The was an army of the Imperial Japanese Army during the final stages of World War II.

History

The Japanese 40th Army was formed on January 8, 1945 in Chiayi, Taiwan, and subordinated to the Japanese 10 Area Army 16 January 1945. As part of the last desperate defense effort by the Empire of Japan to deter possible landings of Allied forces in southern

Kyūshū is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surround ...

during

Operation Downfall Operation Downfall was the proposed Allied plan for the invasion of the Japanese home islands near the end of World War II. The planned operation was canceled when Japan surrendered following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, th ...

, the ''40th Army'' headquarters were transferred to Kagoshima 14 May 1945. The thus reformed ''40th Army'' consisted mostly of poorly trained and poorly armed reservists, conscripted students and home guard militia. In addition, the Japanese had organized the Patriotic Citizens Fighting Corps — which included all healthy men aged 15–60 and women 17–40 — to perform combat support, and ultimately combat jobs. Weapons, training, and uniforms were generally lacking: some men were armed with nothing better than muzzle-loading

musket A musket is a muzzle-loaded long gun that appeared as a smoothbore weapon in the early 16th century, at first as a heavier variant of the arquebus, capable of penetrating plate armour. By the mid-16th century, this type of musket gradually d ...

s, longbows, or bamboo spears; nevertheless, they were expected to make do with what they had. : ''One mobilized high school girl, Yukiko Kasai, found herself issued an

awl Awl may refer to: Tools * Bradawl, a woodworking hand tool for making small holes * Scratch awl, a woodworking layout and point-making tool used to scribe a line * Stitching awl, a tool for piercing holes in a variety of materials such as lea ...

and told, "Even killing one American soldier will do. … You must aim for the abdomen."''Frank, ''Downfall'', p. 189. It was demobilized at the

surrender of Japan The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally signed on 2 September 1945, bringing the war's hostilities to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy ...

on August 15, 1945 without having seen combat.

List of Commanders

References

Books

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External links

* {{cite web , last = Wendel , first = Marcus , url = http://www.axishistory.com/index.php?id=7691 , title = Axis History Factbook , work = Japanese Fortieth Army Military units and formations disestablished in 1945 40 Military units and formations established in 1945