79th Division (Imperial Japanese Army)

The 79th Division (第79師団, Dai-nanajūkyū Shidan) was an infantry division in the Imperial Japanese Army. Its call sign was the Play Division (奏兵団, So Heidan).It was created 6 February 1945 in Ranam-guyok and disbanded at Tumen, Jilin in September 1945. It was a triangular division. The men of the division were drafted through Ranam-guyok Korean mobilization district, although the divisional backbone was the men from 19th and 20th divisions.

Action

The 79th division was assigned to the Kwantung Army 30 May 1945^[3] and then to 3rd army and given a defensive sector at Tumen, Jilin in July 1945. At the end of July 1945, 1000 men were transferred to the newly formed 139th division.^[4]

The 79th division was estimated to be 55% combat affective by August 1945, making it the best unit available to the 3rd army.^[5]During the Soviet invasion of Manchuria, the 3rd battalion of the 291st infantry regiment have suffered a severe losses, but the hostilities ceased before the 79th division was seriously hit.

References and further reading

• List of Japanese Infantry Divisions
• Madej, W. Victor. Japanese Armed Forces Order of Battle, 1937-1945 [2 vols] Allentown, PA: 1981

This article incorporates material from the article 第79師団 (日本軍) in the Japanese Wikipedia, retrieved on 20 June 2015.