Eighth Area Army
Disabled Japanese tank at Biak
ActiveNovember 16, 1942 – August 15, 1945
CountryEmpire of Japan
BranchImperial Japanese Army
TypeInfantry
RoleField Army
Garrison/HQRabaul
Nickname(s)剛(Gō = “strength”)
EngagementsSolomon Islands campaign
New Guinea campaign
Proposed invasion of Australia

The Eighth Area Army (第8方面軍, Dai-hachi hōmen gun) was a field army of the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. The army was formed on 9 November 1942, becoming effective on 26 November at Rabaul as part of the Southern Army. The army was disbanded in September 1945.

History

The Japanese 8th Area Army was formed on November 16, 1942 under the Southern Expeditionary Army Group for the specific task of opposing landings by Allied forces in Japanese-occupied Solomon Islands and New Guinea.[1] It had its headquarters at Rabaul, New Britain and saw considerable combat in the Solomon Islands campaign, Bougainville campaign and New Guinea campaign.[2]

Organisation

List of Commanders

NameFromTo
Commanding officerGeneral Hitoshi Imamura9 November 194215 August 1945
Chief of StaffMajor General Rimpei Katō9 November 194215 August 1945

Notes

  1. McGee, The Solomons Campaigns, 1942-1943
  2. Nalty, War in the Pacific: Pearl Harbor to Tokyo Bay
  3. "Chapter VIII, Defence of Papua, Reports of General MacArthur,JAPANESE OPERATIONS IN THE SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA, VOLUME II - PART I". U.S. ARMY CENTER OF MILITARY HISTORY. Retrieved 3 January 2011.

References

  • McGee, William L (2002). The Solomons Campaigns, 1942-1943: From Guadalcanal to Bougainville--Pacific War Turning Point, Volume 2. BMC Publications. ISBN 0-9701678-7-3.
  • 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.
  • Nalty, Bernard (1999). War in the Pacific: Pearl Harbor to Tokyo Bay : The Story of the Bitter Struggle in the Pacific Theater of World War II. University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0-8061-3199-3.
  • Rottman, Gordon (2005). Japanese Army in World War II: Conquest of the Pacific 1941-42 (Battle Orders). Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-84176-789-1.
  • Rottman, Gordon (2002). Japanese Army in World War II: "The South Pacific and New Guinea, 1942-43" (Battle Orders). Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-84176-870-7.
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