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 mar ...

division 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 Emper ...

, activated 30 June 1939 in

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui ...

, simultaneously with the 38th, 40th and 41st divisions. 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 ass ...

was the .

Action

On October 2, 1939, it joined 11th army in central

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

. In May 1940, the ''39th division'' has fought in

Battle of Zaoyang–Yichang The Battle of Zaoyang–Yichang, also known as the Battle of Zaoyi (), was one of the 22 major engagements between the National Revolutionary Army and Imperial Japanese Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War. Background The Japanese were se ...

. From 20 January 1941, it was also assigned to the Battle of South Henan, performing mopping-up duties in west

Suizhou Suizhou (), formerly Sui County (), is a prefecture-level city in northern Hubei province, People's Republic of China, bordering Henan province to the north and east. Etymology The Sui in Suizhou is derived from the ancient 'Suishizu' () . Ad ...

. Later the ''39th division'' has participated in the

Battle of Changsha (1942) Battle of Changsha may refer to: * Battle of Changsha (1852) — Taiping Rebellion * Battle of Changsha (1911) — Xinhai Revolution * Battle of Changsha (1939) — Second Sino-Japanese War * Battle of Changsha (1941) — Second Sino-Japanese War * ...

. For the long time afterward, the ''39th division'' have manned a defenses against Chinese army at

Yichang Yichang (), alternatively romanized as Ichang, is a prefecture-level city located in western Hubei province, China. It is the third largest city in the province after the capital, Wuhan and the prefecture-level city Xiangyang, by urban populati ...

. The division was assigned to 34th Army in July 1944. In late March to late May, 1945 the division participated in the Battle of West Henan–North Hubei, ending the advance in the

Fancheng District Fancheng is a district of the city of Xiangyang, Hubei, People's Republic of China. History Fancheng, or Fan City, was an ancient city in Hubei, situated on the northern side of the Han River, opposite Xiangyang on the southern side of the r ...

and

Xiangyang Xiangyang is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Hubei province, China and the second largest city in Hubei by population. It was known as Xiangfan from 1950 to 2010. The Han River runs through Xiangyang's centre and divides the city no ...

. It joined the Kwantung Army to defend

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 Manchuria from 1932 until 1945. It was founded as a republic in 1932 after the Japanese ...

on 30 May 1945, and at this time the reconnaissance regiment and some other small sub-units were detached from the division. The detachment, together with the remnants of the 68th division, were used to create 132nd division. The ''39th division'' has arrived to

30 July 1945 and assigned to the 30th army in anticipation of the

Soviet invasion of Manchuria The Soviet invasion of Manchuria, formally known as the Manchurian strategic offensive operation (russian: Манчжурская стратегическая наступательная операция, Manchzhurskaya Strategicheskaya Nastu ...

. Employed to construct fortification, the ''39th division'' has not fought the Soviet army 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 Na ...

15 August 1945.

References

* Madej, W. Victor, ''Japanese Armed Forces Order of Battle, 1937-1945'' vols Allentown, PA: 1981 * This article incorporates material from the Japanese Wikipedia page 第39師団(日本軍), accessed 18 March 2016 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 {{mil-unit-stub