The was an

infantry division A division is a large military unit or Formation (military), formation, usually consisting of between 6,000 and 25,000 soldiers. In most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades; in turn, several divisions typically mak ...

in 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

callsign 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 . The 24th Division was formed in

Harbin Harbin (; mnc, , v=Halbin; ) is a sub-provincial city and the provincial capital and the largest city of Heilongjiang province, People's Republic of China, as well as the second largest city by urban population after Shenyang and largest ...

Manchukuo Manchukuo, officially the State of Manchuria prior to 1934 and the Empire of (Great) Manchuria after 1934, was a puppet state of the Empire of Japan in Northeast China, Manchuria from 1932 until 1945. It was founded as a republic in 1932 afte ...

on 6 October 1939, as part of the Manchukuo territorial defense force under overall command of the 5th Army group of the

Kwantung Army ''Kantō-gun'' , image = Kwantung Army Headquarters.JPG , image_size = 300px , caption = Kwantung Army headquarters in Hsinking, Manchukuo , dates = April ...

Action

22 February 1944, the 7th detachment consisting of companies from each regiment, including engineer regiment and field artillery regiment, was sent to

Woleai Woleai, also known as Oleai, is a coral atoll of twenty-two islands in the western Caroline Islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district in the Yap State in the Federated States of Micronesia and is located approximately west-n ...

island. The 7th detachment have reached

in April 1944 and re-formed into 50th Independent Mixed Brigade in June 1944. Out of 6426 initial troops of the detachment, only 1650 have survived the air raids and starvation. Also, the 1st detachment comprising an infantry battalion from the 89th infantry regiment was sent to

Saipan Saipan ( ch, Sa’ipan, cal, Seipél, formerly in es, Saipán, and in ja, 彩帆島, Saipan-tō) is the largest island of the Northern Mariana Islands, a Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), commonwealth of the United States in the western Pa ...

and reorganized eventually into 47th Independent Mixed Brigade. The 9th detachment, consisting of three infantry battalions, headed for

Yap Yap ( yap, Waqaab) traditionally refers to an island group located in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, a part of Yap State. The name "Yap" in recent years has come to also refer to the state within the Federated States of Micr ...

island, but was diverted to

after some of the troop transports were sunk en route. Initially organized into 318th independent infantry battalions, the survivors ended up in 47th Independent Mixed Brigade. All troops who reached

were eventually annihilated in

Battle of Saipan The Battle of Saipan was a battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II, fought on the island of Saipan in the Mariana Islands from 15 June to 9 July 1944 as part of Operation Forager. It has been referred to as the "Pacific D-Day" with th ...

in July 1944. Another battalion-sized 12th detachment have reached

uneventfully. In July 1944, the ''24th division'' remainders were sent to

Okinawa prefecture is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city o ...

as part of the final defense of the Japanese home islands against the American invasion, taking the positions prepared by the departing 9th division at

Ōzato, Okinawa was a village located in Shimajiri District, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. Ōzato Castle is located here. It is named for the royal family of Nanzan. As of 2003, the village had an estimated population of 11,648 and a density of 943.16 persons p ...

. Soon after the US landing 1 April 1945, the 2nd and 3rd battalions of the 22nd infantry regiment of the ''24th division'' were used to reinforce the embattled 62nd division.George Feifer, "Battle of Okinawa: The Blood and the Bomb", p. 146 For ''24th division'' the

Battle of Okinawa The , codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a major battle of the Pacific War fought on the island of Okinawa by United States Army (USA) and United States Marine Corps (USMC) forces against the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). The initial invasion of ...

started north-west of

Shuri, Okinawa ''Sui'' or ''Shui'', Northern Ryukyuan languages, Northern Ryukyuan: ''Shiyori'' is a district of the city of Naha, Okinawa. It was formerly a separate city in and of itself, and the royal capital of the Ryūkyū Kingdom. A number of famous his ...

23 April 1945. In the all-out counterattack 4 May 1945, the 1st battalion of the 32nd infantry regiment managed to capture the Tanabaru heights in

Nishihara, Okinawa is a town located in Nakagami District, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. In the Okinawan language, ''nishi'' means "north" (in standard Japanese, however, it means "west"), as Nishihara was north of the historical Ryukyuan capital of Shuri. As of ...

, but the division failed to advance elsewhere. Following a war of attrition, by early June 1945 the ''24th division'' had lost over 12000 troops and been reduced to approximately 3000 men. The division fragmented into several holdouts 20 June 1945, but the 1st and 3rd battalions of the 32nd infantry regiment continued to resist US occupation before surrendering in the late August to early September, 1945.

Armament of the ''24th division'' at the
Battle of Okinawa The , codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a major battle of the Pacific War fought on the island of Okinawa by United States Army (USA) and United States Marine Corps (USMC) forces against the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). The initial invasion of ...

Type 38 rifle The is a bolt-action service rifle that was used by the Empire of Japan predominantly during the Second Sino-Japanese War and Second World War. The design was adopted by the Imperial Japanese Army in 1905 (the 38th year of the Meiji period, hence ...

- 7000 *

Type 4 15 cm howitzer The was a heavy howitzer used by the Imperial Japanese Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II. The Type 4 designation was given to this gun as it was accepted in the 4th year of Emperor Taishō's reign (1915).War Department Sp ...

- 12 *

Type 91 10 cm Howitzer The was a howitzer used by the Imperial Japanese Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II. As the standard Japanese light howitzer of the period, it was influenced by Schneider designs and was considered to be light, robust and ...

- 16 *

Type 95 75 mm Field Gun The was a field gun used by the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. It was intended to replace the Type 38 75 mm field gun and the Type 41 75 mm cavalry gun in front line combat units but, due to operational and budgetary constraints, on ...

- 8 By early June 1945, all field gun and howitzers were destroyed, machine guns were down to 20% of normal complement, and mortars with

infantry support gun Infantry support guns or battalion guns are artillery weapons designed and used to increase the firepower of the infantry units they are intrinsic to, offering immediate tactical response to the needs of the unit's commanding officer. They typicall ...

s were down to 10% of normal complement.

References

Bibliography and further reading

* * Madej, W. Victor, ''Japanese Armed Forces Order of Battle, 1937-1945'' volsAllentown, PA: 1981 * This article incorporates material from the Japanese Wikipedia page 第24師団 (日本軍), accessed 7 March 2016. {{DEFAULTSORT:24th Division (Imperial Japanese Army) Japanese World War II divisions Infantry divisions of Japan Military units and formations established in 1939 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945 1939 establishments in Japan 1945 disestablishments in Japan

Action

See also

References

Bibliography and further reading