Fifty-Fourth Army (Japan)

The Japanese 54th Army (第54軍, Dai-gojyūyon gun) was an army of the Imperial Japanese Army during the final days of World War II.

Japanese Fifty-Fourth Army
ActiveJune 19, 1945 – August 15, 1945　
CountryEmpire of Japan
BranchImperial Japanese Army
TypeInfantry
RoleCorps
Garrison/HQShinshiro, Aichi
Nickname(s)Satsu (颯, Dashing)
EngagementsOperation Downfall

History

The Japanese 54th Army was formed on June 19, 1945, under the Japanese 13th Area Army as part of the last desperate defense effort by the Empire of Japan to deter possible landings of Allied forces in central Honshū during Operation Downfall. The Japanese 54th Army was based in Shinshiro, Aichi Prefecture and was thus intended to guard the approaches and beachheads to Nagoya and the Chūbu region of Japan. It consisted mostly of poorly trained reservists, conscripted students and home guard militia. Most of its units were still in training, and had neither weapons nor ammunition at the time of their demobilization at the surrender of Japan on August 15, 1945, without having seen combat.

List of Commanders
NameFromTo
Commanding officerLieutenant General Nobuo Kobayashi15 Jun 194515 August 1945
Chief of StaffMajor General Morihiko Hanamoto1 June 194520 September 1945

References
  • Drea, Edward J. (1998). "Japanese Preparations for the Defense of the Homeland & Intelligence Forecasting for the Invasion of Japan". In the Service of the Emperor: Essays on the Imperial Japanese Army. University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0-8032-1708-0.
  • 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.
  • Marston, Daniel (2005). The Pacific War Companion: From Pearl Harbor to Hiroshima. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-84176-882-0.
  • Skates, John Ray (1994). The Invasion of Japan: Alternative to the Bomb Downfall. New York: University of South Carolina Press. ISBN 0-87249-972-3.
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