Japanese Fourteenth Area Army

Infobox Military Unit
unit_name= Japanese Fourteenth Area Army


caption= General Homma comes ashore at Lingayen Gulf
dates= 1942-11-06 - 1945-08-15
country= Empire of Japan
allegiance=
branch= Imperial Japanese Army
type= Infantry
role= Field Army
garrison=Manila
nickname= 尚武 ("shōbu" = “militarism", also a synonym for "victory")
battles=Battle of the Philippines (1941–42)
Philippines campaign (1944–45)command structure
name= Japanese Fourteenth Area Army
date= 1945-08-15
parent=Southern Expeditionary Army
subordinate=

* Japanese 14th Army
** 1th Infantry Division
** 10th Infantry Division
** 19th Infantry Division
** 23rd Infantry Division
** 26th Infantry Division
** 103rd Infantry Division
** 105th Infantry Division
** IJA 2nd Armored Division
** IJA 4th Air Division
** IJA 1st Special Forces Division
** IJA 68th Independent Infantry Brigade
** IJA 55th Independent Mixed Brigade
** IJA 58th Independent Mixed Brigade
* Japanese 35th Army
** 16th Infantry Division
** 30th Infantry Division
** 100th Infantry Division
** 102nd Infantry Division
** IJA 54th Independent Mixed Brigade
* Japanese 41st Army
** 8th Infantry Division
** IJA 39th Independent Mixed Brigade
** IJA 65th Independent Infantry Brigade
** IJA 9th Artillery Headquarters
The nihongo| Japanese Fourteenth Area Army|第14方面軍|Dai jyūyon hōmen gun was a field army of the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II.

History

The Japanese 14th Army was formed on 1942-11-06 under the Southern Expeditionary Army Group for the specific task of invading and occupying the Philippines. It initially consisted of the IJA 16th Division, IJA 48th Division and IJA 56th Division. After the successful invasion of the Philippines, the 48th Division was detached in January 1942 and re-assigned to the Japanese Sixteenth Army for the invasion of the Netherlands East Indies. [Madej,Japanese Armed Forces Order of Battle, 1937-1945]

In June 1942, the 14th Army came under the direct control of Imperial General Headquarters; however, the Southern Expeditionary Army Group from its headquarters in Saigon continued to issue orders, at times in conflict with orders received from Tokyo, and its commanding officer, General Masaharu Homma was plagued by insubordination by junior officers who used the situation to issue orders without his approval or to countermand orders with which they did not agree [Toland, The Rising Sun] . In March 1944, the 14th Army officially reverted to the control of the Southern Expeditionary Army Group.

In July 1942, the IJA 4th Division came under control of the 14th Army, as did the IJA 30th Division, which was assigned to the defense of Mindanao.

As the war situation continued to deteriorate for Japan, and Allied forces began preparations for invading the Philippines, the 14th Army restructured its Independent Infantry Brigades and reserves to form the new IJA 100th Division, IJA 102nd Division, IJA 103rd Division, and IJA 105th Divisions.

On 1944-07-28, the Japanese 14th Army officially became the Japanese 14th Area Army. Two more divisions (the IJA 8th Division and IJA 10th Division arrived in August 1944 as reinforcements, and also in August, the Japanese 35th Army also came under its control.

In the various battles of the Philippines campaign (1944–45) against American and Philippine Commonwealth forces in Leyte, Mindanao and parts of Luzon, the Japanese 14th Area Army suffered over 350,000 casualties, including virtually all of the 18,000 man IJA 16th Infantry Division in the Battle of Leyte.

List of Commanders

Commanding Officer

Chief of Staff

References

Books

*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 = Madej
first = Victor
coauthors =
year = 1981
title = Japanese Armed Forces Order of Battle, 1937-1945
publisher = Game Publishing Company
location =
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
location =
id = ISBN 1841768820
*cite book
last = Nalty
first = Bernard
coauthors =
year = 1999
title = War in the Pacific: Pearl Harbor to Tokyo Bay : The Story of the Bitter Struggle in the Pacific Theater of World War II
publisher = University of Oklahoma Press
location =
id = ISBN 0806131993
*cite book
last = Rottman
first = Gordon
coauthors =
year = 2005
title = Japanese Army in World War II: "The South Pacific and New Guinea, 1942-43" (Battle Orders)
publisher = Osprey Publishing
location =
id = ISBN 1841767891
*cite book
last = Weist
first = Andrew A
coauthors =
year = 2005
title = The Pacific War: Campaigns of World War II (The Campaigns of World War II) | publisher = Motorbooks International
location =
id = ISBN 0760311463

External links

*cite web
last = Wendel
first = Marcus
url = http://www.axishistory.com/index.php?id=6748
title = Axis History Factbook
work = Japanese Fourteenth Area Army

Notes