The was an infantry division in the Imperial Japanese Army. 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 (the first Japanese division with a two-letter call sign). It was created 14 October 1944 in
Taiping, Perak
Taiping (, Jawi: ; zh, t=太平, , Hokkien: Thài-pêng; ta, தைப்பிங்) is a town located in Larut, Matang and Selama District, Perak, Malaysia. It is located approximately northwest of Ipoh, the capital of Perak, and ...
. The nucleus for the formation were the 12 and 18th independent garrison groups. It was 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 ...
.
Action
The division was raised and incorporated into the
29th army on 16 October 1944 to bolster defences in Malaya after the Japanese Army's defeat at the
Battle of Imphal
)
, partof = the Operation U-Go during the Burma Campaign in the South-East Asian theatre of World War II
, image = Imphalgurkhas.jpg
, image_size = 300
, caption = Gurkhas advancing with Grant tanks ...
. The division was to be used to defend Malaya against the expected
Operation Zipper, and took a defensive positions on the north of
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
.
The division formally surrendered at
Sungai Petani,
Kedah
Kedah (), also known by its honorific Darul Aman (Islam), Aman and historically as Queda, is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia, located in the northwestern part of Peninsular Malaysia. The state covers a total area ...
on 8 October 1945 to Major General
George N. Wood, commander of the
25th Indian Division, without engaging in any combat.
In November 1945, the engineer and transport regiment were sent to
(in
Riau Islands
The Riau Islands ( id, Kepulauan Riau) is a province of Indonesia. It comprises a total of 1,796 islands scattered between Sumatra, Malay Peninsula, and Borneo including the Riau Archipelago. Situated on one of the world's busiest shipping la ...
) and worked on infrastructure improvement, until been demobilized in
Nagoya
is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most pop ...
30 May 1946.
Commanders
* Lieutenant General
Tsunamasa Shidei
was a lieutenant general in the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II.
Biography
Shidei was born to a ''samurai''-class family in Yamashina-ku, Kyoto, Yamashina, Kyoto prefecture. He attended military preparatory schools in Osaka and Tokyo and ...
: October 16, 1944 - May 23, 1945
* Lieutenant General Yoshihisa Inoue (also translated as Inoue Yoshisa and Inoue Yoshisuke): May 23, 1945 -1892
:Inoue was born in 1892. He was Colonel in the Armored Warfare Department of the Ministry of War from 1941 to 1944. In 1944 he was first appointed to Commander - South Manchuria Arsenal and then Major-General of the
35th Independent Mixed Brigade. He died in 1980.
Inoue Yoshisuke (1892-1980)
retrieved 1 December 2015
Headquarters staff
* Chief of Staff: Colonel Eiji Imamura
* Chief of Staff: Lieutenant Kametaro Tominaga
* Chief of Staff: Major Shigero Fukuda
* Accounting Director: Lieutenant Colonel Shigeru Ninomiya, accountant
References and further reading
* List of Japanese Infantry Divisions
* Madej, W. Victor. ''Japanese Armed Forces Order of Battle, 1937-1945'' volsAllentown, PA: 1981
* Hata Yu 彦編 "Japanese army and navy comprehensive encyclopedia," second edition, University of Tokyo Press, 2005.
* Toyama Misao-Morimatsu Toshio eds "Imperial Army curriculum overview" Furong Shobo Publishing, 1987.
* "Separate volume history reader Senki series No.32 Pacific Division military history", Shinjinbutsuoraisha, 1996.
This article incorporates material from the article 第94師団 (日本軍) in the Japanese Wikipedia, retrieved on 24 June 2016.
{{DEFAULTSORT:94th Division (Imperial Japanese Army)
Japanese World War II divisions
Infantry divisions of Japan
Military units and formations established in 1944
Military units and formations disestablished in 1946
1944 establishments in Japan
1946 disestablishments in Japan
J