70th Division (Imperial Japanese Army)


The 70th Division was an infantry division in the Imperial Japanese Army. It was created on February 2, 1942 by blending a detachment from 20th Independent Mixed Brigade to 62nd infantry brigade in Ningbo, simultaneously with the 68th and 69th divisions. Being the counter-insurgency division it has a backbone composed of independent infantry battalions and lacked an artillery force. The men of the division were drafted through 5th military district, located in Hiroshima Prefecture.

Action

After completing a training, the division was assigned to the 13th army and sent to Shanghai area in April 1942 to take a part in Zhejiang-Jiangxi campaign. From May 1942, the division operated in Guangde County, Quzhou, Lishui, Wenzhou and other prefectures. A large reinforcement for the 70th division has sailed from Karatsu 25 May 1942, and arrived to Shanghai 28 May 1942. Later it taken a defensive positions in the direction of Jiaxing. It was subordinated to the Kwantung Army as part of 6th army, and ordered to go to Manchuria during the Soviet invasion of Manchuria in August 1945.