The
Imperial Japanese Army (IJA)
40th Division was raised as a
triangular division 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 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 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 to
Guangji along the banks of the
Yangtze River, then the
Xianning city in
Hubei area. It was involved in combat during the
Battle of Zaoyang-Yichang from 1 May 1940,
Central Hubei Operation in November 1940, and the
Battle of South Henan from February 1941. The fighting continued in the
Second Battle of Changsha in September 1941 and
Third Battle of Changsha 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. 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) in ill-fated
Battle of Kohima. The lost regiment was never replaced. From April 1944, it was assigned to
Operation Ichi-go, reaching
Yiyang 10 June 1944, and stopping in coastal
Haojiang District 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. Afterwards, it came under the command of the
Twenty-Third Army and stationed in the
Guangdong-
Macau area to counter anticipated landings by Allied forces. However, as American forces invaded
Okinawa in April 1945, the 40th Division received orders to withdraw from
Guangdong to
Shanghai. En route, while in
Nanchang,
Jiangxi province, the war came to an end. The 40th Division's final orders were to withdraw from Nanchang to
Nanjing, where it was demobilized, and its surviving troops were returned to
Sasebo, Japan by May 1946. ==See also==