Claremont Colleges Scholarship @ Claremont CGU Faculty Publications and Research CGU Faculty Scholarship 1-1-2001 Small Arms, Japanese Robert J. Bunker Claremont Graduate University Recommended Citation Bunker, Robert J. "Small arms, Japanese." World War II in the Pacific: An Encyclopedia. New York: Garland Publishing, 2001. 537-539. This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the CGU Faculty Scholarship at Scholarship @ Claremont. It has been accepted for inclusion in CGU Faculty Publications and Research by an authorized administrator of Scholarship @ Claremont. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Small Arms, Japanese 537 by Slim, the 5th and in strength. Forbidden co withdraw Irrawaddy River coward Mandalay co draw Japanese re­ 7th Indian Divisions found themselves isolated by the serves there. \XIhen the enemy had fully committed all irs Japanese advance. Slim demanded char they stand fast, avai lable reserves, IV Corps struck across the Irrawaddy and he put into effect the aerial resupply operation he and capwred Meikrila on March 3, 1945. The Japanese had promised. He also energetically launched relief opera­ were thrown off balance by this daring, li ghtning strike, tions that rescued the beleaguered troops and han1mered and as a result, :iOv"CCII Corps also captured Mandalay the Japanese Fifteenth Army. Caught betvveen rhe rwo during late March. forces, the Japanese were forced co withdraw in ratters The Japanese reacted violently co the British crossing through the jungle back inro Burma. Slim's success dem­ of the Irrawaddy and launched numerous counterattacks onstrated the efficacy of his operational approach, si­ co eliminate the British bridgehead bur suffered crippling lenced his critics, and greatly boosted troop morale. losses in the process. Slim's forces then decisively defeated However, these reverses led Japan co reinforce irs forces the Japanese at Meikrila during March 15-31, 1945. in Burma, and it launched a renewed major invasion of Malcing use of aerial resupply again, Slim kept his forces India via Imphal and Kohima berween March and July moving forward rapidly to scorm Rangoon on May 2, 1944 that again sorely rested Slim's troops and their mo­ 1945, as the first monsoon mins began to fall. The recap­ rale. In the face of superior strength, Slim's forces were ture of Rangoon brought to a conclusion one of the best­ compelled to make a fighting withdrawal on Imphal, dur­ conceived and most boldly enacted British ground cam­ ing which a lightning Japanese advance surrounded rhe paigns of World War II. 17th Indian Division. Slim had co do an about-face and Slim cook demoralized and badly beaten troops and rescue the division before it could withdraw inco the de­ restored them co a standard of proficiency umnarched in fensive perimeter British and Indian forces established the British army of World War II. He also beca me the outside Imphal in early April. Aided by the arrival of only Allied general of the war decisively co defeat the Jap­ much needed reinforcements from India, Slim's troops anese army on the Asian mainland and co prevail over the brought the Japanese offensive co a grinding halt during enemy with limited air support. His battlefield achieve­ May 1944 in a protracted barrie of attrition. ments showed him to be a great soldier of sharp intelli­ After iliwaning rhe Japanese offensive, in early 1945 gence and shrewd judgment. In rhe opinion of many au­ Slim prepared to launch an ambitious counteroffensive thorities, Slim was the best commander produced by aimed at recapturing Burma. During the summer of Grear Britain during World War II. 1944, he exploited his success by cap wring crossings over the Chindwin River at Sitta.ng and Kalewa, despite atro­ FURTHER READINGS cious monsoon conditions, to acquire jumping-off points Calvert, Michael. Slim (1973). for future offensive action. He then developed lines of Lewin, Ronald. Slim, the Standardbearer: A Biography of supply via Tamu through rhe Kalew Valley to Kalewa to Field-Marshal the Viscount Slim, KG, GCB, GCMG, provide the logistic base for a renewal of offensive opera­ GCVO, GBE, DSO, MC(l976). tions. During the late summer of 1944, Slim prepared to Slim, William J. Viscount. Defeat into Victmy (1956). engage and destroy rhe enemy on the Shwebo Plain dur­ Russell A. Hart ing the winter of 1944-1945 via an encirclement opera­ tion on Mandalay. Bur mounting signs of]apanese inten­ SEE ALSO Army, Japanese; China-Burma-India Theater tions co effect a general withdrawal behind the highly of Operations defensible barrier of the Irrawaddy River compelled Slim co scrap these plans. Instead, he now planned to make a deep penetration Small Arms, Japanese a stan­ into Burma co capture Meikrila, the key base and com­ Japanese army and naval-infantry forces relied on in World War II. These munications center of the Japanese Burma Area Com­ dard assortment of small arms carbines, piscols, light mand. Such a bold and deep advance through the jungle arms can be grouped in co rifles and submachine guns. Heavy machine into ilie Japanese rear could only succeed if Slim managed machine guns, and considered small arms, will also co confuse rhe enemy as co his inrenrions. Using elaborate guns, while not normally under this topical heading. Japanese small­ security and deception measures, he transferred the IV be covered be identified, in many instances, Corps from Tamu co Pokokku on the Irrawaddy, within arms ammunition could by the following colored bands: pink (ball), black (armor­ striking distance of Meikrila, unseen by the enemy. At the and green (tracer). same time, the XXXIII Corps frontally attacked across the piercing), 538 Small Arms, Japanese weapon was replaced by the Model 96 (1936) 6.5-mm The two basic rifle models in service by rhe Japanese light machine gun. Although rhe Model 96 externally re­ were rhe 38 and rhe 99. The Model 38 (1905) 6.5-mm sembled rhe British Bren gun, with irs magazine feed and ri fl e, also known as rhe Arisaka, was based on the German carrying handle, it was based on French and Czech inter­ Mauser bolr-acrion design and fiued co rake rhe Model nal designs . This light machine gun had a bipod mount 30 (1897) bayoner. A carbine version of this rifle, the and was fiued co rake the Model 30 (1897) Model 38 (1905) carbine, which was shoner and lighter bayonet. The rhan rhe original model, was also manufac tured. A carbine Japanese also used other machine-gun models variam, rhe Model 44 (19 11) carbine, was slighdy longer during World War II. The Model99 (1939) 7.7-mm light than the Model 38 carbine and came with a folding spike machine gun was basically rhe same as rhe Model 96 ex­ bayoner. A sniper's version of rhe Model 38 rifl e, the cept that it was based on a larger caliber. The BRNO, ZB Model 91 (1931), was essemial ly rhe same as the original (1925) 7.92-mm light machine gun also saw considerable except for rhe inclusion of a telescopic sigh c. Some Italian­ service. Originally of Czech manufacture, it was pur­ made 6.5-mm rifles were also used by rhe Japanese. chased by the Japanese prior to the war, looted from rhe T he Model 99 (1939) 7.7-mm rifle succeeded rhe Chinese, and produced in thei r captured arsenals. Because Model 38 as rhe need arose during rhe war for a more of rhe large quamities of British ammunition seized by powerful servi ce rifle. It was basical ly the same as the rhe Japanese, attempts were made to produce imitations Model 38 excep t it was shorter and had a larger caliber. of Allied weapons. A long variam of rhe Model 99, a sniper variant, and an The Japanese used very few submachine guns in rhe experimental model reworked co use light-machine-gun war because they did nor appreciate rheir value until well magazines were also produced. Both rhe Model 38 and into rhe conflict. Those machine weapons rhar were en­ rhe Model 99 rifle could be fiued with spigot, rifled, and countered were mostly German Bergmanns, Swiss-made cup-type grenade launchers, which fired fragmentation, Solorhurns, or captured Allied models. Still, three Japa­ smoke, and high- ex plosive antipersonnel grenades. To­ nese submachine-gun designs were manufactured either ward rhe en d of the war, a few Japanese 7.7-mm semi­ in small quantities or as prototypes. The Type 0 (1940) auco maric rifles, based on captured U.S . Garands, were 8-mm submachine gun was used by Japanese naval infan­ also manufacwred. try and by paratroopers at Leyte in 1944. The experi­ The standard Japanese pisco! design was based on the mental 6.5-mm light machine glln was a cheap, easy-to­ Nambu (1914) 8-mm pisco!. Modeled in appearance after make weapon produced rhe German Luger yet differem in irs internal functioning, dming the final Japanese emergency and this se miaucom aric pisco! is named after irs Japanese in­ is notable for irs blowback operation. The vencor, Colonel Kijiro Nambu. A wooden combination experimental 8-mm machine gun, which was very com­ shoulder-stock-holster was developed to turn this pistol pact and had a special rare-of-fire selector, was never imo a ca rbine bm was obsolete prior to cl1e war in rhe placed in production. Pacific. T he Nambu was superseded by the Model 14 The Model 92 (1932) 7.7-mm heavy machine gun ( 1925) 8-mm pistol, a significandy modified version. The represented the standard Japanese heavy machine gun. It Modell4 was mass-produced and became the major Jap­ was a modified Hotchkiss-type weapon and was mounted anese pistol used in World War II.