The 36th Division to the West New Guinea

[fontessa]

Good morning John:

I would like to post movements of the 36th Division and units attached to this division.

The below are movement of the 36th Division units.
◇ The 1st echelon
Division HQ
The 223rd Infantry Regiment　
Main force of divisional support units (Signal Unit, Ordinance Duty Unit, Intendance Duty Unit and Field Hospital)
- Departed Shanghai on November 23
- Arrived at Takao on November 26
- Departed Takao on November 29
- Arrived at Manila on December 3
- Departed Manila on December 10
- Landed on Sarmi on December 25
◇ Tank Unit (Been organized in Japan)
- Completed the organization on November 6
- departed Moji on November 7
- Landed on Sarmi on December 25
◇ The 2nd echelon
The 224th Infantry Regiment
Reminder of divisional support units
- Departed Shaighai on November 27
- Arrived ai Saeki on December 2
- Departed Saeki on December 5
- Landed on Palau on December 19
-- Departed Palau on January 11
- Landed on Sarmi on January 15, 1944
◇ Sea Transport Unit
- Been reorganized from the 57th Independent Engineer Battalion at Kagayan, Mindanao on November 11
- Departed Kagayan on March 9, 1944
- Landed on Wasile, Halmahera on March 24
- Departed Wasile on August 6
- Arrived at Sorong on August 23
◆ The Organization of Sea Transport Unit
- HQ 54men
- The 1st ~ the 4th Transport Companies 315men each
---- A company consisted of 4 platoons.
- A Guard Company 164men
- Materials Depot 64men
Total 1,542men
◇ The 222nd Infantry Regiment
- Departed Shanghai aboard Tsuwa Maru on November 23
- Arrived at Takao on November 27
- Departed Takao on November 29
- Arrived at Manila on December 4
- Departed Manila on December 10
- Arrived at Cebu on December 12
- Departed Cebu on December 15
- Arrved at Halmahera on December 19
- Main force (HQ, 1st Bn, 3rd Bn) landed on Bosnik, Biak on December 25
- Part (2nd Bn) completed the landing on Bosnik on December 27

The units attached to the 36th Division were as follows. The movement records of some units are left.
◇ The 53rd Field Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion
- Departed Pusan on December 11
- Arrived at Moji on December 13
- Departed Moji on December 21
- Landed on Manila December 30
- Departed Manila on January 12
- Arrived at Sarmi on January 28
- Arrived at Sarmi with Tacoma Maru (HQ, 1st Co, Ammunition Train) and Tsukikawa Maru (2nd Co) on January 10
◇ The 42nd Field Machine Cannon Company
- Already been posted
◇ The 4th Field Searchlight Battalion (Minus the 2nd Company)
- Departed Pusan and arrived at Moji aboard Tsukikawa Maru on November 30
- Departed Moji on December 2
- Arrived at Takao on December 8
- Departed Takao on December 17
- Arrved at Manila on December 20
- Landed on Sarmi on January 14
◇ The 4th Engineer Headquarters
- Departed Pusan and arrived at Moji on November 13
- Departed Moji aboard Lima Maru on November 24
- Landed on Rabaul on November 30
- Departed Rabaul aboard Kochi Maru on December 7
- Landed on Bougainville on December 9
- Departed ■■■ aboard Aso Maru on February 13
- Landed on Rabaul on February 15
- Departed Rabaul aboard DD Uranami on February 21
- Landed on Madang on February 22
- Landed on Sarmi on December 10
- Been placed under the command of the 36th Division
◇ The 1st Company and a Radio Platoon, the 24th Signal Regiment
- Departed Saigon aboard Teiko Maru on December 5
- Arrived at Sarmi aboard another ship (4000-ton) on January 4
◇ The 228th Independent Motor Company
There are two departure dates.
According a unit history;
- Departed Osaka aboard Tsukikawa Maru on November 19
- Arrived at Takao on November 22
- Departed Takao on November 28
- Arrived at Manila on December 28
- Landed on Sarmi on January 10
◇ The 51st Field Road Construction Unit
- Already been posted
◇ The 16th Field Airfield Construction Unit
- Departed Moji on October 7
- Arrived at Takao on October 16
- Departed Takao on October 23
- Arrived at Singapore on October 31
- Departed Singapore on November 11
- Landed on Sarmi on November 25
◇ The 103rd Field Airfield Construction Unit
- Departed Ujina on September 23
- Departed Takao on October 3
- Landed on Manokwari on November 8
- Advanced to Sarmi by sea on December 1
◇ The 11th Debarkation Unit
- Completed the organization at Kowloon on May 30, 1943
- Departed Kowloon on August 26
- Arrived at Manila on August 31
- Departed Manila on September 5
- Landed on Cebu on October 20
- Departed Cebu on November 6
- Arrived at Manokwari on November 10 (Main force)
- Arrived at Sorong on November 15 (The 1st Company)
- Deployed to Sarmi (Part of main force) on December 7
◇ The 39th Specially Established Sea Duty Company
- Completed the organization at Malang on September 19, 1943
- Departed Surabaya on January 26
- Landed on Sarmi on February 25
◇ The 43rd Specially Established Sea Duty Company
- Completed the organization at Medan on September 16, 1943
- Departed Surabaya on January 26
- Landed on Sarmi on February 27
◇ The 54th Specially Established Sea Duty Company
◇ The 70th Construction Duty Company
- Already been posted
◇ The 72nd Construction Duty Company
- Already been posted
◇ The 104th Specially Established Construction Duty Company
- Completed the organization at Taipei on October 28
- Departed Takao on January 6
- Arrived at Sarmi on January 28
◇ Part of the 2nd Army Field Ordinance Depot
◇ Part of the 2nd Army Field Motor Depot
◇ The11th, the 16th and the 17th Mobile Sawing Section
◇ The 85th Casualty Clearing Platoon
- Already been posted

fontessa

[john whitman]

Good evening fontessa:

That is an amazing list. Thank you for the work you did and for posting it.

It will take me some time to properly analyze it and tie it to convoys.

John

[ijnfleetadmiral]

I'm guessing this was 1943, so at this time the 36th Division was commanded by LTGEN Tagami Hachiro (former Chief-of-Staff, 11th Division). Chief-of-Staff was MGEN Imada Shintaro (later Chief-of-Staff, 2nd Army, and then returned as Chief-of-Staff, 36th Division).

FWIW,

-Matt

[john whitman]

Good evening fontessa:

I am still analyzing your post about the 36th Division.

I have a question about the division’s sea transportation unit. I know that some amphibious units like the 1st Amphibious Brigade never received their landing craft. Do you know how many landing craft were authorized (or actually assigned) to the 36th Division?

Did the 57th Independent Engineer Battalion cease to exist when it became the sea transportation unit, or did it receive replacements and continue to operate as an engineer battalion?

Thanks for the help.

John

[john whitman]

Hello again fontessa:

Can you give me the Kanji for Tsuwa Maru. You mentioned that she carried the 222nd Infantry Regiment, but I cannot find this ship.

Thanks.

John

[john whitman]

I might be wrong about landing craft for the 1st Amphibious Brigade.

The 2nd Amphibious Brigade never received landing craft. see //www.heiwakinen.jp/shiryokan/heiwa/02onketsu/O_02_063_1.pdf for an account of the 2nd Amphibious Bruigade.

John

[john whitman]

Good afternoon fontessa:

I have found a problem with deployment of the 11th Debarkation Unit. You say that the unit departed Cebu on November 6 and arrived at Manokwari on November 10.

Was the arrival location actually Kau, Halmahera instead of Manokwari?

Five-maru Convoy H-3 departed Cebu on November 6 and arrived at Kau on November 10. These dates match yours, but the arrival location is different. And you mention that the 1st Company unloaded at Sorong on November 15. This is the same Convoy H-3 that sailed from Kau to Sorong and arrived on November 14. Teikai Maru, 9,492 tons, was in Convoy H-3 from Cebu to Sorong. Maybe the 1st Company was aboard for the entire trip.

So, was the arrival location on November 10 Kau?

John

[fontessa]

Good morning John:

◆ The Organization of Sea Transport Unit
- A Guard Company 164men

I would like to correct "Guard Company " to "Escort Company ".

◇ The 222nd Infantry Regiment
- Main force (HQ, 1st Bn, 3rd Bn) landed on Bosnik, Biak on December 25
- Part (2nd Bn) completed the landing on Bosnik on December 27

I would like to make a correction of above to;
- Main force (HQ, 1st Bn, 3rd Bn) landed on Bosnik, Biak on December 25
- Part (2nd Bn) completed the landing on Parai, Biak on December 27

I know that some amphibious units like the 1st Amphibious Brigade never received their landing craft. Do you know how many landing craft were authorized (or actually assigned) to the 36th Division?

According to 山下義之 Yoshiyuki Yamashita who studied organizations of various Japanese divisions, the authorized equipment strength of Sea Transport Unit was as follows.
- 10 特大発 Special large landing barges
- 150 Daihatsus
- 10 Speed boats (probably for Escort Company; each was equipped with an automatic gun and a rapid-fire gun)
It is interesting that the above is almost the same as the Transport Unit of the 2nd Amphibious Brigade you quoted.
I guess that they had the same organization and equipment tables.

Did the 57th Independent Engineer Battalion cease to exist when it became the sea transportation unit, or did it receive replacements and continue to operate as an engineer battalion?

The 57th Independent Engineer Battalion was inactivated when the 36th Division Sea Transport Unit was organized.
The short history of the unit is as follows.
- Completed the organization at Nanjing on April 20, 1942.
- Departed Nanjing for moving to Manchuria on June 9.
- Departed Manchuria on October 6, 1943
- Arrived at Pusan on October 10
- Departed Pusan on October 13
- Arrived at Manila on October 28
- Departed Manila on November 4
- Landed on Kagayan on November 9
- Completed the inactivation of the 57th Independent Engineer Battalion and the organization of the 36th Division Sea Transport Unit by Army Regulation "A" No.95 on November 11

Can you give me the Kanji for Tsuwa Maru. You mentioned that she carried the 222nd Infantry Regiment, but I cannot find this ship.

I am sorry that I have misread the Kanji. Senshi Sosho says that main force of the 36th Division departed Shanghai aboard 建和丸 Kenwa Maru, べんから丸 Bengal Maru and 御月丸 Mitsuki Maru (not 三ヶ月丸) on November 23.

I have found a problem with deployment of the 11th Debarkation Unit. You say that the unit departed Cebu on November 6 and arrived at Manokwari on November 10.
Was the arrival location actually Kau, Halmahera instead of Manokwari?

Um, I have posted what 部隊略歴 (Unit Brief Histories) says. It might be the error in writing of 部隊略歴.

fontessa

[Akira Takizawa]

- 10 Speed boats (probably for Escort Company; each was equipped with an automatic gun and a rapid-fire gun)

They are Submarine-chaser "Karo-Tei".
http://www3.plala.or.jp/takihome/karo.html

Taki

[fontessa]

Good evening Taki:

Thanks for the information.

fontessa

[john whitman]

Good evening fontessa and Taki:

Thanks for the details on the 57th Independent Engineer Battalion and the speed boats of the sea transportation unit.

Until someone corrects me, I will assume that the 11th Debarkation Unit sailed from Cebu to Kau in Convoy H-3, 6-10 November. Then the 1st Company continued in Convoy H-3 from Kau to Sorong, 10-14 November.

My only remaining question is whether or not the 36th Sea Transportation Unit received any/all of the authorized barges, Daihatsus, and the submarine-chasers "Karo-Tei."

I would guess that if they did receive the landing craft, that 2nd Army or would have seized them and used them as an army asset.

And thanks for the ships that departed Shanghai on 23 November with the main force of the 36th Division. I have asked combinedfleet.com if there was a name for this convoy.

John

[fontessa]

Good morning John:

My only remaining question is whether or not the 36th Sea Transportation Unit received any/all of the authorized barges, Daihatsus, and the submarine-chasers "Karo-Tei."

Senshi Sosho says only that the formation of the Sea Transportation Unit, the 36th Division was not in time for the battle of the West New Guinea. I think that operations personnel and Daihatsu were extremely in short because many amphibious forces were ordered to organize or to reorganize at the same time as follows.
(1) Army Regulation "A" No. 95 dated October 20, 1943 ordered the formation of three "amphibious" divisions - 36D, 46D and 52D.
(2) Army Regulation "A" No. 106 dated November 16, 1943 ordered the formation of the 1st to the 4th Amphibious Brigades.

As we saw earlier, sea transport units of these amphibious forces had the same organization and equipment tables. So the number of required Daihatsu reached to 1,050 (150 by 7). It is not obvious how many craft the units received.

fontessa

[john whitman]

Good afternoon fontessa:

Thank you for checking.

I believe that losses of Daihatsus etc. were very heavy. Enemy action, bad weather, maintenance problems and a shortage of spare parts, and bad navagation all inflicted losses on these craft. I am sure that demand always exceeded supply.

John

[fontessa]

Good morning John:

I am sure that demand always exceeded supply.

The web page below shows the production numbers of Daihatsu.
http://www.geocities.jp/usio_no_ibuki/s ... ihatsu.htm

The production numbers of Daihatsu
- Until 1940: 135
- 1941: 300
- 1942: 555
- 1943: 1347
- 1944: 2489
- 1945: 603
Total: 5429

fontessa

[john whitman]

Good afternoon fontessa:

Thanks for posting this site.

Was there also a larger landing craft? I cannot find my reference right now, but it translated to something like "special barge," or "special large landing craft."

John