History
The IJA 34th Army was formed in Hopei province, in Japanese-occupied China on 3 July 1944 from the Wuhan Defense Army (武漢防衛軍, Bukan Bōei-gun), a force created out of reserve elements of the IJA 11th Army to protect Japanese rear lines when the IJA 11th Army moved south to participate in the Battle of Guilin–Liuzhou during Operation Ichi-Go. Afterwards, it was transferred to the operational control of the Japanese Sixth Area Army, and continued in its role as a garrison force for Wuhan and the surrounding region. In March 1945, it participated in counter-insurgency operations with the IJA 12th Army and in June was transferred to the operational control of the Kwantung Army. The following month, it completed a transfer from China to Hamhung, in northern Korea, where it was assigned border patrol during against possible incursions by the Soviet Union into Korea and part of southern Manchukuo. It was overrun by the Soviet Red Army during the Soviet invasion of Manchuria at the end of World War II.
List of commanders
Commanding officer
| Name | From | To |
|---|
| 1 | Lieutenant General Tadayoshi Sano | 5 July 1944 | 12 January 1945 |
| 2 | Lieutenant General Senichi Kushibuchi | 12 January 1945 | September 1945 |
|
Chief of staff
| Name | From | To |
|---|
| 1 | Major General Masataka Kaburagi | 7 July 1944 | 12 June 1945 |
| 2 | Major General Taro Kawame | 15 June 1945 | September 1945 |
|
References
Books
- 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 1841763543.
- Madej, Victor (1981). Japanese Armed Forces Order of Battle, 1937-1945. Game Publishing Company. ASIN: B000L4CYWW.
- Glantz, David (2003). The Soviet Strategic Offensive in Manchuria, 1945 (Cass Series on Soviet (Russian) Military Experience, 7). Routledge. ISBN 0-7146-5279-2.