History
The 33rd Division was raised in Utsunomiya, Tochigi prefecture, but its headquarters was in Sendai. It was raised from conscripts largely from the northern Kantō prefecturers of Tochigi, Ibaraki and Gunma. Initially assigned to the Japanese 11th Army in central China, it saw combat at the First Battle of Changsha. It was transferred to the Japanese 15th Army on 6 November 1941, and took part in the invasion of British Burma, under Lieutenant General Shozo Sakurai. It suffered a severe defeat at the Battle of Yenangyaung. Afterwards, it was one of the key divisions in the Battle of Imphal, at which it was all but annihilated as a front-line combat force.
Read more about this topic: 33rd Division (Imperial Japanese Army)
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