16th Division (Imperial Japanese Army)

16th Division
IJA 16th Division HQ in Kyoto
Active	1905 - 1945
Country	Empire of Japan
Branch	Imperial Japanese Army
Type	Infantry
Size	25,000 men
Garrison/HQ	Kyoto
Nickname(s)	Wall Division
Engagements	Russo-Japanese War Second Sino-Japanese War Pacific War
Commanders
Current commander	Prince Nashimoto (Morimasa) Minami Jiro Kanji Ishiwara Shiro Makino

The16th Division(Đệ 16 sư đoàn,Dai Jūroku Shidan)was aninfantry divisionin theImperial Japanese Army.Itstsūshōgōcode namewas theWall Division(Viên binh đoàn,Kaki Heidan),and its military symbol was 16D. The 16th Division was one of four new infantry divisions raised by the Imperial Japanese Army in the closing stages of the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905). With Japan's limited resources towards the end of that conflict, the entire IJA was committed to combat in Manchuria, leaving not a single division to guard the Japanese home islands from attack. The16th Divisionwas initially raised from men in the area surrounding Kyoto 18 July 1905 under the command of Lieutenant GeneralYamanaka Nobuyoshi.

Action

The 16th Division was immediately deployed to Manchuria, but the peace process was already underway since 6 August 1905, culminating with the signing of theTreaty of Portsmouthon 5 September 1905. As a consequence, the16th divisioncould not see any combat.

On 28 March 1907 the divisional headquarters was established in what is now the city ofTakaishi, Osaka,but was relocated to Kyoto 30 October 1908. The divisions were sent thrice to Manchuria to perform a garrison duties - in 1919, 1929 and 1934.

While in Kyoto, the division was called upon to provide emergency relief efforts during massive flooding of theKamo River28 June 1935. For the three days, sappers from the division helped shore up dikes and construct temporary bridges, while over a thousand men assisted with traffic control and rescue efforts at the request of the Kyoto city government.

In July 1937, open hostilities broke out againstChinaand theSecond Sino-Japanese Warcommenced. The 16th Division, under the command of Lieutenant GeneralKesago Nakajima,was assigned to theSecond Army,as part of theNorthern China Area Army.The division participated in theSecond Shanghai Incident(August–November 1937),Beiping–Hankou Railway Operation(August–December 1937),theBattle of Nanjing(December 1937), theBattle of Xuzhou(January 1938) and theBattle of Wuhan(July–October 1938). It was thus one of the Japanese military units implicated in theNanjing Massacre.In December 1938, the16th divisionwas incorporated into the11th army.

The division was demobilized and returned to Japan in August 1939. At that time, the division was re-organized into atriangular division,with the 38th Infantry Regiment transferred to become the core of the newly formed29th Division.The reformed16th divisionwas mobilized and permanently re-located toManchukuoin July 1940.

The 16th Division was assigned to the14th Area Army6 November 1941 and participated in thePhilippines campaign (1941–1942).Later it was based inManilaas a garrison force.

However, as the war situation deteriorated in August 1944, theImperial General Headquartersordered the 16th Division toLeyte Islandas part of the35th Armyfor a final decisive stand againstAllied forces.22 October 1944, the divisional headquarters were placed inDagami,which contributed to the difficulty controlling troops inKananga-Jaro-Tanauan-Tabontabon-Catmon hill in Tolosa-Julita-Burauensemi-circular defence perimeter.The initial US attack onTabontabonwas repulsed 25 October 1944, butTabontabonpositions were lost 28 October 1944, followed by outlying stronghold ofCatmon hill in Tolosa29 October 1944. As the result of theTabontabonbreakthrough, the northern part of the Japanese positions inJarowas cut off and annihilated 29 October 1944, followed by Rizal inKanangaandDagamiitself falling to US forces 30 October 1944. Disorganized and cut off survivors of the division have gathered together in a single battalion (about 500 men) by 2 December 1944 in a mountains southwest ofDagami.That battalion has led theBattle of the Airfields6 December 1944, an attack on abandoned US airstrips on Leyte east coast, which failed after some initial successes 9 December 1944. After the capture of theOrmocby US77th division10 December 1944, the survivors of the16th division(about 200 men at this point) were ordered to disengage and retreat westward.16th divisioncommander, Lieutenant GeneralShiro Makino,was ordered to control all of the Japanese forces remaining onLeyteafter 17 March 1945,and committed suicide during the battle, 10 August 1945. Of the approximately 13,000 men in the 16th Division, only 620 survived theBattle of Leyte.

Post-war use

The building today exists asKyoto Seibo Gakuin High Schoolas a private high school founded in 1949 in the current site.It served as a model for the school named "Usagiyama High School" in the 2013 anime television seriesTamako Market.

See also

• List of Japanese Infantry Divisions

Reference and further reading

• Madej, W. Victor.Japanese Armed Forces Order of Battle, 1937-1945[2 vols] Allentown, PA: 1981
• Yamamoto, Masahiro. Nanking: Anatomy of an Atrocity. Greenwood Publishing, (2000)ISBN0275969045
• Rottman, Gordon. Japanese Army in World War II: Conquest of the Pacific 1941-42. Osprey Publishing (2005)ISBN1841767891
• Cannon, M. Hamlin. War in the Pacific: Leyte, Return to the Philippines. Government Printing Office (1954) LOC 53-61979
• This article incorporates material from the Japanese Wikipedia pageĐệ 16 sư đoàn ( Nhật Bản quân ),accessed 3 March 2016