The was an

infantry division A division is a large military unit or formation, usually consisting of between 6,000 and 25,000 soldiers. In most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades; in turn, several divisions typically make up a corps. Histo ...

in 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 assign ...

was the .

History

The

(IJA) ''40th Division'' was raised as 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 hea ...

on 30 June 1939 in Zentsuji, Kagawa prefecture, simultaneously with 38th, 39th and 41st divisions. Its manpower came primarily from the four prefectures of

Shikoku is the smallest of the four main islands of Japan. It is long and between wide. It has a population of 3.8 million (, 3.1%). It is south of Honshu and northeast of Kyushu. Shikoku's ancient names include ''Iyo-no-futana-shima'' (), '' ...

island. Although intended as a garrison force to maintain public order and to cover police duties in Japanese-occupied portions of China, due to the deteriorating situation in the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Th ...

it was quickly assigned to front-line combat duties. The ''40th Division'' was initially assigned to the Eleventh Army on 2 October 1939 and was stationed from

Hankou Hankou, alternately romanized as Hankow (), was one of the three towns (the other two were Wuchang and Hanyang) merged to become modern-day Wuhan city, the capital of the Hubei province, China. It stands north of the Han and Yangtze Rivers whe ...

to Guangji along the banks of the

Yangtze River The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest list of rivers of Asia, river in Asia, the list of rivers by length, third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in th ...

, then the

Xianning Xianning () is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Hubei province, People's Republic of China, bordering Jiangxi to the southeast and Hunan to the southwest. It is known as the "City of Osmanthus". Geography and climate Xianning is located i ...

city in

Hubei Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The ...

area. It was involved in combat during the Battle of Zaoyang-Yichang from 1 May 1940,

Central Hubei Operation The Central Hubei Operation was one of the engagements between the National Revolutionary Army and Imperial Japanese Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was ...

in November 1940, and the

Battle of South Henan The Battle of South Henan (), was one of the 22 major engagements between the National Revolutionary Army (NRA) and Imperial Japanese Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War. This battle was the first time the NRA engaged the Japanese in sout ...

from February 1941. The fighting continued in the

Second Battle of Changsha The Battle of Changsha (6 September – 8 October 1941; ) was Japan's second attempt at taking the city of Changsha, China, the capital of Hunan Province, as part of the Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) o ...

in September 1941 and

Third Battle of Changsha Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * Hig ...

from December 1941. In April 1942, the ''40th Division'' was one of the units assigned to capturing the downed American airmen of the Doolittle Mission in what came to be known as the

Zhejiang-Jiangxi Campaign The Zhejiang-Jiangxi campaign or the Chekiang–Kiangsi campaign ( Japanese: 浙贛作戦, ), also known as Operation Sei-go ( Japanese: せ号作戦), was a campaign by the China Expeditionary Army of the Imperial Japanese Army under Shunroku ...

. From February 1943, the ''40th division'' has started to participate in the offensive toward Chongqing. Nonetheless, in March 1943, the 40th mountain artillery regiment was renamed as 31st mountain artillery regiment and sent to reinforce

31st Division (Imperial Japanese Army) The was an infantry division of the Imperial Japanese Army. Its call sign was the . The 31st Division was raised during World War II in Bangkok, Thailand, on March 22, 1943, out of Kawaguchi Detachment and parts of the 13th, 40th and 116th ...

in ill-fated

Battle of Kohima The Battle of Kohima proved the turning point of the Japanese U-Go offensive into India in 1944 during the Second World War. The battle took place in three stages from 4 April to 22 June 1944 around the town of Kohima, now the capital city of N ...

. The lost regiment was never replaced. From April 1944, it was assigned to

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 A ...

, reaching

Yiyang Yiyang () is a prefecture-level city on the Zi River in Hunan province, China, straddling Lake Dongting and bordering Hubei to the north. According to the 2010 Census, Yiyang has a population of 4,313,084 inhabitants residing in an area of . Th ...

10 June 1944, and stopping in coastal

Haojiang District Haojiang District () is a district of Shantou, Guangdong province, People's Republic of China. It was established in March 2003, consisting the former Dahao () and Hepu () districts. It covers . Dahao Island, which covers about , is part of Shan ...

9 July 1944. In January 1945, the ''40th Division'' was assigned to guard the Guangdong–Hankou Railway. During that period the divisional headquarters were in

Qujiang District, Shaoguan Qujiang ( postal: Kukong; ) is a district of Shaoguan, Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province ...

. Afterwards, it came under the command of the Twenty-Third Army and stationed in the

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a p ...

area to counter anticipated landings by Allied forces. However, as American forces invaded

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

in April 1945, the 40th Division received orders to withdraw from

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...

. En route, while in

Nanchang Nanchang (, ; ) is the capital of Jiangxi Province, People's Republic of China. Located in the north-central part of the province and in the hinterland of Poyang Lake Plain, it is bounded on the west by the Jiuling Mountains, and on the east ...

Jiangxi Jiangxi (; ; formerly romanized as Kiangsi or Chianghsi) is a landlocked province in the east of the People's Republic of China. Its major cities include Nanchang and Jiujiang. Spanning from the banks of the Yangtze river in the north int ...

province, the war came to an end. The 40th Division's final orders were to withdraw from Nanchang to

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...

, where it was demobilized, and its surviving troops were returned to

Sasebo is a core city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. It is also the second largest city in Nagasaki Prefecture, after its capital, Nagasaki. On 1 June 2019, the city had an estimated population of 247,739 and a population density of 581 persons p ...

, Japan by May 1946.

Reference and further reading

* Madej, W. Victor. ''Japanese Armed Forces Order of Battle, 1937-1945'' volsAllentown, PA: 1981 {{DEFAULTSORT:40th Division (Imperial Japanese Army) 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

History

See also

Reference and further reading