The was an infantry division in the Imperial Japanese Army. 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 created 28 February 1945 in

Sapporo ( ain, サッ・ポロ・ペッ, Satporopet, lit=Dry, Great River) is a city in Japan. It is the largest city north of Tokyo and the largest city on Hokkaido, the northernmost main island of the country. It ranks as the fifth most populous city ...

,89th Division (Sai)
/ref> by cobbling together 43rd and 69th independent mixed brigades, converted to 3rd and 4th mixed brigades, plus headquarters of the 77th division. It was an oversized (because the constituent brigades were including a six infantry battalions each since July 1944) type C(hei) security division.

Action

The ''89th division'' was assigned to the 5th area army 27 March 1945. The 3rd mixed brigade and headquarters were staying on the

Iturup , other_names = russian: Итуру́п; ja, 択捉島 , location = Sea of Okhotsk , coordinates = , archipelago = Kuril Islands , total_islands = , major_islands = , area_km2 = 3139 , length_km = 200 , width_km = 27 , coastline = , highest_moun ...

island, while parts of 4th mixed brigade part was garrisoning

Shikotan ; ja, 色丹島 , location = Pacific Ocean , coordinates = , archipelago = Kuril Islands , total_islands = 1 , major_islands = , area_km2 = 225 , length = , width = , coastline ...

island. Also, one battalion of the 4th mixed brigade was deployed on

Kunashir Island , other_names = kz, Kün Ashyr; ja, 国後島 , location = Sea of Okhotsk , locator_map = File:Kurily Kunashir.svg , coordinates = , archipelago = Kuril Islands , total_islands = , major_islands = , area = , length = , width = f ...

. The ''89th division'' has relied on heavy fortifications of Minami Chishima Fortress. After the Soviet

Invasion of the Kuril Islands The Invasion of the Kuril Islands (russian: Курильская десантная операция, lit=Kuril Islands Landing Operation) was the World War II Soviet military operation to capture the Kuril Islands from Japan in 1945. The inv ...

has started 18 August 1945, the

Shikotan ; ja, 色丹島 , location = Pacific Ocean , coordinates = , archipelago = Kuril Islands , total_islands = 1 , major_islands = , area_km2 = 225 , length = , width = , coastline ...

was invaded 1 September 1945, while

garrison have surrendered 4 September 1945 without resistance, as the hostilities ceased 2 September 1945. The majority of ''89th division'' prisoners were returned by

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

in 1948.

References and further reading

* List of Japanese Infantry Divisions * Madej, W. Victor. ''Japanese Armed Forces Order of Battle, 1937-1945'' volsAllentown, PA: 1981 This article incorporates material from the article 第89師団 (日本軍) in the Japanese Wikipedia, retrieved on 22 June 2016. Japanese World War II divisions Infantry divisions of Japan Military units and formations established in 1945 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945 1945 establishments in Japan 1945 disestablishments in Japan {{mil-unit-stub

Action

See also

References and further reading