The 32nd Division was subordinated to the 12th Army and transferred to China in May 1939 to participate in the Second Sino-Japanese War, initially posted to Shanxi.
[1] 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 1944, almost all the men of one of the division's regiments were lost when their transport ship was sunk north west of Luzon.
[2] The division saw action against the United States Army during the Battle of Morotai from September 1944 until the end of the war.
[7] 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.