el cid again
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Joined: 10/10/2005
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Thank you for all the detail
quote:
ORIGINAL: Hrafnagud
Japan had raised six new so-called Security Divisions in 1942 – the 58th, 59th, 60th, 68th, 69th, and 70th. These were not raised de novo, they were simply established through the expansion of existing independent mixed brigades (IMBs) based in China.
Basically, to create such a security division, the five independent infantry battalions already forming part of an IMB were bolstered by an additional three independent infantry battalions of reservists in Japan, and reorganised into two new infantry brigades. The artillery unit that had been part of these IMBs was cut, service elements increased slightly, and the resultant mostly infantry force retitled a “division”. TOE allowed a total of 11,459 men, of which 10,204 were in the two infantry brigades. The remaining 1,255 men supported the infantry in the form of a divisional HQ, small engineer unit, signal unit, transport unit with two horse-drawn companies and a motorised company with 55 trucks, and a veterinary hospital. These “divisions” were meant for static occupation duties only; their most serious shortcoming was a lack of proper artillery support (only sixteen 75mm regimental guns and thirty-two 70mm battalion guns). The issue of a lack of fire support was only addressed in 1945 in respect of these divisions, when the 58th, 59th and 68th Divisions received a mountain artillery battalion each, and the 60th, 69th and 70th Divisions received a 81-mm mortar battalion each.
Japan raised five more so-called security divisions in 1943 – the 62nd, 64th, and 65th in May, and the 63rd and 100th in June. These were simply done through expansion of existing IMBs. In this manner, the 4th IMB became the 62nd Division, the 12th IMB became the 64th Division, the 13th IMB became the 65th Division, the 15th IMB became the 63rd Division, and the 30th IMB became the 100th Division. (Out of interest – the 100th Division was numbered outside of sequence because it was raised in the Philippines, not in China like the rest of the 60-series divisions).
The 1943 security divisions included organic medical personnel in their eight infantry battalions, increasing their size slightly over the 1942 security divisions.
The 62nd Division was stripped down to the bare minimum in early 1944. Rifle company strength was drastically reduced and one 70mm battalion gun platoon dropped from each battalion, resulting in a reduced brigade strength of 3,584, which was supplemented by an engineer unit (174), a signal unit (283), a transport unit (201), a field hospital (308) and a veterinary unit (21). Divisional HQ was 160 men, which brought the revised 62nd Division to a total authorised strength of only 8,315. In August 1944, the division was even further stripped, losing a transport company and some engineering personnel. The remaining approximate 8,000 men were then shipped to Okinawa, where 3,000 Okinawan conscripts were hastily added, mostly to fill out the service elements, allowing experienced Japanese soldiers to bolster the infantry battalions to a new strength of around 1,100. The 62nd was destroyed on Okinawa in June 1945.
The 63rd Division had an initial TOE of 11,677, which was increased to 13,080 by February 1945 thanks to the addition of a mortar artillery unit and the increase of the engineer unit from company to battalion size. In June 1945 the division was transferred from China to the Kwantung Army, where most of the division was taken prisoner by the Soviets in August 1945
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So Where are IJA 62 and 63 Divisions??? - 
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