Eighteenth Army (Japan)

Japanese Eighteenth Army
General Adachi surrendering
Active	November 9, 1942 – August 15, 1945
Country	Empire of Japan
Branch	Imperial Japanese Army
Type	Infantry
Role	Corps
Garrison/HQ	New Guinea
Nickname(s)	Mō (猛, Fierce?)
Engagements	New Guinea campaign

The Japanese 18th Army (第18軍, Dai-jyūhachi gun^?) was an army of the Imperial Japanese Army during the World War II.

The Japanese 18th Army was formed on November 9, 1942, under the Japanese Eighth Area Army of the Southern Expeditionary Army Group for the specific task of opposing landings by Allied forces in Japanese-occupied New Guinea. Upon establishment, it was made up of three divisions: the 20th, which had been raised from men from Kyushu, and the 41st and 51st Divisions formed from the Kantō region.

Both the 20th and 41st Divisions arrived in New Guinea safely. However, the 51st Division, including the army's commander, Hatazō Adachi, and his senior staff, came under Allied air attack while en route from their supply base at Rabaul to Lae, in the Battle of the Bismarck Sea. All eight transport ships and four destroyers were sunk with the loss of 3,664 men, and only 2,427 men of the division were rescued.

Operation Cartwheel, an Allied master plan implemented from mid-1943, progressively severed the supply lines between Rabaul and frontline Japanese forces. Key defeats included the withdrawal of the Imperial Japanese Navy from the Solomon Islands campaign, followed by landings on New Britain, as well as Aitape and Hollandia, in April 1944.