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 ...

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

* * *

External links

* * * 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