4th Tank Division (Imperial Japanese Army)

4th Tank Division
Type 3 Chi-Nu tanks of the 4th Tank Division, with Type 3 Ho-Ni III self-propelled guns among them
Active 1944–1945
Country  Empire of Japan
Branch Imperial Japanese Army
Type Armored division
Garrison/HQ Chiba, Chiba
Nickname(s) 鋼=Hagane (Steel)
Engagements World War II

The 4th Tank Division (戦車第4師団, Sensha Dai-yon Shidan), was one of four armored divisions of the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II.

History

The 4th Tank Division was raised on July 6, 1944 in Chiba, near Tokyo.[2] It lacked both infantry and self-propelled gun regiments.[2] Similar to the German Panzer-Lehr-Division, 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, its remaining students and staff. Assigned to the IJA 36th Army Corps, it was designated for the defense of the Japanese home islands against the projected Allied invasion.[1][2]

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 tank destroyers; these being available at its depot before the end of the war.[3] Following Japan's surrender on Sept 3, 1945, the 4th Tank Division was officially demobilized with the rest of the Imperial Japanese Army, without having seen combat.

Commanding officer

NameFromTo
1Lieutenant General Shiori Nagura8 July 194412 August 1945
2Major General Prince Kan'in Haruhito12 August 194516 August 1945
3Lieutenant General Shiori Nagura16 August 194530 September 1945

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 Zaloga 2007, p. 20.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Rottman & Takizawa 2008, p. 12.
  3. ↑ Tomczyk 2005, p. 15.

References

  • Frank, Richard B (1999). Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire. New York: Random House. ISBN 0-679-41424-X.
  • Jowett, Bernard (1999). The Japanese Army 1931-45 (Volume 2, 1942-45). Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-84176-354-3.
  • Madej, Victor (1981). Japanese Armed Forces Order of Battle, 1937–1945. Game Publishing Company. ASIN: B000L4CYWW.
  • Rottman, Gordon L.; Takizawa, Akira (2008). World War II Japanese Tank Tactics. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1846032349.
  • Tomczyk, Andrzej (2005). Japanese Armor Vol. 4. AJ Press. ISBN 978-8372371676.
  • Zaloga, Steven J. (2007). Japanese Tanks 1939–45. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-8460-3091-8.
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