- 31st Division (Imperial Japanese Army)
Infobox Military Unit
unit_name= 31st Infantry Division
caption=
dates= 1943 - 1944
country=Empire of Japan
allegiance=
branch=Imperial Japanese Army
type=Infantry
role=
size=
command_structure=
garrison=
current_commander=
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colonel_of_the_regiment=
notable_commanders=
identification_symbol=
identification_symbol_2=
nickname=Furious Division
patron=
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march=
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battles=Battle of Kohima
anniversaries=
decorations=
battle_honours=nihongo|IJA Thirty First Division|第31師団|Hohei Sanju-ichi Shidan was aninfantry division in theImperial Japanese Army . Itscall sign was the nihongo|Furious Division|烈兵団|Retsu Heidan.History
The 31st Division was raised in
Bangkok ,Thailand , on22 March 1943 out of reservists fromFukuoka prefecture . It was assigned to theJapanese 15th Army .In 1944, under Japanese operation
U-GO ,Lieutenant General Renya Mutaguchi ordered the 31st Division across the border ofBurma intoBritish India as part of the overallBattle of Imphal . Its assignment was to captureKohima , thus cutting off Imphal, and then exploit toDimapur . The 31st division's commander, Lieutenant GeneralKotoku Sato was unhappy with his role. He had not been involved in the planning of the offensive, and had grave misgivings about their chances. Sato and Mutaguchi had also been on opposite sides during the split between the "Toseiha " and "Kodoha " factions within theImperial Japanese Army during the early 1930's, and Sato distrusted Mutaguchi's motives. In addition, along with many of the senior Japanese officers in Burma, he considered Mutaguchi a "blockhead".Starting on
15 March 1944 , the 31st Division crossed theChindwin River nearHomalin and moved northwest along jungle trails on a front almost 100 kilometers wide. The left wing of the division, the 58th Regiment, commanded byMajor General Shigesaburo Miyazaki clashed with Indian troops of theIndian 50 Parachute Brigade underBrigadier Hope-Thompson atSangshak , on the northern approaches to Imphal onMarch 20 . The battle continued for six days, and Miyazaki was handicapped by lack ofartillery . Eventually, as theIJA 15th Division 's troops joined the battle, Hope-Thompson withdrew. The battle cost Miyazaki about 400 men and delayed his attack on Kohima by a week.Miyazaki's troops were probing Kohima on
April 3 , completing siege preparations byApril 6 . He then launched a series of attacks into the north-east region of the defenses onApril 8 , and byApril 9 the British and Indians had been forced back driven into a small perimeter into what came to be known as theBattle of the Tennis Court . By the night ofApril 17 , the defenders' situation was desperate. However, on the morning ofApril 18 British artillery opened up against the Japanese positions, which stopped the attacks. To support their counterattack, the British had amassed 38 3.7 inch mountain howitzers, 48 25-pounder field guns and 2 5.5 inch medium guns. The RAF also bombed and strafed the Japanese positions. The Japanese could oppose with only 17 light mountain guns, with very little ammunition. The road between Dimapur and Kohima had been opened, and the siege was lifted.The Japanese did not retreat at once, but stayed in position and fought tenaciously for several more weeks. By the morning of
May 13 , most of the Kohima region had been re-taken by the British forces. AroundMay 15 the 31st Division began to withdraw, pursued by troops of theBritish Fourteenth Army .After ignoring orders for several weeks, Sato was removed from command of the 31st Division early in July. The entire Imphal offensive was broken off at the same time. Lieutenant General Slim had always derided Sato as the most unenterprising of his opponents, but Japanese sources blame his superior, Mutaguchi, for both the weaknesses of the original plan, and the antipathy between himself and Sato which led to Sato concentrating on saving his men rather than driving on distant and indefensible objectives.
The surviving remnants of the 31st Division continued to oppose the British reoccupation of Burma, but for all practical purposes, the 31st Division had largely ceased to exist after the Battle of Kohima.
Organization
The
order of battle for the 31st Division included:IJA 31st Division
*31st Infantry Brigade
**58th Infantry Regiment (Takada)
**124th Infantry Regiment (Fukuoka)
**138th Infantry Regiment (Nara)
*31st Mountain Artillery Regiment
*31st Engineering Regiment
*31st Transportation 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
* Louis Allen, "Burma: The longest War 1941-45", J.M. Dent & Sons Ltd, 1984, ISBN 0-460-02474-4
*Jon Latimer , "Burma: The Forgotten War", London: John Murray, 2004. ISBN 978-0719565762
* Field Marshal SirWilliam Slim , "Defeat into Victory", NY: Buccaneer Books ISBN 1-56849-077-1, Cooper Square Press ISBN 0-8154-1022-0; London: Cassell ISBN 0-304-29114-5, Pan ISBN 0-330-39066-X.
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