The , was one of four

armored division A division is a large military unit or Formation (military), formation, usually consisting of between 6,000 and 25,000 soldiers. In most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades; in turn, several divisions typically mak ...

s 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 ...

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 1st Tank Brigade was created out of four separate armored regiments based 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 ...

on June 24, 1942. With the addition of one infantry regiment, it was soon raised to the status of a full armored division. Stationed in

Ning'an Ning'an () is a city located approximately southwest of Mudanjiang, in the southeast of Heilongjiang province, China, bordering Jilin province to the south. It is located on the Mudanjiang River (formerly known as Hurka River), which flows north, ...

in northern Manchukuo, it was tasked primarily with

border patrol A border guard of a country is a national security agency that performs border security. Some of the national border guard agencies also perform coast guard (as in Germany, Italy or Ukraine) and rescue service duties. Name and uniform In dif ...

of Manchukuo's eastern frontier with the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

under the overall command of the

Japanese First Area Army The was a field army of the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II, based in northern Manchukuo and active in combat against the Soviet Union in the closing stages of the war. History The Japanese 1st Area Army was formed on July 4, 1942 und ...

. As the situation in 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 ...

against 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 ...

deteriorated for Japan, in March 1944, the IJA 9th Armored Regiment of the 1st Tank Division was reassigned to the IJA 31st Army, and sent to

Saipan Saipan ( ch, Sa’ipan, cal, Seipél, formerly in es, Saipán, and in ja, 彩帆島, Saipan-tō) is the largest island of the Northern Mariana Islands, a Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), commonwealth of the United States in the western Pa ...

, where it was annihilated at the subsequent

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 th ...

and Battle of Guam. The remaining three regiments participated in

Operation Ichi-Go Operation Ichi-Go ( ja, 一号作戦, Ichi-gō Sakusen, lit=Operation Number One) was a campaign of a series of major battles between the Imperial Japanese Army forces and the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China, fought from Apri ...

mainland China "Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...

. The IJA 3rd Armored Regiment of the 1st Tank Division was reassigned to China and attached to the 11th Army until the end of the war. In March 1945, the 1st Tank Division with its 5th Armored Regiment was reassigned to the

Japanese home islands The Japanese archipelago (Japanese: 日本列島, ''Nihon rettō'') is a group of 6,852 islands that form the country of Japan, as well as the Russian island of Sakhalin. It extends over from the Sea of Okhotsk in the northeast to the East Chi ...

in preparation for the expected

invasion An invasion is a military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitical entity aggressively enter territory owned by another such entity, generally with the objective of either: conquering; liberating or re-establishing con ...

by Allied forces. It gained the IJA 1st Armored Regiment from the 3rd Tank Division, and formed part of the IJA 36th Army under the

Japanese Twelfth Area Army The was a field army of the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. History The Japanese 12th Area Army was formed on February 2, 1945 under the First General Army as part of the last desperate defense effort by the Empire of Japan to deter ...

. The headquarters unit and IJA 1st Armored Regiment were based in

Sano, Tochigi is a city located in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 117,669, in 52,066 households and a population density of 330 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . The city is known for its Outlet Mall, Sa ...

, with the IJA 5th Armored Regiment stationed at Ōtawara, Tochigi (and later relocated to

Kazo, Saitama is a city located in Saitama Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 112,792 in 48,213 households and a population density of 850 persons per km². The total area of the city is . The city is noted for is known throughout Ja ...

, and the IJA 1st Mechanized Infantry Regiment and the Division’s mechanized artillery stationed at Tochigi. Anticipating that Allied forces would land at

Kujūkuri Beach is a sandy beach that occupies much of the northeast coast of the Bōsō Peninsula in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. The beach is approximately long, making it the second longest beach in Japan. Kujūkuri Beach is a popular swimming and surfing dest ...

, the 1st Tank Division was to hold a defensive line stretching from

Mount Tsukuba is an mountain located at the northern-end of Tsukuba, Japan. It is one of the most famous mountains in Japan, particularly well known for its double peaks, and . Many people climb the so-called "purple mountain" every year for the panorami ...

to the

Tama River The is a major river in Yamanashi, Kanagawa and Tokyo Prefectures on Honshū, Japan. It is officially classified as a Class 1 river by the Japanese government. Its total length is , and the total of the river's basin area spans . The river ...

, with forward units deployed to Choshi, Chiba. 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 ...

came before the landing, and the 1st Armored Division did not see any combat on Japanese soil. The 1st Tank Division was

demobilized Demobilization or demobilisation (see spelling differences) is the process of standing down a nation's armed forces from combat-ready status. This may be as a result of victory in war, or because a crisis has been peacefully resolved and milita ...

in September 1945 with the rest of the Imperial Japanese Army.

Commanding officer

Structure (1945)

The 1st Tank Division, after being relocated to Japan in 1945, consisted of a division headquarters, two tank regiments (roughly battalion-sized), one motorized infantry regiment, one motorized artillery regiment, one anti-tank battalion, one motor transport battalion, one maintenance battalion, and one engineer battalion. *Division Headquarters *1st Tank Regiment *5th Tank Regiment *1st Motorized Infantry Regiment *1st Motorized Artillery Regiment *Anti-Tank Battalion *Motor Transport Battalion *Maintenance Battalion *Engineer Battalion

Notes

References

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External links