The was a

field army A field army (or numbered army or simply army) is a military formation in many armed forces, composed of two or more corps and may be subordinate to an army group. Likewise, air armies are equivalent formation within some air forces, and with ...

of the

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 o ...

(IJA) during World War II. It was originally the 14th Army, formed on November 6, 1941, for the upcoming invasion of the Philippines. It was reorganized in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

on July 28, 1944, when Allied landings were considered imminent. The Fourteenth Area Army was formed by reinforcing and renaming the . (An IJA "area army" was equivalent to a field army in other militaries, while an IJA "army" was a smaller,

corps Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was first named as such in 1805. The size of a corps varies great ...

-level formation.)

History

The Japanese 14th Army was formed on November 6, 1941, under the Southern Expeditionary Army Group for the specific task of invading and occupying the

. It initially consisted of the

IJA 16th Division The was an infantry division in the Imperial Japanese Army. Its tsūshōgō code name was the , and its military symbol was 16D. The 16th Division was one of four new infantry divisions raised by the Imperial Japanese Army in the closing stages o ...

, 48th Division, 56th Division, and 65th Independent Mixed Infantry Brigade. In January 1942, the 48th Division was detached and reassigned to the

Japanese Sixteenth Army The was an army of the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. History The Japanese 16th Army was formed on November 5, 1941 under the Southern Expeditionary Army Group to coordinate the infantry divisions and other Japanese ground forces ...

for the invasion of the Netherlands East Indies, and was replaced with the

Fourth Division Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

. As the army was still fighting in the Philippines, its commanding officer, Lieutenant General Masaharu Homma, requested more reinforcements. The 10th Independent Garrison was sent to the Philippines as was the 21st Division Infantry Group, and the First Field Artillery Headquarters to command the field artillery units. The Fourth and Seventh Tank Regiments were part of the 14th Army, as well as the First, Eighth, and 16th Field Artillery Regiments and the 9th Independent Field Artillery Battalion. This army was responsible for the

Bataan Death March The Bataan Death March (Filipino: ''Martsa ng Kamatayan sa Bataan''; Spanish: ''Marcha de la muerte de Bataán'' ; Kapampangan: ''Martsa ning Kematayan quing Bataan''; Japanese: バターン死の行進, Hepburn: ''Batān Shi no Kōshin'') was ...

after the surrender of US and Filipino forces in Bataan, and the 65th Independent Brigade was also accused of the Mariveles Massacre. The 14th Army came under the direct control of

Imperial General Headquarters The was part of the Supreme War Council and was established in 1893 to coordinate efforts between the Imperial Japanese Army and Imperial Japanese Navy during wartime. In terms of function, it was approximately equivalent to the United States ...

in June, 1942; however, the Southern Expeditionary Army Group in

Saigon , population_density_km2 = 4,292 , population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2 , population_demonym = Saigonese , blank_name = GRP (Nominal) , blank_info = 2019 , blank1_name = – Total , blank1_ ...

continued to issue orders, at times in conflict with those received from Tokyo, and the 14th's commanding officer was plagued by insubordination from junior officers who used the situation to issue orders without his approval, or to countermand orders with which they did not agree. In August 1942, Homma was replaced by Lieutenant General Shizuichi Tanaka.Who's Who in Twentieth Century Warfare by Spencer Tucker
/ref> In July 1942 the 4th Division came under control of the 14th Army, as did the 30th Division, which was assigned to the defense of

Mindanao Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of ...

. As the war situation continued to deteriorate for Japan, and Allied forces prepared to invade the Philippines, the 14th Army restructured its independent infantry brigades and reserves to form the new 100th, 102nd, 103rd, and 105th Divisions. In March 1944 the 14th Army officially reverted to the control of the Southern Expeditionary Army Group. On July 28, 1944, the Japanese 14th Army officially became the Japanese 14th Area Army. Two more divisions (the 8th Division and the 10th Division) arrived in August 1944 as reinforcements, and also in August the 35th Army came under its control. On October 10, 1944, General

Tomoyuki Yamashita was a Japanese officer and convicted war criminal, who was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. Yamashita led Japanese forces during the invasion of Malaya and Battle of Singapore, with his accomplishment of conquering ...

assumed the command of the 14th Area Army to defend the Philippines. In the various battles of the

Philippines campaign (1944–45) Philippines campaign may refer to various military campaigns that have been fought in the Philippine Islands, including: Spanish colonial period (1565–1898) *Numerous revolts against Spain during the Spanish colonial period; see Philippine revol ...

against combined American and Philippine Commonwealth armed forces in

Leyte Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census. Since the accessibility of land has be ...

and parts of

Luzon Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...

, the Japanese 14th Area Army suffered over 350,000 casualties, including virtually all of the 18,000 men of the 16th Infantry Division in the Battle of Leyte. Troops of the 14th Area Army were responsible for the Palawan Massacre of December 14, 1944.

List of commanders

Commanding officer

Chief of staff

Structure

* Japanese 14th Area Army (1945) ** 1st Infantry Division ** 10th Infantry Division ** 19th Infantry Division ** 23rd Infantry Division ** 26th Infantry Division ** 103rd Infantry Division ** 105th Infantry Division ** 2nd Tank Division **

4th Air Division The 4th Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with Fifteenth Air Force, stationed at Francis E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming. It was inactivated on 23 August 1988. As the 4th Bombardment Wing, the u ...

** IJA 1st Special Forces Division ** 68th Independent Infantry Brigade ** 55th Independent Mixed Brigade ** 58th Independent Mixed Brigade * Japanese 35th Army ** 16th Infantry Division ** 30th Infantry Division ** 100th Infantry Division ** 102nd Infantry Division ** 54th Independent Mixed Brigade * Japanese 41st Army ** 8th Infantry Division ** 39th Independent Mixed Brigade ** 65th Independent Infantry Brigade ** 9th Artillery Headquarters

Notes

References

* * * * * *

External links

*{{cite web , last = Wendel , first = Marcus , url = http://www.axishistory.com/index.php?id=6748 , title = Axis History Factbook , work = Japanese Fourteenth Area Army 14 Military units and formations established in 1942 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945 Manila in World War II