- Seventeenth Army (Japan)
Infobox Military Unit
unit_name= Japanese Seventeenth Army
caption= General Kanda signs surrender
dates=1942-05-18 -1945-08-15
country=Empire of Japan
allegiance=
branch=Imperial Japanese Army
type=Infantry
role=Corps
garrison=Rabaul
nickname= nihongo|Oki|沖|Offshore
battles=Solomon Islands campaign command structure
name= Japanese Seventeenth Army
date=1945
parent=Japanese Eighth Area Army
subordinate=
* 6th Infantry Division
* IJA 38th Independent Infantry BrigadeThe nihongo|Japanese 17th Army|第17軍 |Dai-jyūnana gun was an army of theImperial Japanese Army duringWorld War II .History
The Japanese 17th Army was formed on
18 May 1942 under theJapanese Eighth Area Army of theSouthern Expeditionary Army Group for the specific task of opposing landings by Allied forces in Japanese-occupiedSolomon Islands . It was initially headquartered onRabaul and participated in the New Guinea, Guadalcanal, andSolomon Islands campaign s of theSouth West Pacific theatre of World War II . . [Smith, "Bloody Ridge", p. 25.]After
General Hitoshi Imamura took over command of theJapanese Eighth Area Army the 17th Army was responsible solely for the Solomons, primarily on Bougainville. [Hayashi, "Kogun", p. 224-225.] It was trapped on Bougainville and cut off from reinforcements and re-supply during theBougainville campaign (1943-45) , and was forced to live off the land, hiding in jungle caves for most of the rest of the war. [Gailey, "Bougainville".]List of Commanders
Commanding officer References
*cite book
last = Frank
first = Richard
authorlink = Richard B. Frank
year = 1990
title = Guadalcanal: The Definitive Account of the Landmark Battle
publisher = Random House
location = New York
id = ISBN 0-394-58875-4
*cite book
last = Gailey
first = Harry A.
authorlink =
year = 1991
title = Bougainville, 1943-1945: The Forgotten Campaign
publisher = University Press of Kentucky
location = Lexington, Kentucky, USA
id = ISBN 0-8131-9047-9
*cite book
last = Hayashi
first = Saburo
authorlink =
coauthors =
year = 1959
title = Kogun: The Japanese Army in the Pacific War
publisher = Marine Corps. Association
location =
id = ASIN B000ID3YRK
*cite book
last = Smith
first = Michael T.
authorlink =
coauthors =
year = 2000
title = Bloody Ridge: The Battle That Saved Guadalcanal
publisher = Pocket
location = New York
id = ISBN 0-7434-6321-8External links
*cite web
last = Wendel
first = Marcus
url = http://www.axishistory.com/index.php?id=6928
title = Axis History Factbook
work = Japanese Seventeenth ArmyNotes
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