The was an
infantry division in the
Imperial Japanese Army. Its
call-sign was the . It was formed in China as
triangular division from the independent mixed brigade and other units 21 June 1938
Action
4 July 1938 the ''27th division'' was assigned to
11th Army. From the 25 July 1938, the division has started to participate in the
Battle of Wuhan
The Battle of Wuhan (武漢之戰), popularly known to the Chinese as the Defense of Wuhan, and to the Japanese as the Capture of Wuhan, was a large-scale battle of the Second Sino-Japanese War. Engagements took place across vast areas of Anhui ...
. After the end of battle in October 1938, the ''27th division'' was sent to the staging grounds in
Tianjin, where it was subordinated directly to the
China Expeditionary Army in September 1939.
17 June 1943 the division was moved out of reserve and ordered to garrison
Jinzhou. The division was mobilized 1 February 1944 for the tentative participation in the
Operation Ichi-Go, and transferred back to the
11th Army 17 March 1944. As the
Operation Ichi-Go has started 17 April 1944, the ''27th division'' has attacked
Queshan County 9 May 1944. 30 January 1945 the ''27th division'' has also captured an important airfield in
Jiangxi. Afterward, while being in
Ganzhou
Ganzhou (), alternately romanized as Kanchow, is a prefecture-level city in the south of Jiangxi province, China, bordering Fujian to the east, Guangdong to the south, and Hunan to the west. Its administrative seat is at Zhanggong District.
Hist ...
, the ''27th division'' was subordinated to the
23rd Army and sent to
Guangdong, providing a coastal defence to
Huizhou.
After 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, the ''27th division'' 18 April 1945 had received orders to retreat to
Shanghai through
Nanchang. The division was in
Wuxi at the moment of
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 ...
15 August 1945.
See also
*
List of Japanese infantry divisions
Reference 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27師団 (日本軍), accessed 8 March 2016
Japanese World War II divisions
Infantry divisions of Japan
Military units and formations established in 1938
Military units and formations disestablished in 1945
1938 establishments in Japan
1945 disestablishments in Japan
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