The was an

army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

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 ...

during the final days of

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 opposin ...

History

The Japanese 19th Army was created on December 19, 1942 and assigned as a

garrison A garrison (from the French ''garnison'', itself from the verb ''garnir'', "to equip") is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a mil ...

force for the eastern portion of Japanese-occupied

Netherlands East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

from January 7, 1943 under the administrative control of the Southern Expeditionary Army Group. It was headquartered on

Ambon Ambon may refer to: Places * Ambon Island, an island in Indonesia ** Ambon, Maluku, a city on Ambon Island, the capital of Maluku province ** Governorate of Ambon, a colony of the Dutch East India Company from 1605 to 1796 * Ambon, Morbihan, a co ...

. On October 30, 1943, the IJA 19th Army came under the control of the

Japanese Second Area Army The was a field army of the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. History The Japanese 2nd Area Army was formed on July 4, 1942 under the control of the Kwantung Army as a reserve and garrison force to maintain security and public order ...

, a subsidiary of the Kwantung Army as

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 ...

began planning for a projected invasion of northern Australia. The projected invasion never occurred, and the IJA 19th Army remained on Ambon, largely cut off from reinforcements and resupply as the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

bypassed Ambon in their island-hopping campaign in the South West Pacific theatre of World War II. It was demobilized on February 28, 1945 largely without having seen combat.

List of commanders

Commanding Officer

Chief of Staff

References

* * * *

External links

* 19 Military units and formations established in 1942 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945 {{Japan-mil-hist-stub