The was an
infantry division in the
Imperial Japanese Army. Its
tsūshōgō code name
A code name, call sign or cryptonym is a code word or name used, sometimes clandestinely, to refer to another name, word, project, or person. Code names are often used for military purposes, or in espionage. They may also be used in industrial c ...
was the . The 21st Division was created 4 April 1938 as a
triangular division as part of the military buildup following the outbreak of the
Second Sino-Japanese War, along with the resurrected
17th
17 (seventeen) is the natural number following 16 and preceding 18. It is a prime number.
Seventeen is the sum of the first four prime numbers.
In mathematics
17 is the seventh prime number, which makes seventeen the fourth super-prime, as s ...
and
18th Divisions, and the new
22nd and
23rd Divisions. Its original headquarters was in a suburb of the city of
Kanazawa, and its troops were recruited primarily from communities in
Ishikawa, and
Toyama Prefectures.
Action
Initially assigned to the
Japanese Northern China Area Army it was deployed to the Chinese mainland from 15 July 1938, serving as a garrison force in
Xuzhou. In February 1939, it participated in fighting in Kahoku district of
Hebei province. Under the command of Lieutenant Commander
Hisakazu Tanaka
was a lieutenant general in the Imperial Japanese Army, and governor of Japanese-occupied Hong Kong in World War II. His name is occasionally transliterated "Tanaka Hisaichi".
Biography Early career
Tanaka was born in Hyōgo Prefecture to th ...
from 1940 to 1943 as part of the
Japanese 12th Army, the division participated in counter-insurgency operations in Northern China as well as the
Battle of South Shanxi
The Battle of South Shanxi , also known as the Battle of Jinnan () and Zhongtiao Mountains campaign () by the Chinese and as the Chungyuan Operation by the Japanese, was one of the 22 major engagements between the National Revolutionary Army and ...
in May 1941, and the subsequent
Hundred Regiments Offensive.
From November 1941, the division was transferred to the control of the
Southern Expeditionary Army Group and transferred to the Philippines, landing at
Lingayen Gulf
The Lingayen Gulf is a large gulf on northwestern Luzon in the Philippines, stretching . It is framed by the provinces of Pangasinan and La Union and sits between the Zambales Mountains and the Cordillera Central. The Agno River and the Balili ...
on 26 February 1942. After the completion of the
Philippines Campaign, from December 1943, the division was sent to
French Indochina under the control of the
IJA 38th Army, Assigned to a garrison role in
Hanoi, it remained in Indochina through the end of the
Pacific war
The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast ...
except for a brief period in late 1944 when it crossed back into China to participate in
Operation Ichi-Go. The division played a critical role in the
Japanese coup d'état in French Indochina of March 1945, which resulted in the proclamation of the
Empire of Vietnam
The Empire of Vietnam (; Literary Chinese and Contemporary Japanese: ; Modern Japanese: ja, ベトナム帝国, Betonamu Teikoku, label=none) was a short-lived puppet state of Imperial Japan governing the former French protectorates of Annam ...
independent from French rule. It remained as a garrison force in Hanoi until the
surrender of Japan
The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally signed on 2 September 1945, bringing the war's hostilities to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy ...
in August 1945.
A number of its troops refused to return to Japan, and defected to join the
Viet Minh in their struggle for independence (
First Indochina War) against the returning French colonial forces. But in 1954 they were ordered to return to Japan by the Vietnamese government.
See also
*
List of Japanese Infantry Divisions
References
*
*
*
* Madej, W. Victor. ''Japanese Armed Forces Order of Battle, 1937-1945''
volsAllentown, PA: 1981
* This article incorporates material from the Japanese Wikipedia page
第21師団 (日本軍), accessed 7 March 2016
{{DEFAULTSORT:21st Division (Imperial Japanese Army)
Japanese World War II divisions
Infantry divisions of Japan
Military units and formations established in 1938
Military units and formations disestablished in 1945
Military history of Vietnam during World War II
1938 establishments in Japan
1945 disestablishments in Japan