Taiwan Army of Japan explained

Unit Name:Taiwan Army of Japan
Dates:August 20, 1919 - September 22, 1944
Type:Infantry
Role:Corps
Garrison:Taihoku

The was an army of the Imperial Japanese Army stationed on the island of Taiwan as a garrison force. Taiwanese were relegated to non-combatant civilian work as manual labourers, porters and Chinese language interpreters. Taiwanese were not allowed as combatants until 1942 when volunteers were permitted to enlist and all combatant soldiers from the Taiwan army of Japan before 1942 were ethnic Japanese. Japan only conscripted ethnic Taiwanese in 1945 in a last ditch attempt for manpower.

History

Following the First Sino-Japanese War, the Treaty of Shimonoseki transferred control of Taiwan from the Qing Empire to the Empire of Japan. The Japanese government established the Governor-General of Taiwan based in Taihoku. The Governor-General of Taiwan was given control of local military forces on 20 August 1919, which formed the nucleus of the Taiwan Army of Japan.

Primarily a garrison force, the Japanese Taiwan Army was placed under control of the Shanghai Expeditionary Army at the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937. A component of the Taiwan Army, the Taiwan Independent Combined Brigade, was active in numerous campaigns on the China, and was later expanded into the 48th Infantry Division. Troops from this army were also involved in the Nanjing Massacre in December 1937.

Towards the end of World War II, as the situation looked increasingly desperate for Japan, the Taiwan Army was merged with several other units garrisoning the island of Taiwan against possible Allied invasion, and the Taiwan Army was absorbed into the new Japanese Tenth Area Army on 22 September 1944, under which it formed the Taiwan District Army on 1 February 1945, but its command was directly by the Japanese 10th Area Army.

List of commanders

Commanding officers

Name From To
120 August 1919 26 October 1919
21 December 1919 4 May 1921
34 May 1921 6 August 1923
46 August 1923 20 August 1924
520 August 1924 28 July 1926
628 July 1926 10 August 1928
710 August 1928 3 June 1930
83 June 1930 1 August 1931
91 August 1931 9 January 1932
109 January 1932 1 August 1933
111 August 1933 1 August 1934
121 August 1934 2 December 1935
132 December 1935 1 August 1936
141 August 1936 2 August 1937
152 August 1937 8 September 1938
168 September 1938 1 December 1939
171 December 1939 2 December 1940
182 December 1940 6 November 1941
196 November 1941 17 September 1945

Chief of staff

Name From To
120 August 1919 25 February 1921
225 February 1921 4 February 1924
34 February 1924 26 July 1927
426 July 1927 24 April 1930
524 April 1930 11 April 1932
611 April 1932 18 March 1933
718 March 1933 22 January 1934
822 January 1934 1 August 1935
91 August 1935 1 March 1937
101 March 1937 19 February 1938
1119 February 1938 8 September 1938
1215 October 1938 9 March 1940
139 March 1940 1 March 1941
141 March 1941 20 February 1942
1520 February 1942 29 October 1943
1629 October 1943 8 July 1944
178 July 1944 17 September 1945

See also

References

External links