Thirty-First Army (Japan)

Infobox Military Unit
unit_name= Japanese Thirty First Army


caption=Japanese POWs at Guam at time of the surrender of Japan
dates= 1944-02-18 - 1945-08-15
country= Empire of Japan
allegiance=
branch= Imperial Japanese Army
type= Infantry
role= Corps
garrison=Truk
nickname=
battles=Operation Hailstone
Battle of Saipan
Battle of Guamcommand structure
name= Japanese 31st Army
date=1945
parent=Imperial General Headquarters
subordinate=
Southern Marianas Force
* 29th Infantry Division
* IJA 48th Independent Infantry Brigade
Northern Marianas Force
* 43rd Infantry Division
* IJA 47th Independent Infantry Brigade
Truk Garrison Force
* 52nd Infantry Division
* IJA 50th Independent Infantry Brigade
* IJA 51st Independent Infantry Brigade
* IJA 52nd Independent Infantry Brigade

The nihongo|Japanese 31th Army|第31軍 |Dai-sanjyū-ichi gun was an army of the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II.

History

The Japanese 31st Army was formed on 18 February 1944 under the Imperial General Headquarters as a garrison force to contest landings by Allied forces in the Japanese South Seas Mandate island-by-island, and to inflict such losses in a war of attrition that it would deter an American invasion of the Japanese home islands. The South Seas Mandate was divided into three sections (Northern Mariana Islands, southern Mariana Islands, and Truk). The 80,000 man Japanese 31st Army was initially headquartered on Truk.

After Operation Hailstone, the Japanese garrison on Truk was isolated as American forces continued their advance towards Japan by invading other Pacific islands. Cut off, the Japanese forces on Truk and other central Pacific islands ran low on food and faced starvation before Japan surrendered in August 1945. (Stewart, 1986)

The garrisons in the Marianas were largely annihilated at the Battle of Saipan and Battle of Guam.

List of Commanders

Commanding officer

=Chief of Staff=

References

*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
*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 = Denfeld
first = D. Colt
authorlink =
coauthors =
year = 1997
chapter =
title = Hold the Marianas: The Japanese Defense of the Mariana Islands
publisher = White Mane Pub
location =
id = ISBN 1-57249-014-4
*cite book
last = Goldberg
first = Harold J.
authorlink =
coauthors =
year = 2007
chapter =
title = D-day in the Pacific: The Battle of Saipan
publisher = Indiana University Press
location =
id = ISBN 0-253-34869-2
*cite book
last = Jones
first = Don
authorlink =
coauthors =
year = 1986
chapter =
title = Oba, The Last Samurai
publisher = Presidio Press
location =
id = ISBN 0-89141-245-X

External links

*cite web
last = Wendel
first = Marcus
url = http://www.axishistory.com/index.php?id=7682
title = Axis History Factbook
work = Japanese Thirty First Army