was a general in the
Imperial Japanese Army in
World War II.
Biography
Iida was a native of
Yamaguchi prefecture and a graduate of the 20th class of the
Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1908 and the 27th class of the
Army Staff College in December 1915. Iida was promoted to captain in December 1918. He participated in the Japanese Expeditionary force for the
Siberian Intervention against the forces of the
Bolshevik Army, supporting
White Russian forces in
Russia.
After serving in a variety of administrative positions within the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff, including a stint as instructor at the Infantry School from 1932 to 1934, Iida was appointed commander of the
4th Imperial Guards Regiment from 1934 to 1935. He was subsequently
Chief of Staff
The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supporti ...
of the
IJA 4th Division
The was an infantry division in the Imperial Japanese Army. Its call-sign was (from the Yodo River).
History
The 4th Division was formed in Osaka City in January 1871 as the , one of six regional commands created in the fledgling Imperial J ...
from 1935 to 1937.
With the start of the
Second Sino-Japanese War, Iida became Chief of Staff of the
Japanese First Army
The was an army of the Imperial Japanese Army. It was raised and demobilized on three occasions.
History
The Japanese 1st Army was initially raised during the First Sino-Japanese War from 1 September 1894 – 28 May 1895 under the command of ...
in
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
in 1938. Iida was promoted to
lieutenant general in August 1939. He was assigned to command the
Taiwan Army of Japan from 1938 to 1939. In 1939, he returned to the Imperial Guard as its commander, and held the post until 1941.
With the start of the
Pacific War
The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast ...
, Iida was transferred south to take command of the
Japanese 25th Army in Japanese-occupied
French Indochina in 1941. He established his headquarters 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_ ...
and prepared for an invasion of
Thailand. In December 1941, Iida took command of the newly formed
Japanese Fifteenth Army, consisting of the
IJA 33rd Division
The was an infantry division of the Imperial Japanese Army. Its call sign was the . The 33rd Division was raised in Utsunomiya, Tochigi prefecture, simultaneously with 32nd, 34th, 35th, 36th and 37th Divisions. Its headquarters were initiall ...
and
IJA 55th Division
The was an infantry division of the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. Its call sign was the . It was formed on 10 July 1940 at Zentsūji, simultaneously with 51st, 52nd, 54th, 56th, and 57th divisions. The formation nucleus was t ...
. Beginning on 8 December, his forces easily
overcame light Thai resistance, forcing Thailand into a mutual defense pact with Japan. On 20 January 1942, Iida's divisions crossed into
Burma in the highly successful beginnings of the
Burma Campaign.
Iida's 35,000 men quickly outmaneuvered British forces despite inclement terrain and limited supplies. On 8 March, Iida took
Rangoon
Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...
, cutting the
Burma Road and isolating China. By May, British and Chinese forces in Burma had been driven back to India and China with some 30,000 casualties, against Japanese losses numbering only 7,000.
Recalled to Japan in 1943, Iida was reassigned to the
General Defense Command. In 1944, he became
Commander in Chief of the
Central District Army. He retired from active military service in 1944.
However, in 1945, Iida was recalled back to service to take command of the
Japanese 30th Army in
Manchukuo
Manchukuo, officially the State of Manchuria prior to 1934 and the Empire of (Great) Manchuria after 1934, was a puppet state of the Empire of Japan in Northeast China, Manchuria from 1932 until 1945. It was founded as a republic in 1932 afte ...
just before the
Soviet invasion. He was taken prisoner by the
Red Army and was held as a
prisoner of war in the
Soviet Union from 1945 to 1950.
[Budge, ''Pacific War Online Encyclopedia''.] He died in
Tokyo on 23 January 1980.
References
Books
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External links
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* http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Myanmar.htm
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Iida, Shojiro
Japanese military personnel of World War II
Japanese generals
Military personnel from Yamaguchi Prefecture
1888 births
1980 deaths
Administrators in British Burma
Burma in World War II