32nd Division ( Imperial Japanese Army ) The Imperial Japanese Army ' s was an infantry division during World War II . The division was raised in February 1939 and was stationed in China from May 1939 . In April 1944 it was deployed to Halmahera in the Netherlands East Indies ( NEI ) and surrendered to the US Army in August 1945 . History . The 32nd Division was activated at Tokyo in February 1939 . Its main subunits were the 210th , 211th and 212th infantry regiment s , the 32nd Field Artillery Regiment , 32nd Engineer Regiment , 32nd Division Signal Unit , 32nd Transport Regiment and 32nd Medical Unit . The division also included the 32nd Infantry Group Tankette Company when it was formed , but this was later removed . The division left Japan in May 1939 to participate in the Second Sino - Japanese War . It arrived in southeast Shantung in June and saw action in Japanese operations there . The division later moved to Tsinan in north China where it remained until it departed for Mindanao in April 1944 . The 32nd Division suffered heavy losses from United States Navy submarine attacks during its voyage from China in the Take Ichi convoy . On 26 April almost all the men one of the division ' s regiments were lost when their transport ship was sunk north west of Luzon . The convoy carrying the division put in at Manila between 29 April and 1 May where its destination was changed to Halmahera . The convoy carrying the division was attacked by US submarines near the northeastern tip of Celebes on 6 May . This and the previous attack reduced the division ' s strength to just five infantry battalion s and one and a half artillery battalions . The surviving transports arrived at Halmahera on 9 May . The division saw action against the United States Army during the Battle of Morotai from September 1944 until the end of the war . Two battalions of the 211th Infantry Regiment were sent to Morotai , which was only a short distance from Halmahera , to develop an airfield in May 1944 , but these were withdrawn in July when the airfield was abandoned due to drainage problems . This left Morotai only lightly defended when a large Allied force landed there on 15 September , and the Allies were able to quickly secure their objectives in the island ' s south west . Elements of the 32nd Division , including the 3rd Battalion of the 210th Infantry Regiment and the entire 211th Infantry Regiment , were transported to Morotai through a US Navy blockade between September and November in an attempt to attack the Allied base which was being developed on the island . The division was not able to launch this attack , however , as sufficient supplies couldn ' t be brought through the US blockade . As a result , the Japanese troops on Morotai retreated to the center of the island where many died from disease and starvation . The 32nd Division continued to fight against the US forces on Morotai until the end of the war . In December 1944 the US 136th Infantry Regiment launched an offensive against the 211th Regiment ' s positions on Morotai . The US force assaulted the main Japanese positions on 3 January 1945 , capturing them two days later . Following this the Americans pursued the remnants of the 211th Regiment until 14 January , but which time they claimed to have killed 870 Japanese soldiers and captured ten for a loss of 46 killed and 127 wounded and injured . The US 93rd Infantry Division launched a further offensive against the Japanese on Morotai in April 1945 and captured the 211th Regiment ' s commander on 6 August . Following the end of the war , the remnants of the 32nd Division on Morotai and Halmahera surrendered to the 93rd Infantry Division on 26 August 1945 .