swords into battle. Some were treasured antiques handed down through generations; others were mass-produced weapons of poor quality. One squad in each platoon was equipped with the Type 89 grenade discharger, which could fire a fragmentation grenade or a high-explosive shell weighing about 2lb. The platoon’s offensive power went some way to compensate for the lack of a mortar platoon at battalion level, as was common practice in most armies.
Each regiment had an integral gun company with two sections, each with two 75mm guns, and an anti-tank gun company of six 37mm or 47mm guns. Each division would normally have one regiment of field artillery, one of engineers, a transport regiment, a signals unit and a medical unit; however, divisional structure varied widely depending on location and the nature of the formation. A division with horse transport required a lot more manpower so, for example, with strength of 22,000 men, 18th Division was almost half as large again as 5th Division with 15,000.
A RISAKA
The Arisaka was the standard rifle of the Imperial Japanese Army throughout the war, though in practice a large number of its predecessor, the Type 38, remained in use because Japanese industry could not meet the demands of the army. The Arisaka took a 7.7mm cartridge and had a five-round box magazine. Introduced in 1939, the Arisaka was, overall, a good-quality weapon, though neither as sturdy nor as accurate as the Allied Lee-Enfield and with only half the magazine capacity; the quality of production also declined after 1942. Over 3 million Arisakas were made; many saw service with Indonesian nationalists after the war.
23. Riflemen with the Arisaka rifle.
J APANESE P ISTOLS
The Japanese Army adopted only one revolver, the model 26. It was a double-action, 9mm, six-shot weapon based largely on Smith and Wesson designs of the late nineteenth century. The most common automatic pistol was the Type 14 Nambu, which fired a low-velocity 8mm round. Neither model was especially popular and, since Japanese officers were obliged to provide their own side arms, many of them chose to purchase foreign models privately or to acquire them on the battlefield. The Nambu was quite accurate, but was prone to jamming. Something in the region of 200,000 Nambus were produced between 1906 and the end of the war in 1945.
A divisional field artillery regiment would usually have one howitzer and two field-gun batteries. The gun battalions consisted of three batteries each with three sections of two 75mm pieces, a total of eighteen guns. The howitzer regiment would normally have four batteries each with two sections of two 105mm weapons, a total of sixteen.
Estimates of the number of tanks available to the Twenty-Fifth Army run as high as a little over 300. The British Official History gives figures of 70 medium and 100 light tanks but makes no mention of armoured cars at all, though some were certainly in use with reconnaissance units. The Japanese never really developed an armoured doctrine as such and the normal practice was to deploy tanks as infantry support. Since they encounteredvery little in the way of enemy tanks in China and none at all in Malaya, Japanese armoured units enjoyed great success and carried out some daring and devastating forays penetrating positions, seizing bridges before they could be demolished and overrunning columns of Allied transport or artillery units that were still limbered up. Bicycles – either army issue or seized from civilians – were used in great number and to great effect. As tyres wore out, they were discarded and the troops cycled on the bare rims of the wheels. On at least one occasion the grinding, rattling mechanical noise generated was mistaken by Allied troops for tanks.
K NEE M ORTARS
The Type 89 Grenade Discharger was widely known as the ‘knee mortar’ by Allied troops throughout the Asia and Pacific theatres, from the widely held belief that the weapon could be fired when braced
Each regiment had an integral gun company with two sections, each with two 75mm guns, and an anti-tank gun company of six 37mm or 47mm guns. Each division would normally have one regiment of field artillery, one of engineers, a transport regiment, a signals unit and a medical unit; however, divisional structure varied widely depending on location and the nature of the formation. A division with horse transport required a lot more manpower so, for example, with strength of 22,000 men, 18th Division was almost half as large again as 5th Division with 15,000.
A RISAKA
The Arisaka was the standard rifle of the Imperial Japanese Army throughout the war, though in practice a large number of its predecessor, the Type 38, remained in use because Japanese industry could not meet the demands of the army. The Arisaka took a 7.7mm cartridge and had a five-round box magazine. Introduced in 1939, the Arisaka was, overall, a good-quality weapon, though neither as sturdy nor as accurate as the Allied Lee-Enfield and with only half the magazine capacity; the quality of production also declined after 1942. Over 3 million Arisakas were made; many saw service with Indonesian nationalists after the war.
23. Riflemen with the Arisaka rifle.
J APANESE P ISTOLS
The Japanese Army adopted only one revolver, the model 26. It was a double-action, 9mm, six-shot weapon based largely on Smith and Wesson designs of the late nineteenth century. The most common automatic pistol was the Type 14 Nambu, which fired a low-velocity 8mm round. Neither model was especially popular and, since Japanese officers were obliged to provide their own side arms, many of them chose to purchase foreign models privately or to acquire them on the battlefield. The Nambu was quite accurate, but was prone to jamming. Something in the region of 200,000 Nambus were produced between 1906 and the end of the war in 1945.
A divisional field artillery regiment would usually have one howitzer and two field-gun batteries. The gun battalions consisted of three batteries each with three sections of two 75mm pieces, a total of eighteen guns. The howitzer regiment would normally have four batteries each with two sections of two 105mm weapons, a total of sixteen.
Estimates of the number of tanks available to the Twenty-Fifth Army run as high as a little over 300. The British Official History gives figures of 70 medium and 100 light tanks but makes no mention of armoured cars at all, though some were certainly in use with reconnaissance units. The Japanese never really developed an armoured doctrine as such and the normal practice was to deploy tanks as infantry support. Since they encounteredvery little in the way of enemy tanks in China and none at all in Malaya, Japanese armoured units enjoyed great success and carried out some daring and devastating forays penetrating positions, seizing bridges before they could be demolished and overrunning columns of Allied transport or artillery units that were still limbered up. Bicycles – either army issue or seized from civilians – were used in great number and to great effect. As tyres wore out, they were discarded and the troops cycled on the bare rims of the wheels. On at least one occasion the grinding, rattling mechanical noise generated was mistaken by Allied troops for tanks.
K NEE M ORTARS
The Type 89 Grenade Discharger was widely known as the ‘knee mortar’ by Allied troops throughout the Asia and Pacific theatres, from the widely held belief that the weapon could be fired when braced
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