3rd Tank Division (Imperial Japanese Army)
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}
{{Infobox military unit
| unit_name = 3rd Tank Division
| image = IJA 3rd tank division, Shin-Hoto tank, Ichi-go.jpg
| caption = A Type 97 Shinhoto Chi-Ha tank of the 3rd Tank Division during Operation Ichi-Go in northern China, December 1944
| dates = 1942–1945
| country = {{flag|Empire of Japan}}
| branch = Imperial Japanese Army
| type = Armored division
| role =
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| current_commander =
| ceremonial_chief =
| colonel_of_the_regiment =
| notable_commanders =
| identification_symbol =
| identification_symbol_2 =
| nickname=滝 = Taki (Torrent)
| motto =
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| battles = Second Sino-Japanese War
World War II
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{{command structure
|name= Japanese 3rd Tank Division
|date=1945
|parent=Twelfth Army (Japan)
|subordinate=
- 5th Tank Brigade{{sfn|Rottman|Takizawa|2008|p=12}}
- 8th Tank Regiment{{sfn|Rottman|Takizawa|2008|p=12}}
- 1 Light Tank Company
- 3 Medium Tank Companies
- 1 Gun Tank Company
- 12th Tank Regiment{{sfn|Rottman|Takizawa|2008|p=12}}
- 1 Light Tank Company
- 3 Medium Tank Companies
- 1 Gun Tank Company
- 6th Tank Brigade{{sfn|Rottman|Takizawa|2008|p=12}}
- 13th Tank Regiment{{sfn|Rottman|Takizawa|2008|p=12}}
- 1 Light Tank Company
- 3 Medium Tank Companies
- 1 Gun Tank Company
- 17th Tank Regiment{{sfn|Rottman|Takizawa|2008|p=12}}
- 1 Light Tank Company
- 3 Medium Tank Companies
- 1 Gun Tank Company
- 3. Reconnaissance regiment
- 2 Light Tank Companies
- 1 Gun Tank Company
- 1 Motorized Infantry Company
- 3rd Tank Division Mobile Infantry Regiment
- 3rd Tank Division Mobile Artillery Regiment
- 3rd Tank Division Anti-Tank Unit
- 3rd Tank Division Anti-Aircraft Unit
- 3rd Tank Division Engineer Unit
}}
The {{nihongo|3rd Tank Division|戦車第3師団|Sensha Dai-san Shidan}}, was one of four armored divisions of the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II.
History
The 3rd Tank Division was raised in Inner Mongolia in 1942{{sfn|Rottman|Takizawa|2008|p=12}} as part of the Japanese Northern China Area Army under the overall aegis of the Mongolia Garrison Army.
File:IJA 3rd Tank Division ORBAT 1944.png
Initially tasked primarily with border patrol of Manchukuo's western frontier with the Soviet Union, from April 1944, it participated in Operation Ichi-Go in northern China against the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China.{{sfn|Rottman|Takizawa|2008|pp=41, 42}} The two primary goals of Ichi-go were to open a land route to French Indochina, and capture air bases in southeast China from which American bombers were attacking the Japanese homeland and shipping.{{sfn|Sherry|p=21}}
The 3rd Tank Division’s IJA 8th Armored Regiment (formerly based in Mukden) was detached in June 1944, and transferred to the control of the Japanese Eighth Area Army in Rabaul.
The IJA 12th Armored Regiment, formerly based in Taiyuan, was withdrawn to bolster the defenses of Seoul in Korea towards the closing stages of the war and as part of the Japanese Seventeenth Area Army was in combat against the Soviet Red Army’s invasion of Manchuria.
The IJA 13th Armored Regiment, normally based in Hankou was withdrawn to Tianjin in 1944, and ended the war in Changsha. The IJA 17th Armored Regiment ended the war in Tianjin.
The 3rd Tank Division was officially demobilized in September 1945 with the rest of the Imperial Japanese Army.
Commanding officer
| class=wikitable
! | Name | From | To |
| 1 | Lieutenant General Isaku Nishihara | 1 December 1942 | 7 January 1944 |
| 2 | Lieutenant General Hideo Yamaji | 7 January 1944 | 30 September 1945 |
See also
Notes
{{reflist}}
References
- {{cite book | last = Frank | first = Richard B | year = 1999 | title = Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire | publisher = Random House | location = New York | isbn = 0-679-41424-X}}
- {{cite book | last = Jowett | first = Bernard | year = 1999 | title = The Japanese Army 1931-45 Volume 2, 1942-45) | publisher = Osprey Publishing | isbn = 1-84176-354-3}}
- {{cite book | last = Madej | first = Victor | year = 1981 | title = Japanese Armed Forces Order of Battle, 1937-1945 | publisher = Game Publishing Company | id = ASIN: B000L4CYWW}}
- {{cite book | last1 = Rottman | first1 = Gordon L. | last2 = Takizawa | first2 = Akira | title = World War II Japanese Tank Tactics | publisher = Osprey Publishing | year = 2008 | isbn = 978-1846032349 }}
- {{Cite book | url = http://www.history.army.mil/brochures/72-38/72-38.HTM | series = The U.S. Army Campaigns of World War II | title = China Defensive | publisher = United States Army Center of Military History | id = CMH Pub 72-38 | first = Mark D. | last = Sherry | access-date = 17 October 2016 | archive-date = 1 April 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190401141433/https://history.army.mil/brochures/72-38/72-38.HTM | url-status = dead }}
External links
- [https://takihomepage.web.fc2.com/ Taki's Imperial Japanese Army Page - Akira Takizawa]
{{DEFAULTSORT:03 Tank Division (Imperial Japanese Army)}}
Category:Military units and formations established in 1942
Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1945
Category:1942 establishments in Japan