Forty-Fourth Army (Japan)

Infobox Military Unit
unit_name= Japanese Fortieth-Fourth Army


caption=
dates= 1945-01-12 - 1945-08-15　
country= Empire of Japan
allegiance=
branch= Imperial Japanese Army
type= Infantry
role= Corps
garrison=Mukden, Manchukuo
nickname= nihongo|Ensei|遠征|expeditionary
battles=Operation August Stormcommand structure
name= Japanese 44th Army
date=1945
parent=Japanese Third Area Army
subordinate=

* 63rd Infantry Division
* 107th Infantry Division
* 117th Infantry Division
* 9th Independent Armored Brigade

The nihongo|Japanese 44th Army|第44軍 |Dai-yonjyū yon gun was an army of the Imperial Japanese Army during the final stages of World War II.

History

The Japanese 44th Army was initially raised in July 1941 as the nihongo|Kwangtung Defense Army|関東防衛軍|Kanto boei gun, an auxiliary force of the Kwantung Army based in the Manchukuo capital of Hsinking for public security and training. As the war situation on the Pacific front grew increasingly desperate for Japan, the Imperial Japanese Army transferred more and more experienced divisions out of Manchukuo to other fronts. By early 1945, the vaunted Kwantung Army was largely hollowed out, and indications of a buildup of Soviet Red Army forces on the borders on Mengjiang and Manchukuo were alarming. The Kwantung Defense Army was renamed the Japanese 44th Army on 1945-05-30 and assigned to the Japanese Third Area Army, based in southern Manchukuo. It saw combat against the Soviet Army in Operation August Storm, and was disbanded at Mukden at the surrender of Japanese forces in Manchukuo.

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 = Glantz
first = David
authorlink =
coauthors =
year = 2003
chapter =
title = The Soviet Strategic Offensive in Manchuria, 1945 (Cass Series on Soviet (Russian) Military Experience, 7)
publisher = Routledge
location =
id = ISBN 0-7146-5279-2

External links

*cite web
last = Wendel
first = Marcus
url = http://www.axishistory.com/index.php?id=7705
title = Axis History Factbook
work = Kwantung Defence Army
*cite web
last = Wendel
first = Marcus
url = http://www.axishistory.com/index.php?id=7694
title = Axis History Factbook
work = Japanese 44th Army