As the American drive across the Pacific neared Japan, additional Japanese Army units were withdrawn from garrison duty in China and Manchuria for action in the Pacific. As with the other newly reorganized infantry divisions, the emphasis was on organizing these new formations to serve on the defensive. For many of these formations, their components had been reorganized from Infantry Regiments to Independent Infantry Battalions, with the goal being to better their ability to serve as self contained garrison units. The diversion of these formations to the front resulted a number of the old two brigade Infantry Divisions taking to the field. Divisions organized in this manner included the following: 58, 59, 60, 62, 63, 64, 65, 68, 69, 70, 91, 100, 102, 103, 105, 109, 14, and 117. TROOP QUALITY: Experienced MORALE: 10 DIVISIONAL HEADQUARTERS 1 Command Stand 1 Command Radio Truck 1 Car 1 Recon Infantry Stand 2 INFANTRY BRIGADES, each with: INFANTRY BRIGADE HEADQUARTERS, with: 1 Command Stand 2 to 5 INDEPENDENT INFANTRY BATTALIONS each with: BATTALION HEADQUARTERS, with: 1 Command Stand 1 INFANTRY GUN COMPANY, with: 1 70/75mm IG 1 Gun Crew Stand (DS) 1 Limber 1 MACHINE GUN COMPANY, with: 2 MMG Stands 3-5 INFANTRY COMPANIES, each with: 1 Command Stand 3 Infantry Stands 1 Weapons Stand DIVISIONAL ENGINEER BATTALION: BATTALION HEADQUARTERS, with 1 Command Stand 2 ENGINEER COMPANIES, each with: 1 Command Stand 3 Engineer Stands NOTES 1. The Infantry Brigades could have as many as 5 Independent Infantry Battalions under command, or as few as 2. 2. The Independent Infantry Battalions could have as many as five infantry companies, or as few as three. It was possible for Independent Infantry Battalions serving in the same brigade to have different numbers of infantry companies. Back to Table of Contents -- Command Post Newsletter WWII Japanese Army Supplement To Command Post Quarterly List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1991 by Greg Novak. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com