86th Division (Imperial Japanese Army) explained

Unit Name:	86th Division
Native Name:	第86師団
Country:	Empire of Japan
Dates:	1944 - 1945
Branch:	Imperial Japanese Army
Type:	Infantry
Nickname:	Pile division
Battles:	none

86th Division
Date:	1945
Parent:	57th army
Subordinate:	187. Infantry regiment # 187 (Fukuoka) 188. Infantry regiment (Ōmura) 189. Infantry regiment (Kurume) 86. Field artillery regiment 86. Engineer regiment 86. Transport regiment 86. Automatic cannon company 86. Signals company 86. Chemical warfare company 86. Ordnance company 86. Sanitation company 86/1. Field hospital 86/1. Field hospital 86. Veterinary office

The was an infantry division in the Imperial Japanese Army. Its call sign was the . It was created 4 April 1944 in Kurume, simultaneously with the 44th and 81st divisions. It was a triangular division. The divisional backbone was the 56th division headquarters.

Action

The 86th division was assigned to the Western District Army upon formation,^[1] and garrisoned Miyakonojō. It was transferred to 57th army and tasked with the coastal defense of Shibushi, Kagoshima a year later, 8 April 1945.^[2] Because Operation Downfall was never implemented, the 86th division has spent time until surrender of Japan 15 August 1945 fortifying positions without seeing an actual combat.

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86師団 (日本軍) in the Japanese Wikipedia, retrieved on 21 June 2016.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Japanese Homeland Ground Forces 1 January 1945 . 21 June 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160813044046/http://www.cgsc.edu/CARL/nafziger/945PAAI.pdf . 13 August 2016 . dead . dmy-all .
2. Web site: Japanese 16th Army Homeland Defense Late May 1945 . 2016-06-21 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160806172751/http://www.cgsc.edu/CARL/nafziger/945PEAE.pdf . 2016-08-06 . dead .