11th Division (Imperial Japanese Army) - History

History

The 11th Division was created on 1 October 1898, as one of the six new reserve divisions formed after the First Sino-Japanese War. It consisted of troops from the four prefectures of Shikoku. During the Russo-Japanese War, this new division was assigned to General Nogi Maresuke's IJA 3rd Army, and thus saw considerable combat (and casualties) at the bloody Siege of Port Arthur. It was later renamed IJA 5th Army and commanded under General Kawamura Kageaki at the Battle of Mukden, where it played a significant role in securing the Japanese victory. It remained stationed in Manchuria after the Russo-Japanese War, and participated in the Siberian Intervention.

Although the 11th Division was one of the three Japanese Divisions during the First Shanghai Incident of January–March 1932, this division spent most of the Second Sino-Japanese War on garrison duty in Manchukuo. In 1938, the 22nd Infantry Regiment was removed, and transformed into the 24th Division. In 1942, a portion of the 11th Division's strength was sent to reinforce the IJA 1st Division prior to its deployment to the Philippines, and due in part to a newly created 10th Independent Infantry Brigade, which was annihilated at the Battle of Guam (1944).

In April 1945, the surviving portions of the 11th Division were transferred back to Shikoku, and disbanded with the Japanese surrender at the end of the Pacific War.

Some noteworthy Commanders of the 11th Division included Nogi Maresuke, Tsuchiya Mitsuharu, Samejima Shigeo, Yoshinori Shirakawa, Iwane Matsui, Hayao Tada and Mitsuru Ushijima.