Seventh Area Army

Seventh Area Army
Seventh Area Army
	General F W Messervy receives the sword of General Itagaki
Active	March 19, 1944 - August 15, 1945
Country	Empire of Japan
Branch	Imperial Japanese Army
Type	Infantry
Role	Field Army
Garrison/HQ	Singapore
Nickname(s)	岡 (Oka = "hill")
Engagements	Borneo campaign (1945) ; Operation Tiderace

Last updated April 26, 2024

The Seventh Area Army (第7方面軍, Dai nana hōmen gun) was a field army of the Imperial Japanese Army formed during final stages of the Pacific War and based in Japanese-occupied Malaya, Singapore and Borneo, Java, and Sumatra.^[1]

History

The Japanese 7th Area Army was formed on March 19, 1944 under the Southern Expeditionary Army Group for the specific task of opposing landings by Allied forces in Japanese-occupied Malaya, Singapore and Borneo, Java, Sumatra and to consolidate a new defense line after the loss of the Solomon Islands, New Guinea and eastern portions of the Netherlands East Indies.^[2] It had its headquarters at Singapore.

The units initially assigned to the Area Army were the 16th, 25th and 29th Army's. Units stationed in Borneo were also transferred to the Area Army's control.

The Army was demobilized at Singapore on the surrender of Japan at the end of World War II.^[3]

List of Commanders

Commanding officer

	Name	From	To
1	General Kenji Doihara	22 March 1944	7 April 1945
2	General Seishirō Itagaki	7 April 1945	15 August 1945

Chief of Staff

	Name	From	To
1	Major General Tsunenori Shimizu	22 March 1944	27 June 1944
2	Lieutenant General Kitsuju Ayabe	27 June 1944	15 August 1945

Notes

↑ Marston, The Pacific War Companion: From Pearl Harbor to Hiroshima
↑ Nalty, War in the Pacific: Pearl Harbor to Tokyo Bay
↑ Madej, Japanese Armed Forces Order of Battle, 1937-1945

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References

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.

External links

Wendel, Marcus. "Axis History Factbook". Japanese Seventh Area Army.

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[1] Marston, The Pacific War Companion: From Pearl Harbor to Hiroshima

[2] Nalty, War in the Pacific: Pearl Harbor to Tokyo Bay

[3] Madej, Japanese Armed Forces Order of Battle, 1937-1945

[1]

[2]

[3]

Japanese Seventh Area Army (1945)
Parent unit	Southern Expeditionary Army Group
Components	Japanese 16th Army Japanese 25th Army Japanese 29th Army Japanese 3rd Air Army 46th Infantry Division IJA 26th Independent Mixed Brigade Shonan Garrison Force