9th Division (Imperial Japanese Army)

The 9th Division (第9師団) was an infantry division in the Imperial Japanese Army. Its call sign was the Warrior Division (武兵団).

History
The 9th Division was formed on 1 October 1898, as a reserve division after the First Sino-Japanese War in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture. It consisted of troops primarily from the Hokuriku region of Japan, mostly from the prefectures of Ishikawa, Toyama and Fukui.

Under the command of General Oshima Hisao, it joined General Nogi Maresuke's Japanese Third Army at the Siege of Port Arthur in the Russo-Japanese War, where it took massive casualties. Survivors were further mauled at the subsequent Battle of Mukden.

After the Russo-Japanese War, it was assigned to garrison duty in Korea, and elements of the 9th Division participated in the Siberian Intervention.

In January 1932, it participated in the first Shandong Intervention, and from 1935 it was stationed in Manchuria. Elements of the 9th Division were at the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, and the Division subsequently saw combat at the Battle of Shanghai.

The 9th Division was at the Battle of Nanjing, and has been accused of participation in the subsequent Nanjing Massacre. After Nanjing, the 9th Division was in the Battle of Xuzhou before being ordered back to Japan in June 1939. From 1940-1943, the 9th Division was assigned to the Manchukuo garrison under the control of Kwantung Army. After 1943, it was reassigned to the Japanese Thirty Second Army based in Okinawa, where it formed part of the Taiwan garrison. As a result, it was almost completely destroyed along with the rest of the 32nd during the Battle of Okinawa.

Organization
The Order of Battle of the 9th Division included:
 * 6th Infantry Regiment (Nagoya)
 * 7th Infantry Regiment (Kanazawa)
 * 19th Infantry Regiment (Tsuruga)
 * 35th Infantry Regiment (Toyama)

Reference and further reading
Allentown, PA: 1981
 * Madej, W. Victor. Japanese Armed Forces Order of Battle, 1937-1945 [2 vols]