Showing posts with label Imperial Japanese Army. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Imperial Japanese Army. Show all posts

Saturday, December 14, 2024

Japanese Artillery. National Museum of Military Vehicles.


Japanese weapons receive much less attention that those of other armies, in part because their ground weapons tended to be obsolescent or odd.  Artillery is no exception.


A lot of Japanese weapons tended to reflect an earlier era, sometimes only slightly so, and sometimes greatly, than that of the 1940s.  Japan tended to adopt a weapon, of a copy of a good Western design, and stick with it for a long time, savor for naval and air weapons, where they were advancing all the time.  In terms of artillery, much of it was light and antiquated.


It's notable here that of the Japanese guns depicted, most still retain wagon wheel type wheels.





Last edition:

Friday, December 6, 2024

Wednesday, December 6, 1944. Japanese paratroopers on Leyte.

The Japanese conducted an airborne landing on Leyte, combined with a ground infantry offensive.

The UK began to return displaced British to their homes, save for areas subject to V-weapon attacks.

Germany began stripping the Netherlands of locomotives and sending them to Germany. They were electric trains.

The RAF conducted strafing runs on communist positions in Greece.

The U-297 was sunk by the RAF.  The HMS Bullen was sunk by the U-775

Heinkel He 162 Volksjäger had its first flight.

Heinkel HE 162, National Museum of Military Vehicles, Dubois Wyoming.

A very late war German fighter, only 120 were made.

Stalin met with General de Gaulle in Moscow.

Last edition:

Tuesday, December 5, 1944. The Royal Navy in the Greek Civil War.

Monday, December 2, 2024

Saturday, December 2, 1944. Advances in Europe, the Army Navy Game, Eiji Sawamura(沢村栄治).

The 7th Army reached the Rhine.  The 3d Army reached Saarlautern.  The 9th Army took Leiffarth and Roerdorf.

Army won the Army Navy Game.  The crowed of 66,659 included 30,000 members of the general public who were admitted on the condition of living within 8.3 miles of the game in Baltimore and buying a $25.00 war bond.

Twenty Seven year old professional Japanese baseball player Eiji Sawamura(沢村栄治)was killed when a troopship he was on was sunk on this day in 1944.  He'd been drafted into the Japanese Army in 1939, but released each season to play baseball.

Last edition:

Wednesday, November 29, 1944. Prisoner Exchange.

Monday, November 25, 2024

Saturday, November 25, 1944. Heavy resistance on Leyte, V2 attack in London.

Two V-2 rockets hit London, resulting in 174 deaths in a rocketry terror attack.

Much like what the Russians are doing to Ukraine now.

Destroyed German Panthers in France, November 25, 1944.  Contrary to the common myth, armor attrition in World War Two was horrific, just like it is today.

Japanese defenses arrested US progress on Leyte.  Japanese resistance had been consistently very stiff.

The British crossed the Cosina River in Italy.

Soldiers of a reconstituted Dutch Army training, November 25, 1944. They're armed with US M1917 Enfield rifles, and wearing US M1 helmets.  Their uniforms suggest obsolescent patterns of the US Army.

Kenesaw Mountain Landis died at age 78.  He was the first Commissioner of Baseball, having been appointed to that position in 1920, and still occupied it at the time of his death.

Last edition:

Today in World War II History—November 24, 1939 & 1944 (Friday November 24, 1944). Terrace Mutiny,

Sunday, November 10, 2024

Friday, November 10, 1944. The Explosion of the Mount Hood.

The USS Mount Hood, an ammunition ship, exploded at Seeadler Harbor at Manus Island in Papua New Guinea, killing all on board and damaging 22 other ships.

Imperial Japanese forces took U.S. airfields in China as part of Operation Ichi-Go.  The Japanese were gaining ground in China.

The Germans rounded up over 50,000 Dutch me in Rotterdam as slave labor, and effectively as hostages.

"Sgt. Sam S. McNealy, Morgantown, N.C., stands watch by his machine gun during the first snowfall of the year in this sector of the western front. 1st Army, Monschau, Germany. 10 November, 1944."

Last edition:

Thursday, November 9, 1944. Sorge meets his end.

Today in World War II History—November 10, 1939 & 1944

Today in World War II History—November 10, 1939 & 1944: 80 Years Ago—Nov. 10, 1944: Japanese take US Fourteenth Air Force air bases at Kweilin and Liuchow in their drive through southern China.

Saturday, November 9, 2024

Thursday, November 9, 1944. Sorge meets his end.

The Japanese hanged Soviet master spy Richard Sorge, one of the most effective, if perhaps ignored, spies of all time.

Sorge's passport in Japan, noting his cover as a journalist.


The 3d Army crossed the Moselle near Metz.

The 8th Army captured Forli.

The Japanese landed 2,000 reinforcements on Leyte.

Last edition:

Wednesday, November 8, 1944. Mystery of explosions resolved. Canadians prevail on the Scheldt.

Saturday, October 5, 2024

Thursday, October 5, 1944. Fuzhou and Memel.

The Japanese captured Fuzhou, the last seaport China had controlled.

The Battle of Memel commenced.

German reduced civilian food rations.

An ME 262 was shot down for the first time in combat. The RCAF scored the victory.

Last edition:

Wednesday, October 4, 1944. Scorched Earth.


Saturday, September 7, 2024

Thursday, September 7, 1944. Hungary declares war on Romania. The Chinese Army prevails at The Battle of Mount Song (松山戰役), The Shin'yō Maru incident.

Hungary declared war on Romania and invaded southern Transylvania.

Vichy's government relocated to Sigmaringen Castle in Germany.

The Japanese cargo ship SS Shin'yō Maru was torpedoed and sunk in the USS Paddle.  The ship was carrying US POWs.  688 out of 750 died.

The Battle of Mount Song (松山戰役) saw the Nationalist Chinese Army prevail, resulting in the reopening of the Burma Road.


The understrength Japanese unit had held the area for three months.

Last edition:

Wednesday, September 6, 1944. Closing in and winding down. . .

Saturday, August 17, 2024

Thursday, August 17, 1944. And on this day too, 30 years later, the Red Army entered East Prussia.

The Red Army crossed the River Scheshule and raised the Soviet flag on German soil. Sgt. Alexander Belov took the honors.  He survived the war and died in 1960.   

Interestingly, the Red Army entered East Prussia on the same day that the Imperial Russian Army had during World War One.

German forces in Lithuania launched counterattacks along their entire line.

Statue of St. Joan d'Arc in Orleans, August 17, 1944.

The Canadian Army took Falaise.  The city was in ruins.  A gap of a few miles exists thereafter between the British lines and the American ones.

The US Third Army took Saint-Malo.

In Southern France, almost no resistance to Allied advances is offered and the US captured St. Raphael, St. Tropez, Frejus, Le Luq and St. Maxime.

Third Infantry Division troops advancing on  August 17, 1944, in southern France.  Troops are wearing the new M1943 combat boots.

Hitler dismissed Field Marshal Kluge as commander of Army Group B and replaced him with Model.

The Battle of Biak, which had been going on since May 27, ended in an Allied victory.  American forces advanced near Aitape.  The length of these battles gives testament to how hard the Japanese were fighting.

Last edition:

Wednesday, August 16, 1944. Closing the Falaise Pocket.

Thursday, August 8, 2024

Tuesday, August 8, 1944. Hengyang falls, Wittmann killed, Falaise noticed.

The Japanese took Hengyang, China.  The vastly outnumbered Chinese forces had held out for six weeks.


German panzer ace SS-Hauptsturmführer Michael Wittmann was killed when his tank was hit by fire from a Canadian tank and the ammunition within it detonated, killing the entire crew.

The British buried the bodies of the tankers in unmarked graves at the location, which is not surprising as the crew would have been just another group of dead Germans to them.  In 1983, German authorities recovered the bodies and reburied them in a German military cemetery in France.

Wittmann had cult status within Nazi Germany and has since retained it with German armor fans.  He died during Operation Totalize which was seeing large-scale success.

The possible encirclement of the German forces as a possibility began to be noticed by Omar Bradley, with Falaise already noticed as a focal point.  Bradley brought it to Eisenhower's attention on this day.

Greek partisans attacked German forces, with the aid of the SAS, aat Damasta in Crete. Predictably, the action resulted in severe German reprisals.

The United States and United Kingdom signed the Anglo-American Petroleum Agreement in Washington, D.C.  The agreement, which would have regulated the petroleum industry globally, fell apart and was never ratified by the U.S. government due to petroleum industry opposition.

The HMCS Regina was sunk north of Trevose Head by the U-667.

The somewhat bizarre Ju 287 jet bomber made its first flight.


Only two would be made and the project was then cancelled.

Last edition:

Monday, August 7, 1944. German counter attack.

Monday, July 29, 2024

Saturday, July 29, 1944. Guam, Tinian, Aitape and Normandy.

Today in World War II History—July 29, 1944 On Guam, US Marines clear Orote Peninsula and take Orote Airfield.

Japanese resistance was increasing on Tinian, with the US now in control of half of the island.

The last Japanese resistance was eliminated on Biak, while U.S. forces pulled back at Afua near Aitape due to effective Japanese attacks.

The U.S. 1st Army advanced everywhere in Operation Cobra.

Last edition:

Friday, July 28, 1944. The U.S. Army advances in Normandy.

Thursday, July 18, 2024

Tuesday, July 18, 1944. Tojo out.

British armor, July 18, 1944.

Hideki Tojo was removed premier of Japan and resigned as Chief of Staff of the Army.

Gen. Kuniaki Koiso and Adm. Yonai were chosen to form a new cabinet.  Gen. Umezu became the Army Chief of Staff.

The Red Army launched the Lublin-Brest Offensive.


The British launched Operation Goodwood to expand out from Caen, making costly advances.  The action has, as one of its goals, keeping German forces committed against the British so they do not redeploy against US forces.

The US 19th Corps occupied Saint-Lô.  

The Polish 2nd Corps took Ancona, Italy.

Abandoned German tanks, Italy.

The U-672 was sunk by the HMS Balfour.

Last edition:

Monday, July 17, 1944. The Port Chicago Disaster