The was an

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...

division of the

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...

. Its

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assigne ...

was the . It was formed 16 May 1944 in Arxan as a

triangular division A triangular division is a designation given to the way military divisions are organized. In a triangular organization, the division's main body is composed of three regimental maneuver elements. These regiments may be controlled by a brigade head ...

. The nucleus for the formation was the 7th independent mixed regiment. The division was permanently assigned to the

44th army The 44th Army (russian: 44-я армия) of the Soviet Union's Red Army was an army-level command active during World War II. Initially part of the Transcaucasian Front, its main actions included the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran and the Kerch a ...

Action

During a Soviet invasion of Manchuria the ''107th division'' was ordered to march 600 km from Arxan to

Changchun Changchun (, ; ), also romanized as Ch'angch'un, is the capital and largest city of Jilin Province, People's Republic of China. Lying in the center of the Songliao Plain, Changchun is administered as a , comprising 7 districts, 1 county and 3 c ...

12 August 1945. 14 August 1945, the advance elements of the ''107th division'' were ambushed by the Soviet armoured regiment. 15 August 1945 the ''107th division'' was cut from all communications, including radio, and fled to the Inder in Jalaid Banner mountainous region, breaking a contact with Soviet forces. The contact was re-established 25 August 1945, and the division formally surrendered 27 August 1945. During the fighting, about 1500 division members perished. A further 2000 never returned after being taken prisoner by the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. Although a small fraction of the prisoners returned to Japan in 1949, the majority were not released until 1956.

Notes and references

*This article incorporates material from Japanese Wikipedia page 第107師団 (日本軍), accessed 27 June 2016 * Madej, W. Victor, ''Japanese Armed Forces Order of Battle'', 1937–1945 vols Allentown, PA: 1981. Japanese World War II divisions Infantry divisions of Japan Military units and formations established in 1944 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945 1944 establishments in Japan 1945 disestablishments in Japan {{mil-unit-stub

Action

See also

Notes and references