,000 did not make it home to Japan.
Organization
The original
Order of Battle of the 18th Division included:
* 55th Infantry Regiment (Omura )
* 56th Infantry Regiment (Kurume )
*114th Infantry Regiment (Fukuoka)
* 13th Rapid Response Battalion
* 21st Heavy Field Artillery Battalion
* 18th Mountain Artillery Regiment
* 12th Construction Regiment
* 12th Transport Regiment.Reorganized as a
square division inWorld War I , at the time of theSiege of Tsingtao , in 1914 it had a strength of 23,000 men. It was commanded by Lieutenant-GeneralMitsuomi Kamio , its 23rd Infantry Brigade by Major General Yamada and its 24th Infantry Brigade by Major General Horinehi.18th Division
* 23rd Infantry Brigade
** 46th Infantry Regiment
** 55th Infantry Regiment
* 24th Infantry Brigade
** 48th Infantry Regiment
** 56th Infantry Regiment
* 22nd Cavalry Regiment
* 24th Field Artillery Regiment
* 18th Engineer BattalionIt was reformed in 1937 as a square division for the
Second Sino-Japanese War .18th Division
* 23rd Infantry Brigade
** 55th Infantry Regiment
** 56th Infantry Regiment
* 35th Infantry Brigade
** 114th Infantry Regiment
** 124th Infantry Regiment
* 18th Mountain Artillery Regiment
* 22nd Cavalry Battalion
* 12th Engineer Regiment
* 12th Transport Regimentee also
*
List of Japanese Infantry Divisions Reference and further reading
* Madej, W. Victor, "Japanese Armed Forces Order of Battle, 1937-1945" [2 vols] , Allentown, PA: 1981
* Jon Latimer, "Burma: The Forgotten War", London: John Murray, 2004 ISBN 0-7195-6576-6
* [http://www.gwpda.org/naval/tsingtao.htm Tsingtao Campaign by Colin Denis (cdenis@goldengate.net)]
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