Active 1944–1945 Branch Imperial Japanese Army Garrison/HQ Chiba, Chiba | Country Empire of Japan Type Armored division Nickname(s) 鋼=Hagane (Steel) | |
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The 4th Tank Division (戦車第4師団, Sensha Dai-yon Shidan), was one of four armored divisions of the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II.
History
The 4th Tank Division was raised on July 6, 1944 in Chiba, near Tokyo. It lacked both infantry and self-propelled gun regiments. Similar to the German Panzer-Lehr-Division, it was created out of the training departments of the Armor School, Cavalry School, Field Artillery School and Military Engineering School of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy, its remaining students and staff. Assigned to the IJA 36th Army, it was assigned to the defense of the Japanese home islands against the projected Allied invasion. The 4th Tank Division based in Fukuoka on Kyushu had a "significant" number of the Type 3 Chi-Nu medium tanks available at its depot by the end of the war.
As an instructor's formation, it was seen as an elite unit and is equipped with the finest and most advanced armaments. Following Japan's surrender on Sept 3, 1945, the 4th Tank Division was officially demobilized with the rest of the Imperial Japanese Army, without having seen combat.