As I said earlier, different armies have different doctrines and preferences. The Japanese heavy grenade launchers certainly made a big impression on the Chinese during the Sino-Japanese War. This weapon also impressed a distinguished USMC officer Col. Merritt Edson, commanding officer of the 5th Marines. So much so that he said the following:
Quote:
"If I had to train my regiment all over again, I would stress small group training and the training of the individual even more than we did when we were in training.
"There must be training in difficult observation, which is needed for the offense. It is my observation that only 5% of the men can really see while observing.
"The offensive is the most difficult to support, as you cannot tell exactly where your troops are.
"Whether the Japs will continue to fight as they do now, I don't know. They defend on the low ground in the jungle. They dig standing trenches, extremely well camouflaged.
"We need the rifle grenade, or a weapon to fill the gap between hand grenade and the mortar. We need to dig the Nip out of his holes under banyan trees, etc.
"We need the knee mortar badly. The name 'knee mortar' is a misnomer. It is not fired from the knee. One of my men tried this and broke his leg. The following are reasons in its favor:
"1. It is a one-man load.
"2. A man can carry ten rounds on his person besides his weapon.
"3. It has a high rate of fire.
"4. It gives the Platoon Commander a weapon of this type which is immediately available to him.
5. This mortar uses the Jap all-purpose hand grenade-- ranges 50 yards to 650, I believe.
"The Japs have three of these mortars in a mortar squad in each rifle platoon. They have two ammunition carriers per mortar. It can be lowered to a low angle and placed against a log and shot straight out further than a hand grenade.
"I would recommend one change in the projectile. The Japs have too much high explosive in the projectile and the case is too thin. We get a lot of casualties from it, but they are minor wounds.
Fighting on Guadalcanal
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The US adaptor for the Mk I or Mk II fragmentation grenade to be launched from a rifle is certainly an elegant solution. It filled the gap between the hand thrown grenade and the 60mm mortar for the US forces without having to go to the time and expense of developing a new weapon like the Type 89. However, like any weapon, the US M7 rifle grenade launcher had its "plus and minus". (For example, a special blank cartridge is needed, accidentally discharging ball ammunition with a grenade on the launcher would spell disaster.) Nevertheless, this worked for US forces in WWII but one could argue that the Japanese grenade launcher section might have worked better. The M7 was an auxiliary weapon issued on an "as needed" basis. The Japanese 3 men teams had a specially trained "gunner" and two ammunition carriers. Working together, the 3-men teams can achieve a higher rate of fire with the Type 89 than the (part-time) rifle grenade operator.