Japan: Army Administrative Order of Battle December 8, 1941

Japan: Army Administrative Order of Battle December 8, 1941

v.3.1 June 10, 2001

This excerpt is taken with permission from Dr. Leo Niehorster's site www.freeport-tech.com/wwII/014-japan . The site contains very detailed orbats for the Japanese Army and Navy, with units down to independent company and sometimes even independent platoon in the Army orbats. Please directly visit the site for more details.

Version 3.1 signifies only this is the third installment, but corrections were made to earlier installments on account of transcription errors on our part.

Please keep in mind that Japanese divisions could be between 14,000 and 32,000 troops and were commanded by lieutenant generals. One reason for their size was a 4,000 man transport regiment which included mules, horses, and carts. Mixed brigades - independent brigades in Indian and western terms - were commanded by major-generals and had five infantry battalions each. They could be 6,000 troops or larger. The Dash Forward Parachute Division was commanded by a colonel and was the size of a mixed brigade. Divisional artillery regiments averaged 36 X 75mm guns, but could have as few as 27 and as many as 48. Regiments could include any mix of 75mm and 105mm guns. Despite their size, Japanese divisions were light compared to the British division, and even more so compared to the American.

China Expeditionary Army, Canton [Gen. S. Hata]

11^th Army, Hankow

3^rd Infantry Division

6^th Infantry Division

13^th Infantry Division

34^th Infantry Division

39^th Infantry Division

40^th Infantry Division

14^th Mixed Brigade

18^th Mixed Brigade

13^th Army, Shanghai

15^th Infantry Division

17^th Infantry Division

22^nd Infantry Division

116^th Infantry Division

11^th Mixed Brigade

12^th Mixed Brigade

13^th Mixed Brigade

17^th Mixed Brigade

20^th Mixed Brigade

23^rd Army, Canton

38^th Infantry Division

51^st Infantry Division

104^th Infantry Division

19^th Mixed Brigade

1^st Air Brigade

44^th Air Regiment (32 fighters)

54^th Air Regiment (36 fighters)

8^th Air Battalion (12 fighters)

10^th Separate Air Company (10 fighters)

18^th Separate Air Company (12 fighters)

83^rd Separate Air Company (10 fighters)

North China Theatre Army, Peking, China [Gen. N. Okamura]

Direct Reporting Units

27^th Infantry Division

35^th Infantry Division

110^th Infantry Division

1^st Mixed Brigade

7^th Mixed Brigade

8^th Mixed Brigade

15^th Tank Regiment

5^th Signal Regiment

21^st Truck Regiment

22^nd Truck Regiment

36^th Truck Regiment

1^st Army

3^rd Infantry Division

37^th Infantry Division

41^st Infantry Division

3^rd Mixed Brigade

4^th Mixed Brigade

9^th Mixed Brigade

16^th Mixed Brigade

6^th Artillery Regiment

9^th Signal Regiment

24^th Truck Regiment

27^th Truck Regiment

37^th Truck Regiment

12^th Army

32^nd Infantry Division

5^th Mixed Brigade

6^th Mixed Brigade

10^th Signal Regiment

25^th Truck Regiment

26^th Truck Regiment

Mongol Army

Mongol Cavalry Corps

26^th Infantry Division

2^nd Mixed Brigade

1^st Mongolian Cavalry Division

2^nd Mongolian Cavalry Division

3^rd Mongolian Cavalry Division

4^th Mongolian Cavalry Division

5^th Mongolian Cavalry Division

6^th Mongolian Cavalry Division

7^th Mongolian Cavalry Division

8^th Mongolian Cavalry Division

9^th Mongolian Cavalry Division

11th Signal Regiment

23^rd Truck Regiment

Kwangtung Theatre Army, Changchung, Manchuria [Gen. Y. Umezu]

Direct Reporting Units

10^th Infantry Division

28^th Infantry Division

29^th Infantry Division

23^rd Tank Regiment

Botanko Artillery Regiment

3^rd Signal Regiment

Kwangtung Air Brigade

3^rd Army

9^th Infantry Division

12^th Infantry Division

57^th Infantry Division

1^st Tank Brigade

7^th Artillery Command

5^th Separate Engineer Regiment

9^th Separate Engineer Regiment

27^th Separate Engineer Regiment

33^rd Truck Brigade

49^th Truck Brigade

66^th Truck Brigade

67^th Truck Brigade

4^th Army

1^st Infantry Division

44^th Truck Brigade

68^th Truck Brigade

5^th Army

11^th Infantry Division

24^th Infantry Division

2^nd Armored Brigade

8^th Artillery Brigade

7^th Separate Engineer Regiment

22^nd Separate Engineer Regiment

23^rd Separate Engineer Regiment

69^th Truck Regiment

70^th Truck Regiment

6^th Army

14^th Infantry Division

23^rd Infantry Division

4^th Signal Regiment

47^th Truck Brigade

20^th Army

8^th Infantry Division

25^th Infantry Division

5^th Artillery Brigade

34^th Truck Brigade

64^th Truck Brigade

2^nd Air Division

2^nd Air Brigade

8^th Air Brigade

9^th Air Brigade

13^th Air Brigade

29^th Air Brigade

28^th Independent Regiment

Southern Expeditionary Army , Saigon [General Count J. Terauchi]

Direct Reporting Units

Parachute Division "Dash Forward"

21^st Infantry Division

38^th Infantry Division

4^th Independent Mixed Regiment

21^st Mixed Brigade

4^th Mixed Regiment

1^st Artillery Brigade

7^th Separate Air Regiment

21^st Separate Air Regiment

83^rd Separate Air Regiment

1^st Amphibious Unloading Brigade

6^th Engineer Regiment

28^th Engineer Regiment

2^nd Amphibious Unloading Brigade

10^th Engineer Regiment

11^th Engineer Regiment

14^th Engineer Regiment

26^th Engineer Regiment

222^nd Truck Brigade

223^rd Truck Brigade

224^th Truck Brigade

225^th Truck Brigade

14^th Army, Bako, Pescadores, embarked [LTG M. Homma]

16^th Infantry Division

48^th Infantry Division

65^th Mixed Brigade

4^th Tank Regiment

7^th Tank Regiment

2^nd Signal Regiment

3^rd Separate Engineer Brigade

21^st Separate Engineer Brigade

1^st Separate Field Artillery Regiment

8^th Separate Field Artillery Regiment

9^th Separate Field Artillery regiment

38^th Truck Brigade

62^nd Truck Brigade

63^rd Truck brigade

24^th Air Regiment (36 fighters)

15^th Army, enroute overland to Bangkok, Thailand [LTG S. Iida]

33^rd Infantry Division

55^th Infantry Division

63^rd Truck Brigade

16^th Army [LTG H. Imamura]

2^nd Infantry Division

56^th Mixed Brigade

8^th Tank Regiment

17^th Field Artillery Regiment

1^st Separate Engineer Regiment

39^th Truck Brigade

109^th Truck Brigade

25^th Army, [LTG T. Yamashta]

5^th Infantry Division

18^th Infantry Division

56^th Infantry Division

Guards Division

3^rd Tank Brigade

1^st Tank Regiment

2^nd Tank Regiment

6^th Tank Regiment

14^th Tank Regiment

3^rd Field Artillery Regiment

18^th Field Artillery Regiment

1^st Signal Regiment

3^rd Air Division

3^rd Air Brigade

7^th Air Brigade

10^th Air Brigade

12^th Air Brigade

5^th Air Division

4^th Air Brigade

General Defense Command (Home Islands, Taiwan, Korea)

North Japan Army

7^th Depot Division

57^th Depot Division

Karafuto Mixed Brigade

Karafuto Mixed Reserve Brigade

Kitachishima Fortress

North Chishima Fortress

Tsugaru Fortress

Soya Fortress

Central Japan Army

53^rd Infantry Division

54^th Infantry Division

3^rd Depot Division

4^th Depot Division

6^th Reserve Tank Regiment

Maizuru Fortress

Yura Fortress

1^st Air Division

13^th Air Regiment

West Japan

5^th Depot Division

6^th Depot Division

55^th Depot Division

65^th Independent Training Brigade

66^th Independent Training Brigade

Anami Oshima Fortress

Funauke Fortress

Nakajo-Wan Fortress

Iki Fortress

Hoyo Fortress

Nagasaki Fortress

Shimonoseki Fortress

Tsushima Fortress

1^st Reserve Tank Regiment

60^th Fortress

61^st Fortress

65^th Fortress

66^th Fortress

36 Fortress Engineer Regiment

2^nd Signal Training Regiment

5^th Field Artillery Reserve Regiment

6^th Field Artillery Reserve Regiment

1^st Heavy Mortar Regiment

Sasebo Reserve Regiment

21^st Anti Aircraft Regiment

22^nd Anti Aircraft Regiment

23^rd Anti Aircraft Regiment

25^th Anti Aircraft Regiment

Korea Command

19^th Division

20^th Division

Chinhae Bay Fortress Formation

Najin Fortress Formation

Yongfung Bay Fortress Formation

Yosu Fortress Formation

23^rd AA Regiment

41^st AA Regiment

42^nd AA Regiment

5 Reserve AA Regiment

6 Reserve AA Regiment

Taiwan (Formosa) Command

Keelung Fortress Formation

Kausing Fortres Formation

Peng Hu Fortress Formation

4 Training Air Regiment

51 AA Regiment

8 Reserve AA Regiment

Divisions

Three types of divisions existed: fully-motorized, partially motorized, and unmotorized. Japan used divisions of three and four infantry regiments each. Dr. Niehorster tells us that the square divisions were incresingly converted to triangular formations as the war progressed. With the exception of the 7^th, 22^nd, and 26^th Divisions, only the divisions numbered 32 through 41 have regiments in numerical order, starting with the 210^th Infantry Regiment and ending with the 239^th Infantry Regiment: possibly these ten division were a single raising. The reconnaissance regiments are assigned the number of the division, with the sole difference being that they were called either reconnaissance regiments or cavalry regiments. The reconnaissance/cavalry unit could be horse-mounted or mtorized, with light tanks. It would appear artillery regiments were also intended to have the division number, but somewhere along the line this scheme got out of alignment: from the 12^th Division, artillery regiments are different from the division number, then revert to the division number scheme from the 27^th through the 48^th Divisions, fall out of alignment for the 51^st and 52^nd Divisions, and then revert to the scheme for the remaining seven divisions. The numbering of the fourth regiment in the square division (not shown here in same order as Dr. niehorster's list) indicates that the square divisions were earlier triangular.

Division	Infantry Regiments				Arty Regt	Recon Regt
1^st Division	1	49	57	-	1 Field	1 Recon
2^nd Division	4	16	29	-	2 Field	2 Recon
4^th Division	8	37	61	-	4 Field	4 Cavalry
6^th Division	13	23	45	-	6 Field	6 Cavalry
7^th Division	26	27	28	-	7 Mountain	7 Recon
8^th Division	5	8	17	31	8 Field	8 Recon
9^th Division	7	19	35	-	9 Mountain	9 Cavalry
10^th Division	10	39	63	-	10 Field	10 Recon
11^th Division	11	12	43	44	11Mountain	11 Cavalry
12^th Division	24	46	48	-	24 Field	12 Recon
14^th Division	2	14	15	59	20 Field	14 Recon
15^th Division	51	60	67	-	21 Field	-
16^th Division	9	20	32	-	22 Mountain	16 Recon
17^th Division	53	54	81	-	23 Field	17 Recon
-	62	82	83	-	21 Mountain	-
22^nd Division	84	85	86	-	52 Mountain	-
23^rd Division	23	64	71	72	13 Field	23 Recon
24^th Division	22	24	32	89	42 Field	24 Recon
25^th Division	14	25	40	70	15 Field	25 Cavalry
26^th Division	11	12	13	-	11 Field	26 Recon
27^th Division	1 China	2 China	3 China	-	27 Mountain	27 Recon
28^th Division	3	30	36	-	28 Mountain	28 Cavalry
?29^th Division?-	38	50	-	-	32 Field	29 Cavalry
32^ndDivision	210	211	212	-	32 Field	-
33^rd Division	213	214	215	-	33 Mountain	-

To be Continued

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