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 ...

. 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 The IJA 22nd Army was a short-lived component of the Southern China Area Army from February to November 1940 during 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 T ...

. A component of the IJA 22nd Army was the which was involved in combat operations in

Guangdong Province 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) ...

. After the dissolution of the IJA 22nd Army on 30 November 1940 it was elevated to division status under the IJA 23rd Army and in August 1941 was transferred to

Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the no ...

. The division was composed of the 27th Independent Mixed Brigade (Taiwan Mixed Brigade) and the 47th Infantry Regiment which became available when the IJA 6th Division transitioned from a rectangular to a triangular division. The 48th Division was initially part of the Taiwan Army, before being reassigned to the IJA 14th Army on 12 August 1941. In preparation for the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vas ...

, the division was mechanized (along with the IJA 5th Division, which was completed 6 November 1941. Under the command of Lieutenant General

Yuitsu Tsuchihashi was a lieutenant general in the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II. Biography Early career Tsuchihashi was born in Saga prefecture and graduated from the 24th class of Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1912 and the 32nd class of the Army S ...

, the IJA 48th Division was among the first Japanese forces to land in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

as part of the IJA 14th Army, and captured Manila, but did not participate in the

Battle of Bataan The Battle of Bataan ( tl, Labanan sa Bataan; January 7 – April 9, 1942) was fought by the United States and the Philippine Commonwealth against Japan during World War II. The battle represented the most intense phase of the Japanese i ...

. Instead, in January 1942 the division was transferred to the control of the IJA 16th Army in eastern

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mo ...

, where it was assigned the capture of Surabaya and its strategic oil fields on 7 March 1942. Afterwards, the IJA 48th Division was assigned to garrison of the island of

Timor Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is divided between the sovereign states of East Timor on the eastern part and Indonesia on the western part. The Indonesian part, ...

as part of the IJA 19th Army. Although the island had been captured by Japan in the

Battle of Timor The Battle of Timor occurred in Portuguese Timor and Dutch Timor during the Second World War. Japanese forces invaded the island on 20 February 1942 and were resisted by a small, under-equipped force of Allied military personnel—known as ...

, much of the island was still in the hands of Australian and Dutch

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s. Tsuchihashi launched a major counter-offensive in an attempt to push the Australians into a corner on the south coast of the island. The Japanese also recruited significant numbers of Timorese civilians, who provided intelligence on Allied movements. The island was secured when the remaining Australian commandos were evacuated in December 1942. The IJA 19th Army was abolished on 28 February 1945, and the division became subordinate to the IJA 16th Army. The IJA 48th Division remained as a garrison force on Timor 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 ...

Reference and further reading

* Madej, W. Victor. ''Japanese Armed Forces Order of Battle, 1937-1945'' volsAllentown, PA: 1981 {{DEFAULTSORT:48th Division (Imperial Japanese Army) Japanese World War II divisions Infantry divisions of Japan Military units and formations established in 1940 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945 1940 establishments in Japan 1945 disestablishments in Japan

See also

Reference and further reading