The , was one of four

armored division A division is a large military unit or 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 make up a corps. Hist ...

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 Emper ...

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

History

The 4th Tank Division was raised on July 6, 1944 in Chiba, near Tokyo. It lacked both infantry and

self-propelled gun Self-propelled artillery (also called locomotive artillery) is artillery equipped with its own propulsion system to move toward its firing position. Within the terminology are the self-propelled gun, self-propelled howitzer, self-propelled ...

regiments. Similar to the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

Panzer-Lehr-Division The Panzer-Lehr-Division (in the meaning of: Armoured training division) was an elite German armoured division during World War II. It was formed in 1943 onwards from training and demonstration troops (''Lehr'' = "teach") stationed in Germany, ...

, it was created out of the training departments of the Armor School, Cavalry School, Field Artillery School and Military Engineering School of the

Imperial Japanese Army Academy The was the principal officer's training school for the Imperial Japanese Army. The programme consisted of a junior course for graduates of local army cadet schools and for those who had completed four years of middle school, and a senior course f ...

, its remaining students and staff. Assigned to the IJA 36th Army Corps, it was designated for the defense of 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 Chin ...

against the projected

Allied invasion 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 ...

. The 4th Tank Division was based in Fukuoka on Kyushu. It was equipped with the finest and most advanced armaments, including a "significant" number of Type 3 Chi-Nu medium tanks and

Type 3 Ho-Ni III The was a tank destroyer and self-propelled artillery of Imperial Japanese Army in World War II. The Type 3 Ho-Ni III superseded the Type 1 Ho-Ni I and its variant the Type 1 Ho-Ni II in production, and gave better protection to the crew by h ...

tank destroyers; these being available at its depot before the end of the war. Following Japan's surrender on Sept 3, 1945, the 4th Tank Division was officially

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 ...

with the rest of the Imperial Japanese Army, without having seen combat.

Commanding officer

Structure (1945)

The 4th Tank Division, after being relocated to Japan in 1945, consisted of a division headquarters, three tank regiments (roughly battalion-sized), one machine gun cannon battalion (anti-aircraft), one motor transport battalion, and one signal company. *Division Headquarters *28th Tank Regiment *29th Tank Regiment *30th Tank Regiment *Machine Gun Cannon Battalion (20mm AA) *Motor Transport Battalion *Signal Company

Notes

References

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External links