The was an

infantry division A division is a large military unit or Formation (military), 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 mak ...

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

tsūshōgō were unit code names used by the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) during World War II. Each ''tsūshōgō'' consisted of a and a . Unit Character Codes typically consisted of one character, although some units established in the late stages of the ...

code name A code name, call sign or cryptonym is a code word or name used, sometimes clandestinely, to refer to another name, word, project, or person. Code names are often used for military purposes, or in espionage. They may also be used in industrial c ...

was the .

Formation

The 20th Division and the 19th Division were both raised as a

garrison A garrison (from the French ''garnison'', itself from the verb ''garnir'', "to equip") is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a mil ...

force for

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

. After Japan's victory 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 ...

of 1904–1905, and subsequent occupation, and then

annexation of Korea Annexation ( Latin ''ad'', to, and ''nexus'', joining), in international law, is the forcible acquisition of one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. It is generally held to be an illegal ac ...

in 1910, the need was felt for a dedicated garrison force, raised from people with local knowledge. The 20th Division was stationed in central Korea, in what is now

Yongsan District Yongsan District (, ) is one of the 25 List of districts of Seoul, districts of Seoul, South Korea. Yongsan has a population of 231,685 (2020) and has a geographic area of , and is divided into 19 ''Dong (administrative division), dong'' (adminis ...

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

. The division received its colors on 24 December 1915; however, the division was not considered combat-ready until 1918, and divisional headquarters were co-located with the division only from the 1 April 1919. The delay was due to limited funding available for the division to build its facilities in Korea and the need to recruit and train personnel from mainland Japan. The first commander of the 19th Division was Lieutenant General Tachibana Koichirō.

Action

After 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, L ...

18 September 1931, the 39th brigade of ''20th Division'' was detached, reinforced by the 29th Infantry Regiment and stationed in the

Liaodong Peninsula The Liaodong Peninsula (also Liaotung Peninsula, ) is a peninsula in southern Liaoning province in Northeast China, and makes up the southwestern coastal half of the Liaodong region. It is located between the mouths of the Daliao River (the ...

Jinzhou Jinzhou (, ), formerly Chinchow, is a coastal prefecture-level city in central-west Liaoning province, China. It is a geographically strategic city located in the Liaoxi Corridor, which connects most of the land transports between North Chin ...

. In December 1931, the rest of division has loso moved to

. The whole ''20th division'' was withdrawn in April 1932. However, following the

Marco Polo Bridge Incident The Marco Polo Bridge Incident, also known as the Lugou Bridge Incident () or the July 7 Incident (), was a July 1937 battle between China's National Revolutionary Army and the Imperial Japanese Army. Since the Japanese invasion of Manchuria ...

from 11 July 1937, the division was again dispatched to the north China theater of operations under the command of Lieutenant General

Bunzaburō Kawagishi was a lieutenant-general in the Imperial Japanese Army during the early stages of the Second Sino-Japanese War Biography A native of Gunma prefecture, Kawagishi graduated from the 15th class of the Imperial Japanese Army Academy in 1903. He serve ...

, as part of the 1st army. The division participated in the

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 w ...

and

Battle of Taiyuan The Japanese offensive called 太原作戦 or the Battle of Taiyuan was a major battle fought in 1937 between China and Japan named for Taiyuan (the capital of Shanxi province), which lay in the 2nd Military Region. The battle concluded in a v ...

, but returned to its base at

Keijo Keijo may refer to: *Keijō, a former name of Seoul, South Korea *Keijo (given name) Keijo is a masculine Finnish given name. Notable people with the name include: * Keijo Huusko (born 1980), Finnish footballer * Keijo Kuusela (1921–1984), Finni ...

without having seen significant combat and remained as a reserve and garrison force in Korea throughout the remainder of

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 ...

, mainly intended to counter an expected Soviet

deep operation Deep operation (, ''glubokaya operatsiya''), also known as Soviet Deep Battle, was a military theory developed by the Soviet Union for its armed forces during the 1920s and 1930s. It was a tenet that emphasized destroying, suppressing or disorg ...

advances. On 1 July 1940, the reconnaissance regiment replaced the cavalry regiment, which was detached in 1942. Also, on 16 July 1941, the 77th infantry regiment was detached and transferred to the newly created 30th division, thus converting the ''20th 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 head ...

format. In 1942, the division was sent to southern

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 Northeast China, Manchuria from 1932 until 1945. It was founded as a republic in 1932 afte ...

, and its field artillery regiment was changed to a mountain artillery regiment. During the fighting in New Guinea, the division consisted of three infantry regiments— 78th, 79th and 80th—along with the 26th Field Artillery Regiment. the 20th Reconnaissance Regiment, the 20th Engineer Regiment and the 20th Transport Regiment. From October 1943, the 20th Infantry Division under Lieutenant General Shigemasa Aoki, was transferred to the

Japanese Eighteenth Army The was a field army of the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. History The Japanese 18th Army was formed on November 9, 1942, under the Japanese Eighth Area Army of the Southern Expeditionary Army Group for the specific task of opposin ...

in the Southern Area Command (

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

). Aoki died of

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...

in July 1943, and was replaced by Lieutenant General

Shigeru Katagiri was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army, commanding Japanese ground forces on New Guinea during the closing months of the war.

, who established his headquarters near Gali, and marched with his troops to reinforce

Finschhafen Finschhafen is a town east of Lae on the Huon Peninsula in Morobe Province of Papua New Guinea. The town is commonly misspelt as Finschafen or Finschaven. During World War II, the town was also referred to as Fitch Haven in the logs of some U.S ...

after the Allied landings at Lae and

Nadzab Nadzab Village is in the Markham Valley, Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea on the Highlands Highway. Administratively, it is located in Gabsongkeg ward of Wampar Rural LLG. The Nadzab Airport is located East of Nadzab Village and was the site o ...

on 4 September 1943. Katagiri was the primary Japanese commander at the

Battle of Finschhafen The Battle of Finschhafen was part of the Huon Peninsula campaign in New Guinea during World War II and was fought between Australian and Japanese forces. The fighting took place between 22 September and 24 October 1943 following the landing at S ...

between September and October 1943 in the

Huon Peninsula campaign The Huon Peninsula campaign was a series of battles fought in north-eastern Papua New Guinea in 1943–1944 during the Second World War. The campaign formed the initial part of an offensive that the Allies launched in the Pacific in late 1943 ...

. He gathered his forces at

Sattelberg Sattelberg, also spelt ''Satelberg'' ("Saddle Mountain"), is a village on the Huon Peninsula, in Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea. The village is set on a peak about 900 metres (3,000 ft) above sea level,Coulthard-Clark 1998, p. 244. and dom ...

but was forced to retreat after being defeated during the

Battle of Sattelberg The Battle of Sattelberg took place between 17 and 25 November 1943, during the Huon Peninsula campaign of the Second World War. Involving forces from Australia, the United States and Japan, the fighting centred on the Sattelberg mission sta ...

on 25 October 1943. During the

Battle of Hollandia The Battle of Hollandia (code-named Operation Reckless) was an engagement between Allies of World War II and Japanese forces during World War II. The majority of the Allied force was provided by the United States, with the bulk of two United Sta ...

at the end of April 1944, Shigeru Katagiri was killed in combat while en route from

Madang Madang (old German name: ''Friedrich-Wilhelmshafen'') is the capital of Madang Province and is a town with a population of 27,420 (in 2005) on the north coast of Papua New Guinea. It was first settled by the Germans in the 19th century. Histor ...

Wewak Wewak is the capital of the East Sepik province of Papua New Guinea. It is on the northern coast of the island of New Guinea. It is the largest town between Madang and Jayapura. It is the see city (seat) of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Wewak. Hi ...

. He was replaced by Major General Masutaro Nakai, who was promoted to lieutenant general in April 1945. The surviving forces of the Nakai Detachment of the ''20th division'' held out against the Australian Army in the

Finisterre Range campaign The Markham Valley, Ramu Valley and Finisterre Range campaigns were a series of battles within the broader New Guinea campaign of World War II. The campaigns began with an Allied offensive in the Ramu Valley, from 19 September 1943, and conclud ...

and other combat operations in New Guinea until the end of the war. Of the approximately 25,000 men in the 20th Division, only 1,711 survived the war. More men died in New Guinea from

and

malnutrition Malnutrition occurs when an organism gets too few or too many nutrients, resulting in health problems. Specifically, it is "a deficiency, excess, or imbalance of energy, protein and other nutrients" which adversely affects the body's tissues a ...

than from combat with the Americans or Australians.

Notes

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20師団 (日本軍), accessed 7 March 2016 {{DEFAULTSORT:20th Division (Imperial Japanese Army) Japanese World War II divisions Infantry divisions of Japan Military units and formations established in 1915 Military units and formations disestablished in 1945 1915 establishments in Japan 1945 disestablishments in Japan

Formation

Action

See also

Notes

References