15th Division ( Imperial Japanese Army ) The was an infantry division in the Imperial Japanese Army ( IJA ) . Its call sign was the . History . The 15th Division was one of the four divisions raised in the closing stages of the Russo - Japanese War ( 1904 - 1905 ) . With Japan ' s resources strained to the breaking point towards the end of that conflict , the entire Imperial Japanese Army was committed to combat in Manchuria , leaving not a single division to guard the Japanese main islands in case of attack . The 15th Division was raised from men in the Nagoya area , and was originally based in Toyohashi , Aichi prefecture . After the conclusion of the Treaty of Portsmouth , it was dispatched to Korea as a garrison force . It was later one of the divisions disbanded by War Minister Ugaki Kazushige as part of a cost - saving measure during the Kato Takaaki administration . With the outbreak of hostilities against China in the Second Sino - Japanese War , the 15th Division was resurrected in Kyoto on 4 April 1938 and assigned to the central China command . The division was ordered to join the IJA 15th Army in Burma on 17 June 1943 , but was delayed with road - building in Thailand for several months . Arriving in Burma , the division took part in the attack on Imphal , ( Operation U - Go ) along with the IJA 31st and 33rd Divisions . Imphal . Operation U - Go was planned to start in the beginning of March 1944 , but because of 15th Division ' s slow arrival start of the offensive was postponed to 15 March . 15th Division hold the central position of the three attacking divisions and its primary objective was to cut the road between Imphal and Kohima at Kangpokpi . On the map this was the shortest and most direct route towards Imphal , but it had to cross difficult terrain with only poor tracks . Because of the difficult terrain , the division ’ s ordinary artillery was replaced with mountain gun s and the anti - tank equipment was left behind on the assumption that the British would not field tanks due to the difficulty of the terrain . Of the division ’ s nine battalions , one had been detached to the force dealing with the second Chindits operation , and most of 67th Regiment was still in Thailand . Thus 15th Division started the campaign with 6 battalions , 18 guns and a commander , Lieutenant - General Masafumi Yamauchi , mortally ill with tuberculosis . Soon it had to be urged onwards by the commander of 15th Army , Renya Mutaguchi A British force at Sangshak was within 15th Division ’ s operational area , but because of its slow speed , units from 31st Division assaulted this position on 23 March . 60th Regiment arrived soon after , but was not allowed to take part in the final assault 27 March . 15th Division cut the Imphal - Kohima road at Kangpokpi on 3 April . Soon the division occupied Nunshigum Ridge , which overlooked Imphal . From here the Japanese could threaten the headquarters of the IV Corps and also marked the closest they ever came to Imphal . The British counterattack on this ridge included M3 Lee tanks , which came as a shock to the Japanese as they had considered the terrain to be completely impassable to armored vehicles . The tanks proved decisive - although the British suffered heavy losses , the defending Japanese battalion was almost annihilated . Despite this setback Yamauchi continued his encirclement of Imphal from the north . The British commander , Geoffrey Scoones drew the conclusion that the 15th was the weakest link in the Japanese front and ordered Indian 23rd Infantry Division and Indian 5th Infantry Division to destroy it . In the following months the British with their superiority in numbers and almost unstoppable tanks drove the Japanese off one hill after another . In the middle of June the 31st Division began retreating from Kohima after suffering heavy casualties . This left 60th Regiment blocking the Imphal - Kohima road in an impossible situation and the British broke through and reopened the road on 22 June . The next day saw a change in command , with Yamauchi replaced by Lieutenant - General Ryuichi Shibita . On 7 July the division received orders for a last - ditch attack on Palel , but by now it had been shattered as a military formation ; its remnants retreated back across the Chindwin River to safety . Mandalay . After the defeat at Imphal and Allied advances in the North , the Japanese forces in Burma were forced to take up the defense and try to stop the Allies from crossing the Irrawaddy . In January 1945 the 15th Division was , together with the 53rd Division , thrown into the defense of Mandalay . The division had received some reinforcements , but at 4500 men it was still less than half of nominal strength . The opposing unit , Indian 19th Infantry Division , established its first bridgeheads on the eastern side of the Irrawaddy on 14 January and all attempts to dislodge them failed . After a rapid build - up , the British commander , Thomas Wynford Rees ordered his men forward . Brushing aside all opposition , its forward elements were within sight of Mandalay 7 March . 15th Division , now under the command of Major - General Seiei Yamamoto , had received orders to defend the former Burmese capital to the last man . Of the two main positions , the Japanese were driven off Mandalay Hill by 12 March , but the thick walls of Fort Dufferin withstood artillery and air bombardment . On 18 March the division received new orders allowing its withdrawal , which it did through the sewers on the night of 19 March . By this time the Japanese position in Burma had completely collapsed . The survivors of 15th Division ( less than half its original strength of 15 , 000 men ) retreated via the territory of the hostile Karen people and through the Southern Shan States , back into Thailand , where it remained at the time of the 1945 surrender . Organization . The order of battle for the 15th Division included : Allentown , PA : 1981