Japanese Army Handbook 1939-1945

by Forty, George

• ISBN13: 9780750916882
• ISBN10: 0750916885
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-04-01
• Publisher: Trafalgar Square

Summary

The redoubtable Japanese Imperial Army grew from 1.5 million men in 1939 to 5.5 million by the end of the war. This book recounts their highly successful campaigns in the Far East and Pacific theaters at the beginning of WW II, which were every bit as spectacular as those of the Germans in Europe, and how their troops earned an erasable reputation as expert jungle fighters. The book also describes their code of honor which made them extremely cruel enemies to prisoners and civilians alike, while their Kamikaze suicidal tendencies meant they would automatically fight to the last without any thought of surrender.

Author Biography

From 1981 to 1993, George Forty was director and curator of the Tank Museum at Bovington.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	iv	(1)
Introduction	v
1. Historical Background	1	(12)
2. Mobilization and Conscription	13	(10)
3. Training	23	(10)
4. Higher Organizations	33	(10)
5. Field Organizations	43	(23)
6. The Combat Arms	66	(13)
7. The Services	79	(14)
8. The Soldier	93	(40)
9. Weapons	133	(26)
10. Vehicles	159	(30)
11. Miscellaneous Equipment	189	(15)
12. Tactics	204	(19)
13. Personalities	223	(9)
14. The Kempeitai	232	(9)
Annex A: Japanese Military Conventional Signs	241	(18)
Annex B: Army Abbreviations	259	(5)
Annex C: Japanese Ground Radio Equipment	264	(4)
Bibliography	268	(1)
Index	269