Japanese forces

i wonder why is it so hard to get interesting facts about the battles of the Japaneses forces and the allies, can anyone give me a link or tell me anything about it? I'm very interested in the Japanese military and so on under ww2.

 

http://www.combinedfleet.com/

The above is a good site about the IJN.

As for why it's hard to find information I guess it's twofold. There's a certain fascination for the war against Germany. It was the most destructive and most intensive war, which instantly grabs the imagination and the most advanced weapons were used in that conflict, which also grabs the imagination.

The war in CBI (China-Burma-India) I've heard referred to in Britain as the Forgotten War, it's deliberately ignored for the reasons above, Germany is more local, more interesting, more destructive and the combination of those factors makes Germany more compelling. There's also the embarrassment factor, whilst German efficiency can never be understated we found ourselves in a war against a bunch of sandal wearing bamboo kite fliers (according to contemporary views) and got our collective backsides handed to us albeit briefly, from a popular perspective that kind of thing is best forgotten.

 

good website =) Thanks allot simon. Even if it really wasen´t was i was looking for it was still good and gave me some light on the Japaneses under ww2 =)

 

The US Army's Center for Military History has some information on the Japanese forces of WW2. It can be a bit difficult to find anything specific due to the vast amount of data for the Army as a whole. You may have to contact them with questions about what you are looking for.

 

Hi.

For general and specific infos try

axis history forum

for naval and airforce subjects try

J-aircraft forums


For army weapons and equipment try

Taki´s english site

or

my german site

Yours

tom!

 

Thank you Tom =)

 

ok i ve have checked out the websites and it says allot about the Japaneses under ww2, Thank you again Tom and of course Simon =)

 

qwasi:

http://www.tarawaontheweb.org/

for some interesting info on disposition of American/Japanese forces, and equipment used. There were a few Type 95 "Ha-Go" light tanks. (Crew of three, 7.7mm machine guns--one in hull-mount, one co-ax in turret and a 37mm main gun.)
Also info about dual-purpose AT Japanese defensive guns.
Enjoy.

Tim

 

very fascinating website, i haven't found any bock about this battle before, but i have played it on Medal of honor pacific assault =) Thank you Hoosier, if you find any more about the battles in the pacific then you know were to put it =)

 

Two collections with interessting pictures of some a/c of the jap. Airforce (Army/Navy)

http://www.ijaafphotos.com/

Navy

http://www.ijnafphotos.com/

Considering your suggestion with MoH Pacific Assault plz visit this site, dealing with WW2 naval games, probably no english translation, but nice screenshots of some (pacific war games) indeed.

http://www.marinesims.de/site/home/

...and if you like to look for some books

http://osprey-publishing.com/

an impressive documentry about the Battle of Iwo Jima, called To The Shores Of Iwo Jima

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... f+Iwo+Jima

also:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=CE15Btt5Ag0& ... ed&search=

Regards,
Che.

 

qwasi:
I'm reminded of the colorful story of the Type 97 Japanese medium tank that broke thru USMC lines and headed for the beach at Guam... with a Sherman running flat-out in hot pursuit.
It ended badly for the Japanese.

Tim

 

I always wondered why the Japanese took such high casualties in every campaign waged against the allies...

Were they all combat casualties? Was this all attributable to Hara-Kiri? Or was there a disproportionate amount of disease / starvation among the Japanese forces?

 

smeg:
After the USMC landings on Guadalcanal, the Japanese were always on the defensive in the Pacific.
As a result of their "die to the last man" mindset, most did exactly that.
When the noose tightened, supplies were not geting through, and many Japanese-held islands "whithered on the vine" so to speak. Not saying that disease and starvation didn't kill a percentage of troops, but I expect the bulk of Japanese troops died of combat-related injuries or ritual sepuku. Fanatical banzai-charges only served to speed-up the ultimate outcome.

Tim

 

Hey smeg, there is a topic dealing with the high casualties of the IJA in the later campaignes of WW2

http://fun-online.sk/forum/viewtopic.ph ... 52158f031a

Regards,
Che.

 

I think it was because they just would not surrender, even if they knew they were beaten. On Guadalcanal for example, they would charge suicidally into heavy machine gun fire, and be cut down, wave after wave. And of course near the end of the war, they invented the Kamikaze. :angry:

 

But at Iwo Jima and Okinawa the Japanese were commanded by generals who refused to throw their troops away in useless banzai charges. They were determined to make the Americans pay dearly for every inch of ground they took, and they did. US casualties rose sharply in 1945; the US Navy alone lost 4900 dead at Okinawa.

 

But the air force still used the Kamikazes.

 

Which was arguably the best chance they had of getting warheads onto targets considering the appalling lack of training pilots were recieving by 1945 and how desperately outnumbered they were. Regular attacks would have been practically suicidal by then anyway, this way at least they had a chance of causing some serious damage.

 

And it was regarded as a sacred calling to die for their country. Now I'm not against dying for my country, but committing suicide for my country is a different matter.


What type of plane do you reckon hit the ship in the second picture? It wouldn't be a "Betty" would it?

 

Perhaps, or maybe a Frances. There's no way of knowing for sure unless you know what ship it was and the attack was documented, including the aircraft type.