18th Infantry Regiment (Imperial Japanese Army)
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The was an
infantry regiment Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...
in 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). Its
call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assign ...
and unit code was . The unit was formed in 1884 and based in the city of
Toyohashi is a city in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 377,453 in 160,516 households and a population density of 1,400 persons per km2. The total area of the city was . By area, Toyohashi was Aichi Prefecture's second-lar ...
as a branch of the Nagoya Garrison. Throughout its history, the majority of its soldiers came from the Mikawa region, or eastern Aichi prefecture. The regiment first deployed for the
First Sino-Japanese War The First Sino-Japanese War (25 July 1894 – 17 April 1895) was a conflict between China and Japan primarily over influence in Korea. After more than six months of unbroken successes by Japanese land and naval forces and the loss of the ...
in 1894. In 1904, it deployed again for the
Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...
where it fought in several major battles. Between 1928 and 1936, the regiment was deployed to China where it engaged in two military operations in China, though it spent most of the time on garrison and occupation duty. With the start of the
Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Th ...
in the summer of 1937, the regiment participated in the
Battle of Shanghai The Battle of Shanghai () was the first of the twenty-two major engagements fought between the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) of the Republic of China (ROC) and the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) of the Empire of Japan The also ...
and then participated in the major campaigns of central China. In 1944, the 18th Regiment was sent to the Pacific theater as part of the 29th Division. On the way to Saipan, the transport ship that was carrying the regiment, the '' Sakito Maru'', was torpedoed and sunk. Over half the regiment drowned, but survivors were rescued and delivered to Saipan. Some stragglers had to be left behind, but the majority of the regiment was sent to
Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...
and prepared to repel the American invasion. Members of the 18th Regiment participated in both the
Battle of Saipan The Battle of Saipan was a battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought on the island of Saipan in the Mariana Islands from 15 June to 9 July 1944 as part of Operation Forager. It has been referred to as the "Pacific D-Day" with the ...
and the Battle of Guam. In both battles, nearly all soldiers of the 18th Regiment were killed in action. A few soldiers survived the massed
banzai charge Banzai charge is the term that was used by the Allied forces of World War II to refer to Japanese human wave attacks and swarming staged by infantry units. This term came from the Japanese battle cry , and was shortened to banzai, specificall ...
s and attempted to evade capture by hiding in the jungles, but as an organization the regiment became defunct and the ranks were not replenished. After the battle on Saipan, one officer of the regiment, Captain Sakae Ōba, distinguished himself when he took command of some soldiers and assumed responsibility for the civilians who had survived the battle. Ōba and his men surrendered in December 1945, three months after the official end of World War II.


Early history

The three
battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions a ...
s of the 18th Infantry Regiment were established in
Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most po ...
, Japan, and granted their
colors Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are associa ...
on 15 August 1884. By 1886 the regiment had transferred its headquarters to
Toyohashi is a city in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 377,453 in 160,516 households and a population density of 1,400 persons per km2. The total area of the city was . By area, Toyohashi was Aichi Prefecture's second-lar ...
city, and thereafter the majority of its recruits came from that city and the surrounding Mikawa region of eastern Aichi Prefecture. In May 1888, the
IJA 3rd Division The was an infantry division in the Imperial Japanese Army. Its call sign was the . History The 3rd Division was formed in Nagoya in January 1871 as the , one of six regional commands created in the fledgling Imperial Japanese Army. The Nagoya ...
was organized and the 18th Infantry Regiment was placed in its command. The regiment deployed for the first time in 1894 to participate in the
First Sino-Japanese War The First Sino-Japanese War (25 July 1894 – 17 April 1895) was a conflict between China and Japan primarily over influence in Korea. After more than six months of unbroken successes by Japanese land and naval forces and the loss of the ...
(1894–1895). In 1904, the regiment deployed again for the
Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...
. The regiment saw combat at the Battles of Nanshan, Te-Li-Ssu, Tashihchiao,
Shaho Shaho ( ku, شاھۆ ,Şaho) is a mountain of the central Zagros Mountains range. It is located between cities of Kamyaran, Sarvabad, Marivan, Nowdeshah, Nowsud, Paveh, Javanrud, Ravansar in the district of Kurdistan and Kermanshah provinces ...
, Panlongshan, and other places. In 1907 the regiment was transferred from the 3rd Division to the IJA 15th Division. In 1925, the 15th Division was disbanded by order of
War Minister A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in so ...
Ugaki Kazushige, and the regiment was returned to the 3rd Division. In May 1928, the regiment deployed for the Jinan Incident, and afterward served as the garrison for
Tianjin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popu ...
, China. In February 1933 the regiment participated in
Operation Nekka The defense of the Great Wall () (January 1 – May 31, 1933) was a campaign between the armies of Republic of China and Empire of Japan, which took place before the Second Sino-Japanese War officially commenced in 1937 and after the Japanese in ...
. As a result of this early clash between Chinese and Japanese forces,
Inner Mongolia Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Its border includes most of the length of China's border with the country of Mongolia. Inner Mongolia also accounts for a ...
was placed in the Japanese controlled state of Manchukuo. In 1934, the regiment was on garrison duty in Manchukuo. The regiment returned to Toyohashi, Japan in 1936.


Second Sino-Japanese War

With the outbreak of war following the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, the 18th Regiment was ordered to mobilize in August 1937. The regiment landed and participated in the
Battle of Shanghai The Battle of Shanghai () was the first of the twenty-two major engagements fought between the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) of the Republic of China (ROC) and the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) of the Empire of Japan The also ...
, then continued on to assist with the Battle of Nanjing. In early December, the regiment crossed the
Yangtze The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest river in Asia, the third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains (Tibetan Plateau) and flows ...
at a point about halfway between Shanghai and Nanjing, launching an attack from
Jiangyin Jiangyin (, Jiangyin dialect: ) is a county-level city on the southern bank of the Yangtze River, and is administered by Wuxi, Jiangsu province. Jiangyin is one of the most important transport hubs on the Yangtze River, it is also one of the most d ...
on the south bank to
Jingjiang Jingjiang () is a county-level city under the administration of Taizhou, Jiangsu province, China. It is located on the northern (left) bank of the Yangtze River, and is the southernmost part of Taizhou City, bordering Nantong to the northeast, Suz ...
on the opposite bank. The regiment occupied the two towns until 9 March 1938. In May 1938, the regiment participated in the
Battle of Xuzhou The Battle of Xuzhou was a military conflict between the Empire of Japan and the Republic of China forces in May 1938 during the Second Sino-Japanese War. History In 1937 the North China Area Army had chased Song Zheyuan's 29th Army to the ...
. Later that year, the regiment participated in the
Hankou Hankou, alternately romanized as Hankow (), was one of the three towns (the other two were Wuchang and Hanyang) merged to become modern-day Wuhan city, the capital of the Hubei province, China. It stands north of the Han and Yangtze Rivers whe ...
Operation as part of the larger Battle of Wuhan. In 1939, it fought the Battle of the
Xiang River The Xiang River is the chief river of the Dongting Lake, Lake Dongting Drainage basin, drainage system of the middle Yangtze, the largest river in Hunan, Hunan Province, China. It is the 2nd largest tributary (after Min River (Sichuan), Min River ...
, the First Battle of Changsha, as well as smaller actions in the area. In 1940, the 18th Regiment participated in the Ichang Operation and the Han River Operation, both in
Hubei Province Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The prov ...
. In July 1942, command of the 18th Regiment was transferred from the 3rd Division to the IJA 29th Division. The regiment was then ordered to serve as the garrison force at Haicheng, at the time in
Mukden Shenyang (, ; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ), formerly known as Fengtian () or by its Manchu name Mukden, is a major Chinese sub-provincial city and the provincial capital of Liaoning province. Located in central-north Liaoning, it is the prov ...
Province, now part of Liaoning Province. By early 1944, much of northern China was nominally secure, and many units were being transferred to various islands in the Pacific in order to support the strained and hyperextended line of defensive positions.Gailey (1988), p. 36. By February 1944, the 29th Division, which consisted of the 18th, the 38th, and the 50th Infantry Regiments, was ordered to mobilize and prepare for operations in the
Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...
.


Pacific Theater

From Manchuria, the 18th Infantry Regiment and its sister regiments travelled to Korea, where they embarked on four transport vessels at
Pusan Busan (), officially known as is South Korea's most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.4 million inhabitants. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern South Korea, ...
.Hoyt (1980), p. 240. The convoy was escorted by three ''Yugumo''-class destroyers of Destroyer Division 31: , , and , and were first sent to the Japanese-held island of Saipan. On 29 February 1944 the transport ship carrying the regiment, the ''Sakito Maru'', was hit by a
torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, s ...
fired from the , an American submarine, just northeast of Saipan. The transport sunk, taking with it 2,200 of the 3,500 men on board, which included the regimental commander,
Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...
Monma Kentaro.Gailey (1988), p. 37. Also lost on the transport were several tanks and most of the regiment's equipment. The convoy's three escort destroyers dropped depth charges, sank the ''Trout'', and then rescued the survivors of the sunken transport. About 1,800 troops of the regiment were delivered to Saipan.


Saipan

After re-organization, two battalions of the under-equipped 18th Regiment were transported to
Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...
in May 1944; however, about 600 troops of the 1st Battalion had to be left behind on Saipan. These troops, under Captain Masao Kubo, joined the island's garrison, though nearly all would be killed during the
Battle of Saipan The Battle of Saipan was a battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought on the island of Saipan in the Mariana Islands from 15 June to 9 July 1944 as part of Operation Forager. It has been referred to as the "Pacific D-Day" with the ...
in June and July 1944. In the aftermath of the battle, Capt. Sakae Ōba distinguished himself by taking command of a number of soldiers and sailors who had survived the battle, as well as Japanese civilians who looked to him for guidance and protection. The group numbered about 300, and took shelter in caves or small villages in the jungle. They evaded capture by the U.S. Marines that were hunting for them, conducted harassment raids, and survived until they finally agreed to surrender on 1 December 1945.


Guam

In March 1944, the 29th Division commander,
Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...
Takeshi Takashina was an Imperial Japanese Army general during World War II. He was killed in action during the Battle of Guam. Biography Early military service Takashina was born in Chiba Prefecture and was a graduate of the 25th class of the Imperial Japanese ...
, landed on Guam and assumed overall command of all military units for the island's defense. In preparation for the imminent invasion of Guam by Allied forces, the main body of the 18th Regiment was situated on a mountain, with each company deployed to cover possible landing points in support of the island's defensive strategy. On 21 July 1944 the American landing operation commenced.Gailey (1988), p. 89. Despite fierce resistance,
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...
and Marine forces gained two beachheads by nightfall, straddling the Orote Peninsula on the west coast of the island, while the defenders either counterattacked or continued to fire on American positions with machine guns, artillery, and mortars. On 24 July, the command headquarters of the Japanese forces on Guam received word from Tokyo to "Defend Guam at all costs".Gailey (1988), p. 129. General Takashina devised a plan of attack to dislodge the 3rd Marine Division, which occupied the high ground at Asan, north of the Orote Peninsula. Takashina's attack would be coordinated with a breakout attempt of Japanese forces trapped on the peninsula. The 18th Regiment, which had been reorganized into three battalions, was to be one of the main units to assault the American position. Two battalions would attack the 21st Marine Regiment and the other battalion was to attack the flank of the
9th Marines The 9th Marine Regiment was an infantry regiment of the United States Marine Corps. Formed during World War II, it served until 1994, when it was deactivated during the post Cold War drawdown. Battalions of the Ninth Marine Regiment, but not the ...
. The objective was to exploit an 800-yard gap between the two regiments, break through the American lines, and attain the high ground. Other units would attack the Marines or head to the beaches with demolition charges to destroy any ammunition or supply caches left by American forces. On the night of 25 July, the colors of the 18th Infantry Regiment were ritually burned, by authorization of the division commander, in anticipation of the regiment's complete destruction.


First Battalion

Just after midnight, the 1st Battalion, 18th Regiment, attacked the center of the 22nd Marines. Veterans of the battle later reported that while many of the Japanese soldiers carried rifles and their officers led with swords, some of the Japanese carried knives, pitchforks, or their bayonets mounted to long sticks and used as spears. Charging across open ground, they were hit by American artillery, mortars, and machine gun fire until they retreated into a mangrove swamp. Artillery continued to bombard the swamps, discouraging further attack from that approach.


Second Battalion

The Japanese main attack was launched at about 0300, 26 July. The assault of the 2nd Battalion, 18th Regiment, under Major Maruyama Chusa, struck the center of the 21st Marines, and was the scene of some of the most desperate hand-to-hand combat of the entire night. The battalion charged through machine gun and artillery fire in an effort to reach the Marines. In an effort to break through the lines, Maruyama's men fought their way into a
draw Draw, drawing, draws, or drawn may refer to: Common uses * Draw (terrain), a terrain feature formed by two parallel ridges or spurs with low ground in between them * Drawing (manufacturing), a process where metal, glass, or plastic or anything ...
that led down to the beach. The Marines had prepared for that possibility, and once in the draw the Japanese faced several
Sherman tank } The M4 Sherman, officially Medium Tank, M4, was the most widely used medium tank by the United States and Western Allies in World War II. The M4 Sherman proved to be reliable, relatively cheap to produce, and available in great numbers. It w ...
s. Lacking any sort of anti-tank weaponry, the Japanese troops were unable to damage a single tank, and flowing over and past them, continued on down the draw. Those troops who were unable to reach the draw regrouped and charged another point in the Marine line and fought hand-to-hand until their numbers became depleted.


Third Battalion

The 3rd Battalion of the 18th Regiment, led by Major Yukioka Setsuo, was able to exploit a gap between the lines of the 9th and the 21st Marines, and drove hard toward the Marines' regimental
Command Post Command and control (abbr. C2) is a "set of organizational and technical attributes and processes ... hatemploys human, physical, and information resources to solve problems and accomplish missions" to achieve the goals of an organization or e ...
(CP) near the beach. The Japanese came close to overrunning the CP, but Yukioka's attack was blunted by desperate fighting during the Marines' counterattack supported by artillery and mortars. One element of the 3rd Battalion encountered and attacked the 3rd Marine Division Headquarters area. The Japanese were prevented from overrunning the position only when every available Marine, including cooks, clerks, doctors, and some of the wounded, joined the fighting, before two companies of
combat engineers A combat engineer (also called pioneer or sapper) is a type of soldier who performs military engineering tasks in support of land forces combat operations. Combat engineers perform a variety of military engineering, tunnel and mine warfare tas ...
arrived to support the defenders. The engineers counterattacked, and by dawn the Japanese troops were dead or scattered; many fled up the Nidual River valley. The Engineers pursued, and over the course of the day reported witnessing many of the Japanese committing suicide by an unprecedented method: when a Japanese soldier had given up on escape, and capture seemed imminent, he pulled the pin of his grenade, placed it on top of his head, then held his helmet down over the grenade and waited for the inevitable. By the morning of 26 July, it was apparent that the attack to dislodge the American position had failed, as had the breakout attempt at Orote Peninsula. It was also apparent to General Takashina that victory at Guam would be impossible, due to enormous losses in personnel, leadership, weapons, and morale. Takashina decided that all remaining troops should escape to the interior of the island, in order to regroup, and carry on a guerrilla campaign to inflict as much damage as possible on the American forces. During the previous night's fighting, most of the men of the 18th Regiment had been killed in action, along with their commanding officer, Colonel Hikoshiro Ohashi. By the end of 26 July 1944, the 18th Infantry Regiment had ceased to be a functioning unit.


Memorialization

The main memorial for the 18th Infantry Regiment is located in Toyohashi City Park. There are also monuments on the islands of Saipan and Guam, paid for by the regimental veterans' association.Hyodo (1994), p. 475.


See also

* 18th Independent Mixed Brigade *
Battle of Guam (1944) The Battle of Guam (21 July–10 August 1944) was the American recapture of the Japanese-held island of Guam, a U.S. territory in the Mariana Islands captured by the Japanese from the United States in the First Battle of Guam in 1941 during ...
* Imperial Japanese Army Uniforms *
Japanese holdout Japanese holdouts ( ja, 残留日本兵, translit=Zanryū nipponhei, lit=remaining Japanese soldiers) were soldiers of the Imperial Japanese Army and Imperial Japanese Navy during the Pacific Theatre of World War II who continued fighting World Wa ...
* List of Japanese Infantry divisions *
List of Japanese military equipment of World War II The following is a list of Japanese military equipment of World War II which includes artillery, vehicles and vessels, and other support equipment of both the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA), and Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) from operations conducte ...
* Organization of the Imperial Japanese Army * Rank insignia of the Imperial Japanese Army *
Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Th ...


References


Bibliography

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External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:18th Infantry Regiment (Imperial Japanese Army) Infantry Regiments (Imperial Japanese Army) History of Aichi Prefecture Japanese holdouts 1944 in Guam Military units and formations disestablished in 1944 Military units and formations established in 1884 Military in Guam