Nickname(s) Tei (定) | ||
Active January 6, 1944 - September 14, 1945 Similar Japanese China Garrison, Twenty‑Eighth Army, Thirty‑First Army, Twenty‑Fifth Army, Imperial Japanese Army | ||
The Japanese 29th Army (第29軍, Dai-nijyūkyu gun) was an army of the Imperial Japanese Army occupying Malaya during the final days of World War II.
Contents
History
The Japanese 29th Army was initially raised on January 6, 1944 at Taiping, Perak in Japanese-occupied Malaya as a garrison force, and in anticipation of any Allied attempt to invade and retake the Malay Peninsula. The Army's Headquarters was based at what is now the Peking Hotel, 2 Jalan Idris, also the sight of the Kempeitai Headquarters.
Initially under command of the Southern Expeditionary Army Group, the IJA 29th Army was transferred to the Japanese Seventh Area Army on March 27, 1944. As the war situation on the Pacific front grew increasingly desperate for Japan, the Imperial Japanese Army was unable to provide reinforcements and resupply to units south of the Philippines. After the surrender of Japan the 29th Army formally surrendered to Lieutenant-General Ouvry Roberts of the 34th Indian Corps at the Victoria Institution, Kuala Lumpur on 13 September 1945. Neither the 29th Army nor the 34th Indian Corps had seen combat. The 29th Army was then demobilized.
Final headquarters configuration at the end of the war
Commander: Ishiguro Teizo lieutenant general
Final units
94th Infantry Division raised in 1944 and under Lieutenant General Tsunamasa Shidei
29th Army Military Police Corps (Taiping): Kojima Masanori Rear Admiral Third communication Corps headquarters (Taiping) Logistics troops
South eighth Army Hospital (Kuala Lumpur): Imamura SakuTakeshi surgeon Colonel
29th Army Depot
29th Army Field arsenal
29th Army Field automobile Factory
29th Army Field cargo Factory
Lieutenant General Teizo Ishiguro
Ishiguro (石黒貞蔵) was the former Commander of the 6th Army which had been based in Manchuria. In May 1944 the Army participated in Operation Ichi-Go On 1 July 1944 Ishiguro was appointed Commander of the newly formed 29th Army and based in Malaya in anticipation of an Allied attack.