Appendix B: Japanese 32nd Army Units in the Ryukyus Campaign
This list of 32nd Army units was compiled by G-2, Tenth Army, from captured documents and prisoner of war interrogations. While information on enemy units is more complete for the Okinawa operation than for any other Pacific campaign, it is not possible to reconstruct the troop list of the 32nd Army without gaps and uncertainties as to both units and their strengths. The following list may omit some units which were destroyed during the battle and others which were disbanded in order to transfer their personnel to other units depleted in combat.
Uncertainty with regard to the strength of the units arises chiefly from the fact that there exist only the roughest estimates of the total number of Okinawans brought into the 32nd Army. These Okinawans fall into three classes, of which only the first can be estimated with reasonable accuracy: (i) the Boeitai (Okinawan Home Guard), comprising an estimated 20,000 men; (2) the Okinawans used to supplement the Japanese forces in old units, most of which had arrived at Okinawa understrength; (3) the Okinawans employed in a few instances to form new units with a Japanese nucleus. Since the full extent to which Japanese forces were augmented by Okinawans is not known, the following list gives only the estimated strength of the various units in respect to their Japanese elements.
| Unit | Estimated, Strength, (Japanese, Only |
| 32nd Army Hq | 1,070 |
| Infantry* | |
| 24th Div (including 22nd, 32nd, 89th Inf Regts) | 14,360 |
| 62nd Div (including 11th-15th, 21st-23rd, 272nd, 273rd Independent Inf Bns) | 11,723 |
| 44th Ind Mixed Brig (including 2nd Inf Unit of 3 Bns and 15th Independent Mixed Regt) | 4,485 |
| 1st-3rd, 26th-29th Independent Bns (converted from Sea Raiding Base Bns) | 6,242 |
| 223rd, 224th, 225th Special Garrison Cos | 600 |
| 3rd, 4th Commando Units | 900 |
| Total Infantry | 38,310 |
| Armored | |
| 27th Tank Regt | 750 |
| Artillery and Automatic Weapons (Attached Units) | |
| 5th Arty Command | 147 |
| 1st Medium Arty Regt (2nd Bn only) | 856 |
| 23rd Medium Arty Regt | 1,143 |
| 7th Heavy Arty Regt (3 Btrys) | 526 |
| 100th Heavy Arty Bn | 565 |
| 1st Ind Arty Mortar Regt (1st, 4th, 5th Cos only) | 613 |
| 1st Light Mortar Bn (3rd-6th Independent Mortar Cos) | 633 |
| 2nd Light Mortar Bn (7th-10th Independent Mortar Cos) | 615 |
| 3rd, 7th, 22nd Ind Antitank Bns | 1,015 |
| 18th, 22nd, 23rd, 32nd Independent Antitank Cos | 569 |
| 27th Independent AA Arty Bn | 505 |
| 21st AA Hq | 71 |
| 79th, 80th, 81st Independent AA Arty Bus | 1,544 |
| 103rd, 104th, 105th Machine Cannon Bns | 1,011 |
| 3rd, 4th, 14th, 17th, 23rd independent Machine Gun Bns | 1,663 |
| Total Artillery and Automatic Weapons | 11,476 |
| Shipping and Engineers | |
| 23rd, 26th Shipping Engr Regt (minus 1 co each) | 1,600 |
| 66th independent Engr Bn | 865 |
| 7th Shipping Hq, Naha Branch | 300 |
| Field Shipping Main Depot, Okinawa Branch | 100 |
| 11th Shipping Group | 100 |
| 101st, 102nd Sea Duty Cos (Koreans) | 1,500 |
| Total Shipping and Engineers | 4,465 |
* Strengths of the 1st and 2nd Provisional Brigs (1st-6th Special Established Regts) and of the 6th and 50th Special Established Bns are omitted because the service units from which they were formed are itemized individually in this list.
| Unit | Estimated, Strength, (Japanese, Only |
| Air Force (Ground) | |
| 19th Air Sector Command Hq | 41 |
| 44th, 50th, 56th, 158th Airfield Bns | 1,487 |
| 3rd, 75th Airfield Cos | 458 |
| 2nd Air Sig Regt (elements) | 500 |
| 6th Air Fixed Sig Unit | 50 |
| 21st Air Sig Unit | 100 |
| 25th, 26th AA Radio Units | 150 |
| 3rd Independent Air Maintenance Unit | 120 |
| 118th Independent Maintenance Unit | 130 |
| 29th Field Airfield Construction Bn | 750 |
| 5th Field Air Repair Depot Bn | 300 |
| 502nd, 503rd, 504th Special Garrison Engr Units | 2,850 |
| Total Air Force (Ground) | 6,936 |
| Line of Communications Troops | |
| 36th Sig Regt (including 106th, 126th, 127th Independent Wire Cos; 100th, 109th, 113th-116th, 131st, 132nd Independent Radio Plats) | 1,912 |
| 49th L of C Sector Unit | 1,400 |
| 32nd Army Field Freight Depot | 1,167 |
| 32nd Army Field Ord Depot | 1,498 |
| 27th Field Water Purification Unit | 244 |
| 14th, 20th Field Well Drilling Cos | 400 |
| Okinawa Mil Hosp | 20 4 |
| 72nd Land Duty Co | 508 |
| Total Line of Communications Troops | 7,333 |
| Naval Units | 3,500 |
| Miscellaneous Units | |
| 5th Sea Raiding Base Hq | 42 |
| 1st-3rd Sea Raiding Sqs | 312 |
| 3rd independent Sea Transport Unit | 250 |
| 7th Field Shipping Unit | 700 |
| 11th Sea Transportation Bn | 400 |
| 46th Independent Airfield Co | 120 |
| 2nd Field Construction Duty Co | 366 |
| 6th, 7th Construction Duty Cos | 662 |
| 32nd Army Ord Duty Unit | 150 |
| 32nd Army Det Construction Unit | 357 |
| Total Miscellaneous Units | 3,359 |
| Total Strength | 77,199 |
Source: Tenth Army G-2 Intelligence Monograph, Ryukyus Campaign, Pt 1, Sec B: Order of Battle, p. 3.
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