201st Division (Imperial Japanese Army)

IJA 201st Division (第201師団, Hohei Dai Nihyaku Ichi Shidan^?) was an infantry division in the Imperial Japanese Army. Its call sign was the Musashi Division (武蔵兵団, Musashi Heidan^?).

History

The 201st Division was one of eight emergency territorial reserve divisions created on 2 April 1945 to defend the Japanese home islands against the projected invasion by Allied forces in the final stages of the Pacific War.

The 201st Division was raised in Tokyo with its headquarters in Kunitachi. It came under the control of the Japanese 36th Army. As with the other emergency divisions raised at the time, it contained many over-age reservists, under-age students, and men previously rejected from conscription for a variety of medical conditions. It was lightly armed, mostly with obsolete weapons from World War I or even Russo-Japanese War stockpiles, and had minimal training. It was dissolved at the end of the war without having seen combat.

Organization

The 201st Division was organized as a triangular division.

201st Division -

• 201st Infantry Brigade group:
  • 501st Infantry regiment (Tokyo)
  • 502nd Infantry regiment (Kofu)
  • 503rd Infantry regiment (Sakura)
  • 202st Field artillery regiment

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