|
Boeitai
The ''Boeitai'' (防衛隊, "Defense Corps") was a Japanese force of World War II. It was established by the War Ministry in June 1944 in response to the worsening war situation facing Japan, and initially comprised all reservists in the 20–40 age group including those who would not normally be liable for military service under the Japanese conscription system. The Imperial Japanese Army's area armies had responsibility for raising and administering ''Boeitai'' units, and there was considerable variation in how these formations were structured and used.Nichols and Shaw (1955), p. 53 ''Boeitai'' units were established in the Japanese home islands, Okinawa, Korea and Formosa.Hayashi (2005), p. 52 Unlike regular Japanese Army soldiers, ''Boeitai'' personnel were not indoctrinated to fight to the death or consider themselves to be imperial subjects. Around 20,000 local ''Boeitai'' were involved in the Battle of Okinawa during 1945, with most initially serving as labourers or in sup ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Volunteer Fighting Corps
were armed civil defense units planned in 1945 in the Empire of Japan as a last desperate measure to defend the Japanese home islands against the projected Allied invasion during Operation Downfall (''Ketsugo Sakusen'') in the final stages of World War II. They were the Japanese equivalent of the German ''Volkssturm'' and British Home Guard. Its commander-in-chief was former Prime Minister General Kuniaki Koiso. History Volunteer Corps In March 1945, the cabinet of Japanese Prime Minister Kuniaki Koiso passed a law establishing the creation of unarmed civil defense units, . With the assistance of the ''Taisei Yokusankai'' political party, the ''tonarigumi'' and Great Japan Youth Party, units were created by June 1945. The ''Kokumin Giyūtai'' was not combatant, but working unit for fire service, food production, and evacuation. All male civilians between the ages of 12 to 65 years, and females of 12 to 45 years were members. They received training on fire fighting techniques an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Okinawa
The , codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a major battle of the Pacific War fought on the island of Okinawa by United States Army (USA) and United States Marine Corps (USMC) forces against the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). The initial invasion of Okinawa on 1 April 1945 was the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific Theater of World War II. The Kerama Islands surrounding Okinawa were preemptively captured on 26 March, (L-6) by the 77th Infantry Division. The 82-day battle lasted from 1 April until 22 June 1945. After a long campaign of island hopping, the Allies were planning to use Kadena Air Base on the large island of Okinawa as a base for Operation Downfall, the planned invasion of the Japanese home islands, away. The United States created the Tenth Army, a cross-branch force consisting of the U.S. Army 7th, 27th, 77th and 96th Infantry Divisions with the USMC 1st, 2nd, and 6th Marine Divisions, to fight on the island. The Tenth was unique in that it had its own Tact ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Japanese Prisoners Of War In World War II
It has been estimated that prior to the end of the Pacific War in August 1945, 10 million members of the Imperial Japanese military were captured alive or surrendered to Western Allied forces.Fedorowich (2000), p. 61 Also, Soviet troops seized and imprisoned more than half a million Japanese troops and civilians in China and other places. The number of Japanese soldiers, sailors, marines, and airmen who surrendered was limited by the Japanese military indoctrinating its personnel to fight to the death, Allied combat personnel often being unwilling to take prisoners,Bergerud (1997), pp. 415–16 and many Japanese soldiers believing that those who surrendered would be killed by their captors.Johnston (2000), p. 81Ferguson (2004), p. 176. Western Allied governments and senior military commanders directed that Japanese POWs be treated in accordance with relevant international conventions. In practice though, many Allied soldiers were unwilling to accept the surrender of Japanese troo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gakutotai
were regiments of the Imperial Japanese Army raised from high school students in territories occupied by the Empire of Japan, such as Korea, China, Malaya, Burma, and the Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia). Structure and training In the ''Gakutotai'' command structure, a high school became a ''chutai'' (company). Each class became a ''shotai'' (section) and every class was further divided into ''butai'' (squads). There were differences in the training of male and female students. Male students received more rigorous training, such as physical education, shooting, military tactics, and all the basic military training needed to create model soldiers for the Japanese war effort. They were also given mock Arisaka rifles ('' mokujū'') for their training, while class leaders were given wooden dummy swords (''bokken'') like the commanders of the Imperial Japanese Army. Training for female students was physically less demanding, revolving around emergency medicine, preparing mess ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Himeyuri Students
The , sometimes called "Lily Corps" in English, was a group of 222 students and 18 teachers of the Okinawa Daiichi Women's High School and Okinawa Shihan Women's School formed into a nursing unit for the Imperial Japanese Army during the Battle of Okinawa in 1945. They were mobilized by the Japanese army on March 23, 1945. The students were wrongly told that the Japanese army would defeat the American invasion easily, and that they would be safe from danger. Many brought their school supplies and uniforms with them to study and prepare to return to school. Deployed instead to frontline cave hospitals under constant gunfire and bombings, few students and teachers managed to survive the war. History Falsely briefed of working in Red Cross hospitals away from the fighting, the Himeyuri students were instead positioned on the front lines performing crude surgery and amputations, burying the dead, transporting ammunition and supplies to front-line troops, and other life-threatening ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis powers. World War II was a total war that directly involved more than 100 million personnel from more than 30 countries. The major participants in the war threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. Aircraft played a major role in the conflict, enabling the strategic bombing of population centres and deploying the only two nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II was by far the deadliest conflict in human history; it resulted in 70 to 85 million fatalities, mostly among civilians. Tens of millions died due to genocides (including the Holocaust), starvation, ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Imperial Japanese Army
The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor of Japan as supreme commander of the army and the Imperial Japanese Navy. Later an Inspectorate General of Aviation became the third agency with oversight of the army. During wartime or national emergencies, the nominal command functions of the emperor would be centralized in an Imperial General Headquarters (IGHQ), an ad hoc body consisting of the chief and vice chief of the Army General Staff, the Minister of the Army, the chief and vice chief of the Naval General Staff, the Inspector General of Aviation, and the Inspector General of Military Training. History Origins (1868–1871) In the mid-19th century, Japan had no unified national army and the country was made up of feudal domains (''han'') with the Tokugawa shogunate (''bakufu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Satchel Charge
250px, Weapons used in the Winter War. The original Finnish satchel charge is on the left. A satchel charge is a demolition device, primarily intended for combat, whose primary components are a charge of dynamite or a more potent explosive such as C-4 plastic explosive, a carrying device functionally similar to a satchel or messenger bag, and a triggering mechanism; the term covers both improvised and formally designed devices. In World War II, combat engineers used satchel charges to demolish heavy stationary targets such as rails, obstacles, blockhouses, bunkers, caves, and bridges. The World War II–era United States Army M37 Demolition Kit contained eight blocks of high explosive, with two priming assemblies, in a canvas bag with a shoulder strap. Part or all of this charge could be placed against a structure or slung into an opening. It was usually detonated with a pull igniter. When used as an anti-tank weapon, charges were sufficient to severely damage the tracks. ch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Partisan (military)
A partisan is a member of an irregular military force formed to oppose control of an area by a foreign power or by an army of military occupation, occupation by some kind of insurgent activity. The term can apply to the field element of resistance movements. The most common use in present parlance in several languages refers to Resistance during World War II, occupation resistance fighters during World War II, especially under the Yugoslav Partisans, Yugoslav partisan leader Josip Broz Tito. History before 1939 The initial concept of partisan warfare involved the use of militia , troops raised from the local population in a war zone (or in some cases regular forces) who would operate behind enemy front line , lines to disrupt communications, seize posts or villages as forward-operating bases, ambush convoys, impose war taxes or contributions, raid logistical stockpiles, and compel enemy forces to disperse and protect their base of operations. George Satterfield has analyse ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1944 Establishments In Japan
Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command French Army B, part of the Sixth United States Army Group in North Africa. ** Landing at Saidor: 13,000 US and Australian troops land on Papua New Guinea, in an attempt to cut off a Japanese retreat. * January 8 – WWII: Philippine Commonwealth troops enter the province of Ilocos Sur in northern Luzon and attack Japanese forces. * January 11 ** President of the United States Franklin D. Roosevelt proposes a Second Bill of Rights for social and economic security, in his State of the Union address. ** The Nazi German administration expands Kraków-Płaszów concentration camp into the larger standalone ''Konzentrationslager Plaszow bei Krakau'' in occupied Poland. * January 12 – WWII: Winston Churchill and Charles de Gaulle begin a 2-day conference in Marrakech. * January 14 – WWII: Sovi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Military Units And Formations Established In 1944
A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct military uniform. It may consist of one or more military branches such as an army, navy, air force, space force, marines, or coast guard. The main task of the military is usually defined as defence of the state and its interests against external armed threats. In broad usage, the terms ''armed forces'' and ''military'' are often treated as synonymous, although in technical usage a distinction is sometimes made in which a country's armed forces may include both its military and other paramilitary forces. There are various forms of irregular military forces, not belonging to a recognized state; though they share many attributes with regular military forces, they are less often referred to as simply ''military''. A nation's military may f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Military Units And Formations Disestablished In 1945
A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct military uniform. It may consist of one or more military branches such as an army, navy, air force, space force, marines, or coast guard. The main task of the military is usually defined as defence of the state and its interests against external armed threats. In broad usage, the terms ''armed forces'' and ''military'' are often treated as synonymous, although in technical usage a distinction is sometimes made in which a country's armed forces may include both its military and other paramilitary forces. There are various forms of irregular military forces, not belonging to a recognized state; though they share many attributes with regular military forces, they are less often referred to as simply ''military''. A nation's military may ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
.svg "Click for more on -> Imperial Japanese Army")
