You always hear about the German,American and British paratroopers during the war. But hardly anything about airborne troops used in the Pacific and Asia.
The Japanese paratroopers in the Dutch East Indies, 1941-1942
by Graham Donaldson
The Japanese Navy and Army developed, trained and experimented with their own raised airborne troops knowing quite clearly on how utilise them in military operations. The Imperial Navy opted for the creating of an aerial landed diversion inland from the beaches where the main amphibious assault by sea would be. The Japanese Navy had the concept of intending to disable the airfields preventing interference by enemy warplanes on an amphibious landing by co-ordinating the timing of their sea-borne assault and parachute drop to create maximum surprise at the point of contact. German airborne troops were employed as the spearhead of the remarkable and daring invasion of Denmark and Norway. The Scandanavian experience had France & Britain plus the neutral nations see themselves as next in line. The Dutch in Holland had deployed to meet such an airborne assault to bridge the water-obstacle defences, fought with skill and determination, yet a lucky chance at Waalhaven was exploited by the Germans air-landing reinforcements, although it had been a near run thing until German ground troops linked with the paratroopers. The lightly armed Japanese paratroopers of 1942 would have the tactical task of attacking the air base defenses, once successful then the Japanese would quickly use the airfield for their own warplanes to support the invasion. Small groups were sent out to secure crossroads and block-off reinforcements or actually secure other objectives of importance to direct the defense away from the beachheads. Japanese coordinated combined island amphibious invasions were swift and devastating, orchastrating and intergrating elements of superior firepower which resulted in overwhelming force. The surprise element in the military sense does not necessarily mean open-mouth astonishment, it does explain that doing the unexpected which is not planned for by the enemy. The surprise element was available to the Japanese for they had the incentive, initiative and mobility to strike anywhere with their main forces, having control of the sea and air superiority. Where airborne formations would land to create havoc could only be guessed at by ABDA Command. An opportunity for the Japanese military to exploit manuouvre warfare and achive victories by the skill of their mission commanders creating the advantage by applying strength against the enemy weakspots while attempting to use surprise to avoid attrition.
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The Japanese paratroopers in the Dutch East Indies, 1941-1942