Twenty-Eighth Army (Japan)
Japanese Twenty-Eighth Army | |
---|---|
Burma | |
Nickname(s) | Saku (策, Scheme) |
The Japanese Twenty-Eighth Army (第28軍, Dai-nijyūhachi gun) was an army of the Imperial Japanese Army during the final days of World War II.
History
The Japanese Twenty-Eighth Army was raised on 6 January 1944 in
The Allies had started a cautious offensive in the Arakan. The Japanese had scored a decisive success here in early 1943, striking at the flanks and rear of badly trained and exhausted Allied units. The main body of 55th Division attempted to repeat this success by infiltrating the Allied lines to attack an Indian Division from the rear, overrunning the Divisional HQ. Unlike the previous occasion, the Allied troops were better-trained and did not panic. The Japanese had also not anticipated that the Allies would parachute supplies to the cut-off forward units, while the Japanese themselves were unable to obtain supplies and starved.
Although battle casualties in the resulting
Twenty-Eighth army used the monsoon to construct the An track across the hills between Central Burma and Arakan, making it easier to supply their troops there. Aided by locally recruited Arakanese irregulars (the Arakan Defence Force) and small units of the Indian National Army, they launched an attack against a West African Division in the Kaladan River valley, forcing it to withdraw almost to the Indian frontier.
When the rains ended, the Allies resumed their offensive. Intelligence of impending Allied amphibious operations forced the 28th Army to weaken the forces in Arakan and disperse many of its troops to Southern Burma. At the end of the year, they abandoned the Mayu Peninsula and the island of Akyab, with its vital airfield. The retreating troops were intercepted by Allied forces which had landed from the sea on the Myebon peninsula, and suffered heavy casualties.
Although the 28th Army subsequently held the An track and the pass linking the port of
With the Allies overrunning Central Burma, 28th Army tried to retreat across the Irrawaddy, fighting several battles. They were eventually trapped in the
The Army was demobilized after the surrender of Japan.
List of Commanders
Name | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|
Commanding Officer | Lieutenant General Shōzō Sakurai | 7 January 1944 | September, 1945 |
Chief of Staff | Major General Hideo Iwakuro | 7 January 1944 | September, 1945 |
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.
- Louis, Allen (1984). Burma: The Longest War. DentPublishing. ISBN 0-460-02474-4.
- Madej, Victor (1981). Japanese Armed Forces Order of Battle, 1937-1945. Game Publishing Company. ASIN: B000L4CYWW.
- Marston, Daniel (2005). The Pacific War Companion: From Pearl Harbor to Hiroshima. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-84176-882-0.
External links
- Wendel, Marcus. "Axis History Factbook". Japanese 28th Army.