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 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 .

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The 6th Division was formed in Kumamoto City on 12 May 1888, as one of the new divisions to be created after the reorganization of the Imperial Japanese Army away from six regional commands and into a divisional command structure, as per the recommendations of the

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...

military advisor Military advisors, or combat advisors, advise on military matters. Some are soldiers sent to foreign countries to aid such countries with their military training, organization, and other various military tasks. The Foreign powers or organizations ...

Jakob Meckel to the Japanese government. Its troops were drawn primarily from the southern prefectures of

Kyūshū is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surround ...

First Sino-Japanese War The First Sino-Japanese War (25 July 1894 – 17 April 1895) was a conflict between China and Japan primarily over influence in Korea. After more than six months of unbroken successes by Japanese land and naval forces and the loss of the p ...
to
Tanggu Truce The Tanggu Truce, sometimes called the , was a ceasefire that was signed between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan in Tanggu District, Tianjin, on May 31, 1933. It formally ended the Japanese invasion of Manchuria, which had begun ...

The division participated in combat during the

First Sino-Japanese War The First Sino-Japanese War (25 July 1894 – 17 April 1895) was a conflict between China and Japan primarily over influence in Korea. After more than six months of unbroken successes by Japanese land and naval forces and the loss of the p ...

at the Battle of Weihaiwei. In the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...

it participated in the

Battle of Shaho The Battle of Shaho ( ja, 沙河会戦 (''Saka no kaisen''), russian: Сражение на реке Шахе) was the second large-scale land battle of the Russo-Japanese War fought along a front centered at the Shaho River along the Mukden– P ...

under the command of the 2nd Army and in the

Battle of Mukden The , one of the largest land battles to be fought before World War I and the last and the most decisive major land battle of the Russo-Japanese War, was fought from 20 February to 10 March 1905 between Japan and Russia near Mukden ...

under the command of the 4th Army. On 29 April 1910 the divisional headquarters building was demolished, and the headquarters was assigned temporarily in

Kumamoto is the capital city of Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan. , the city has an estimated population of 738,907 and a population density of 1,893 people per km2. The total area is 390.32 km2. had a population of 1,461,000, ...

Kaikosha 22 June 1916 until a new building on the grounds of Kumamoto Castle was completed on 5 April 1917. In 1923, the division was assigned to garrison duty in

Manchuria Manchuria is an exonym (derived from the endo demonym " Manchu") for a historical and geographic region in Northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day Northeast China (Inner Manchuria) and parts of the Russian Far East (Outer M ...

. The 6th Division returned to

Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surround ...

in 1925, and sent a detachment to participate in the Jinan Incident in 1928. Returned to China in the aftermath of the

Mukden Incident The Mukden Incident, or Manchurian Incident, known in Chinese as the 9.18 Incident (九・一八), was a false flag event staged by Japanese military personnel as a pretext for the 1931 Japanese invasion of Manchuria. On September 18, 1931, ...

in 1931, the division participated in the Defense of the Great Wall in 1933 (being the attacking force in the confrontation), to expand and secure the western flank of the newly formed

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 ...

state.

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 ...

With the start of 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 ...

27 July 1937, the 6th Division was assigned to the

Japanese China Garrison Army The was formed 1 June 1901 as the , as part of Japan's contribution to the international coalition in China during the Boxer Rebellion. It took the name China Garrison Army from 14 April 1912 and onward, though was typically referred to as th ...

, and immediately started to act in the ongoing Battle of Beiping–Tianjin. Afterward, it participated in

Beiping–Hankou Railway Operation The Beiping–Hankou Railway Operation ( ja, 京漢線作戦; Mid August – Dec. 1937) was a follow up to the Battle of Beiping–Tianjin of the Japanese army in North China at the beginning of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War, fought simultaneously wi ...

. 20 October 1937, the division was re-subordinated to the 10th Army and attacked the Chinese troops concentration at

Hangzhou Bay Hangzhou Bay, or the Bay of Hangzhou (), is a funnel-shaped inlet of the East China Sea, bordered by the province of Zhejiang and the municipality of Shanghai, which lies north of the Bay. The Bay extends from the East China Sea to its head ...

. By December 1937, it shifted west to participate together with the 18th Division and 114th Division in the

Battle of Nanking The Battle of Nanking (or Nanjing) was fought in early December 1937 during the Second Sino-Japanese War between the Chinese National Revolutionary Army and the Imperial Japanese Army for control of Nanking (Nanjing), the capital of the Repu ...

and ultimately in the

Nanking Massacre The Nanjing Massacre (, ja, 南京大虐殺, Nankin Daigyakusatsu) or the Rape of Nanjing (formerly romanized as ''Nanking'') was the mass murder of Chinese civilians in Nanjing, the capital of the Republic of China, immediately after the ...

. On 14 February 1938, the 6th Division was subordinated to the

Central China Expeditionary Army ''Nakashina hakengun'' , image= , caption= , dates= November 7, 1937 - September 23, 1939 , country= Empire of Japan , allegiance= , branch= Imperial Japanese Army , type= Infantry , role= Army Corps , garrison= , nickname= , battles=Battle of ...

and in May 1938 entered the

Battle of Xuzhou The Battle of Xuzhou was a military conflict between the Empire of Japan and the Republic of China forces in May 1938 during the Second Sino-Japanese War. History In 1937 the North China Area Army had chased Song Zheyuan's 29th Army to the ...

. 15 May 1938, the 106th Division was split from the 6th Division. Actions in the

Battle of Wuhan The Battle of Wuhan (武漢之戰), popularly known to the Chinese as the Defense of Wuhan, and to the Japanese as the Capture of Wuhan, was a large-scale battle of the Second Sino-Japanese War. Engagements took place across vast areas of Anhui ...

began in June 1938, and the division was subsequently withdrawn to Japan. In 1940, the 47th infantry regiment was transferred to the 48th division, converting the 6th Division to the

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 ...

format.

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 ...

In November 1942, the 6th Division was reassigned to the 17th Army on

Bougainville Island Bougainville Island (Tok Pisin: ''Bogenvil'') is the main island of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, which is part of Papua New Guinea. It was previously the main landmass in the German Empire-associated North Solomon Islands, North Solo ...

in the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capit ...

. Although initially used for the

Guadalcanal Campaign The Guadalcanal campaign, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal and codenamed Operation Watchtower by American forces, was a military campaign fought between 7 August 1942 and 9 February 1943 on and around the island of Guadalcanal in the ...

, it was ordered by

Imperial General Headquarters The was part of the Supreme War Council and was established in 1893 to coordinate efforts between the Imperial Japanese Army and Imperial Japanese Navy during wartime. In terms of function, it was approximately equivalent to the United States ...

in 1943 to transfer to the southern part of the

. The division's 13th Infantry Regiment took part in the

New Georgia campaign The New Georgia campaign was a series of land and naval battles of the Pacific campaign of World War II between Allied forces and the Empire of Japan. It was part of Operation Cartwheel, the Allied strategy in the South Pacific to isolate t ...

. The division was defending

Cape Torokina Cape Torokina is a promontory at the north end of Empress Augusta Bay, along the central part of the western coast of Bougainville, in Papua New Guinea. This cape formed the southern end of the landing zone where I Marine Amphibious Corps perform ...

when US forces landed there, launching the

Bougainville Campaign The Bougainville campaign was a series of land and naval battles of the Pacific campaign of World War II between Allied forces and the Empire of Japan, named after the island of Bougainville. It was part of Operation Cartwheel, the Allie ...

in November 1943. It was subsequently annihilated on Bougainville in 1945. In March 1944, the division took part in a large-scale

counterattack A counterattack is a tactic employed in response to an attack, with the term originating in "war games". The general objective is to negate or thwart the advantage gained by the enemy during attack, while the specific objectives typically seek ...

aimed at capturing the Allied perimeter around Torokina. During this action, the division suffered heavy losses (the division's infantry group had 1,787 men remaining alive of 4,923 men initially) and ceased to exist as an organized unit. The parts of division cornered in the Buin district of New Guinea suffered heavily from the loss of supplies and food. Losses mounted after the Australians started another offensive in November 1944. The surrender document was signed in September 1945 on the nearby Fauro Island.

Notes

References and further reading

* Madej, W. Victor. ''Japanese Armed Forces Order of Battle, 1937–1945'' volsAllentown, PA: 1981 * * This article incorporated material from the Japanese Wikipedia page 第6師団 (日本軍) {{DEFAULTSORT:06th Division (Imperial Japanese Army) Japanese World War II divisions Infantry divisions of Japan Military units and formations established in 1888 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945 1888 establishments in Japan 1945 disestablishments in Japan Nanjing Massacre perpetrators

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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 ...

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 ...

See also

Notes

References and further reading