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 . It was formed on 2 February 1942 in

Linfen Linfen is a prefecture-level city in the southwest of Shanxi province, China, bordering Shaanxi province to the west. It is situated along the banks of the Fen River. It has an area of and according to the 2020 Census, a population of 3,976,4 ...

city as a class C (security) division, simultaneously with the 68th and 70th divisions. The backbone of security division has consisted of the eight independent infantry battalions, and it does not have an artillery regiment. The nucleus for the formation was the 16th Independent mixed brigade and a reservists from the former 108th division, recruited from

Hirosaki is a city located in western Aomori Prefecture, Japan. On 1 April 2020, the city had an estimated population of 168,739 in 71,716 households, and a population density of . The total area of the city is . Hirosaki developed as a castle town fo ...

mobilization district.

Action

The division was assigned to the 1st army upon formation, with the task of providing a garrison to the central and west parts of the

Shanxi Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-lev ...

province. In autumn 1943, it fought in

Lanshan County Lanshan County () is a county of Hunan Province, China, it is under the administration of Yongzhou prefecture-level City. Located on the south margin of the province, it is adjacent to the northern border of Guangdong. Lanshan covers . In 2015, i ...

as a part of the

Battle of Changde The Battle of Changde (Battle of Changteh; ) was a major engagement in the Second Sino-Japanese War in and around the Republic of China (1912–49), Chinese city of Changde (Changteh) in the province of Hunan. During the battle, the Imperial Ja ...

. In March 1944, divisional headquarters has moved to

Yuncheng Yuncheng is the southernmost prefecture-level city in Shanxi province, People's Republic of China. It borders Linfen and Jincheng municipalities to the north and east, and Henan (Luoyang and Jiyuan to the east, Sanmenxia to the south) and Shaan ...

and ''69th division'' has started participating in

Operation Ichi-Go Operation Ichi-Go ( ja, 一号作戦, Ichi-gō Sakusen, lit=Operation Number One) was a campaign of a series of major battles between the Imperial Japanese Army forces and the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China, fought from Apri ...

from May 1944. After the offensive stopped in April 1945, the ''69th division'' was transferred for garrison duty in

Jiading District Jiading is a suburban district of Shanghai. It had a population of 1,471,100 in 2010. History Historically, Jiading was a separate municipality/town, until, in 1958, becoming under the administration of Shanghai. In 1993, Jiading's designate ...

under command of the 13th army, where it stayed 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.

Notes

*This article incorporates material from Japanese Wikipedia page 第69師団 (日本軍), accessed 20 June 2016

Reference and further reading

* 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 1942 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945 1942 establishments in Japan 1945 disestablishments in Japan {{mil-unit-stub

Action

See also

Notes

Reference and further reading