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 Division or divider may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication *Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting ...

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 .The division was formed on 15 June 1944 in

Visayas The Visayas ( ), or the Visayan Islands (Bisayan languages, Visayan: ''Kabisay-an'', ; tl, Kabisayaan ), are one of the three Island groups of the Philippines, principal geographical divisions of the Philippines, along with Luzon and Mindanao ...

. The nucleus of the formation was the 31st Independent Mixed Brigade. The ''102nd division'' was a Type C(hei) security division, therefore the division backbone comprised independent infantry battalions instead of infantry regiments.

Action

On 29 July 1944, parts of the division perished when the

Yoshino Maru ''Yoshino Maru'' (Kanji:) was an 8,950-ton Japanese troop transport and hospital ship during World War II, which sank on 31 July 1944 with great loss of life. ''Yoshino Maru'' was built in 1907 as ''Kleist'' for the Norddeutscher Lloyd by the Schi ...

transport was sunk by a US submarine. The rest of the ''102nd division'' was assembled in

Ormoc Ormoc (IPA: �oɾˈmok, officially the City of Ormoc ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Ormoc; war, Syudad han Ormoc; fil, Lungsod ng Ormoc), is a 1st class independent component city in the Eastern Visayas region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 ce ...

on 26 October 1944,IJN LST T.101: Tabular Record of Movement
/ref> as the

Battle of Leyte A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

has begun since 17 October 1944. In the course of the

and subsequent

Battle of the Visayas 250px, Map of U.S. operations in Southern Philippines, 1945 250px, Japanese troops surrender to the 40th Division, September 1945 The Battle of Visayas (Filipino: ''Labanan sa Visayas;'' Visayan languages: ''Gubat sa Kabisay-an'') was fought by ...

since March 1945, the garrisons of the ''102nd division'' were isolated and increasingly decimated by the US forces. Some sub-units have managed to hold on in mountains 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 ...

15 August 1945 though. In particular, during the

Invasion of Palawan The Invasion of Palawan (Filipino: ''Paglusob sa Palawan''), was fought by U.S. liberation forces against the Japanese from 28 February to 22 April 1945, in a series of actions officially designated as Operations Victor I and II, and part of th ...

in March–April 1945, the two battalions of the ''102nd division'' were defeated by the US 186th regimental combat team. The Japanese garrison of

Panay Panay is the sixth-largest and fourth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total land area of and has a total population of 4,542,926 as of 2020 census. Panay comprises 4.4 percent of the entire population of the country. The City o ...

, consisting of a single company, retreated to the mountains and survived relatively intact despite efforts of US 185th regimental combat team. On

Cebu Cebu (; ceb, Sugbo), officially the Province of Cebu ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Sugbo; tl, Lalawigan ng Cebu; hil, Kapuroan sang Sugbo), is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, and consists of a main island and 167 ...

, the ''102nd division'' had a single battalion and an assortment of people rescued from

Leyte Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census. Since the accessibility of land has be ...

. They suffered heavy casualties during the

Battle for Cebu City The Battle for Cebu City ( Filipino: ''Labanan sa Lungsod ng Cebu''; Cebuano: ''Gubat sa Dakbayan sa Sugbo''; Japanese: セブシティーのための戦い) was a major engagement of World War II that occurred between March 26 and April 8, 1945, ...

but was able to continue a guerilla warfare afterwards. On

Negros Negros is the fourth largest and third most populous island in the Philippines, with a total land area of . Negros is one of the many islands of the Visayas, in the central part of the country. The predominant inhabitants of the island region a ...

island, the ''102nd division'' had about 4000 personnel from 77th infantry brigade. These survived after a guerilla campaign against invading US forces since March 1945.

Notes and references

*This article incorporates material from Japanese Wikipedia page 第102師団 (日本軍), accessed 14 June 2016 * Madej, W. Victor. ''Japanese Armed Forces Order of Battle, 1937-1945'' volsAllentown, 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