Troops aboard England Maru

[john whitman]

Good morning fontessa:

Your posts identified three antiaircraft units that departed Ujina in late April 1943:

21 April, 61st Field Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion.
23 April, 7th and 8th Independent Searchlight Companies.

I asked combinedfleet.com if anyone knew of a convoy that departed Ujina at this time. Bob Hackett identified the following.

Convoy P-512 departed Ujina for Rabaul via Palau on 23 April. It consisted of England Maru, Nagano Maru, Konan Maru, and Dainichi Maru escorted by subchaser CH-22. At Palau, they organized into a convoy and departed at 1100 hours on 12 May for Rabaul. At 1756 hours, a submarine sank England Maru with 1,500 troops and ammunition aboard. Thirteen crewmen and 232 troops were killed. The three other marus arrived at Rabaul on 19 May.

Can you identify the units aboard England Maru?

Thanks for the help.

John

[fontessa]

Good morning John:

Can you identify the units aboard England Maru?

I have posted to "Support troops to New Guinea" the below.

I attached the record of 英蘭丸 Eiran Maru. Eiran Maru was sunk on May 17, 1943.
The units aboard her were as follows.
- 20BAbs (17A): I can’t identify this unit.
- 26 貨物廠 (8HA): The 26th Field Freight Depot
- 27 貨物廠 (18A): The 27th Field Freight Depot
- 陸上勤務74中隊: The 74th Land Duty Company
- 31AAC: The 31st Antiaircraft Artillery Company
- 22MAC: The 22nd Field Machine Cannon Company
- 23MAC: The 23rd Field Machine Cannon Company
The 26th and the 27th Field Freight Depots must have been replacements.

fontessa

[john whitman]

Good evening fontessa:

I am sorry that I asked for information about England Maru. I had already done so, and you had responded. I had filed your answer with my field machine cannon notes and failed to make a copy for my maru list. I hope your search did not cause you too much work.

John