The Invasion of the Kuril Islands was the World War II Soviet military operation to capture the Kuril Islands from Japan in 1945. The invasion, part of the Soviet–Japanese War, was decided on when plans to land on Hokkaido were abandoned. The successful military operations of the Red Army at Mutanchiang and during the invasion of South Sakhalin created the necessary prerequisites for invasion of the Kuril Islands.
The Imperial Japanese Army Air Service (IJAAS) or Imperial Japanese Army Air Force was the aviation force of the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). Its primary mission was to provide tactical close air support for ground forces, as well as a limited air interdiction capability. The IJAAS also provided aerial reconnaissance to other branches of the IJA. While the IJAAS engaged in strategic bombing of cities such as Shanghai, Nanjing, Canton, Chongqing, Rangoon, and Mandalay, this was not the primary mission of the IJAAS, and it lacked a heavy bomber force.
The Malayan campaign, referred to by Japanese sources as the Malay Operation, was a military campaign fought by Allied and Axis forces in Malaya, from 8 December 1941 – 15 February 1942 during the Second World War. It was dominated by land battles between British Commonwealth army units and the Imperial Japanese Army, with minor skirmishes at the beginning of the campaign between British Commonwealth and Royal Thai Police. The Japanese had air and naval supremacy from the opening days of the campaign. For the British, Indian, Australian, and Malayan forces defending the colony, the campaign was a total disaster.
This article covers the Japanese garrisons on the by-passed Pacific islands from 1944 to 1945, including the Japanese mandated territory of the South Seas Mandate.
Matua is an uninhabited volcanic island near the center of the Kuril Islands chain in the Sea of Okhotsk in the northwest Pacific Ocean, 16 km (9.9 mi) across Golovnin Strait from Raikoke. Its name is derived from the Ainu language, from “hellmouth”.
Gray Army Airfield, also known as Gray AAF, is a military airfield located within Joint Base Lewis–McChord near Tacoma, in Pierce County, Washington, United States.
Shumshu is the easternmost and second-northernmost island of the Kuril Islands chain, which divides the Sea of Okhotsk from the northwest Pacific Ocean. The name of the island is derived from the Ainu language, meaning "good island". It is separated from Paramushir by the very narrow Second Kuril Strait in the northeast 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi), and its northern tip is 11 kilometres (6.8 mi), from Cape Lopatka at the southern tip of the Kamchatka Peninsula. The island has a seasonal population of around 100 inhabitants.
The Republika Srpska Air Force was the air force of Republika Srpska and was used primarily during the Bosnian war. In 2005, it was integrated into the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina. SFOR still plays a large role in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which consists of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska. Under the leadership of one president, the ministry of defense of both entities merged into one single ministry of defense with one chief of joint staff commanding both Air Forces. In 2004 there was again a restructuring of the armed forces, bringing the number of Air Force personnel down to 4,000. Next to the command, the 1st Regiment V i PVO consists out of a platoon, a radar battalion, artillery rocket ADF battalion, AF logistics battalion and aviation assets, a Fighter Bomber Squadron and Mixed Helicopter Squadron. In 2006 the Air Force of Republika Srpska was disbanded.
The order of battle for Operation Chahar, in the history of the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945), was:
Below are the units and commanders that participated in the Battle of Wuhan, also called the Wuchang–Hankou campaign, fought from early June through November 12, 1938, a phase of the Second Sino-Japanese War.
The order of battle for the Nanchang Campaign
Below is the order of battle for the Canton Operation, October to December 1938 during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
The Bulgarian Land Forces are the ground warfare branch of the Bulgarian Armed Forces. It is administered by the Ministry of Defence, previously known as the Ministry of War during the Tsardom of Bulgaria. The Land Forces were established in 1878, when they were composed of anti-Ottoman militia (opalchentsi) and were the only branch of the Bulgarian military.
The Battle of Xuzhou was fought in May 1938 as part of the Second Sino-Japanese War.
Tsaoyang-Yichang Campaign 1 May – 18 June 1940
The 20th Infantry Division "Friuli" was an infantry division of the Royal Italian Army during World War II. The Friuli was formed on 24 August 1939 by splitting the 20th Infantry Division "Curtatone e Montanara" into the Friuli and the 44th Infantry Division "Cremona". The Friuli was named for the region of Friuli, but based in Tuscany, where it also recruited most of its troops. The division's headquarter and its regiments, with the exception of the 87th Infantry Regiment located in Siena, were based in Livorno. The division served as occupation force on Corsica and fought German units after the Armistice of Cassibile was announced on 8 September 1943. The division then served with the Italian Co-belligerent Army and remained active into the early stages of the Cold War.
The Japanese Imperial Army landed the 25th Army under the command of General Tomoyuki Yamashita on the east coasts of Malaya and Thailand on the night of 7 December 1941.
The evacuation of Karafuto (Sakhalin) and the Chishima (Kuril) islands refers to the events that took place during the Pacific theater of World War II as the Japanese population left these areas, to August 1945 in the northwest of the main islands of Japan.
The Battle of Shumshu, the Soviet invasion of Shumshu in the Kuril Islands, was the first stage of the Soviet Union's Invasion of the Kuril Islands in August–September 1945 during World War II. It took place from 18 to 23 August 1945, and was the only major battle of the Soviet campaign in the Kuril Islands and arguably the last battle of World War II.
The 91st Division was an infantry division in the Imperial Japanese Army. Its call sign was the Future Division. It was created on 12 April 1944 in Paramushiro. The nucleus for the formation was the 1st Kuril Islands Garrison Group. It was an oversized type C(hei) security division, with its constituent brigades consisting of six infantry battalions each from July 1944. The division had two artillery regiments, which was highly unusual.
