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Japanese armour
As one of the Allies during the First World War, Japan was able to monitor closely the early development of armoured warfare. Its first armoured fighting vehicle (AFV) was an Austin armoured car, which was used for operational trials by the Japanese detachment supporting the anti-Bolshevik forces in Siberia during the Russian Civil War. Britain later supplied a few Whippet tanks and a single Mark IV, while France sent a small number of Renault FTs for comparison trials. The results of these trials prompted the 1925 specification for the very first Japanese tank, the Prototype Number 1, which was completed in 1927.
The potential of this prototype was clear, and an improved version appeared in 1932 as the Type 91, with a 70mm gun, slightly thicker armour, and better automotive performance. Further improvements were gradually made, which were standardised in the last of the series, the Type 95 Heavy Tank, which was produced in very small numbers from 1935.
While the Prototype Number 1 and its derivatives were good vehicles, they were too complex for large-scale production, which prompted a redesign to produce a smaller tank incorporating features of the contemporary Vickers Medium Mark C. This appeared in 1929 as the Type 89 and was not only the first Japanese tank to be produced in quantity but also the first to go into action (during the fierce five-week struggle between China and Japan in early 1932 known as the Shanghai Incident). In the same year, Japan also ordered its last batch of foreign-made tanks: ten Renault NC-27s.
Three tank regiments formed in 1933 for the infantry support role, each with two companies of ten Type 89s. A further regiment, this time with three companies, was raised as the core of a new Independent Mixed Brigade to test armoured warfare tactics. This Brigade included an infantry regiment, an artillery regiment, and an engineer company as well.
Early trials showed that the Type 89s could not keep pace with the wheeled transport of the Brigade’s infantry and artillery units, however, nor with the new Type 92 Combat Car (actually a light tank) that was being issued to armoured-car units in the horsed cavalry brigades. This spurred the development of the much-faster Type 95 Ha-Go light tank, which by 1937 had replaced the Brigade’s Type 89s and many of the Type 92s.
The first major combat use of Japanese armoured units came when years of skirmishing along the Chinese/Manchurian frontier flared up into full-scale war in July 1937 – a conflict that is often regarded as the beginning of World War II in Asia. The Mixed Brigade formed part of the Kwantung Army (the Imperial Japanese Army’s most prestigious command), which attacked northern China from the Japanese client-state of Manchukuo (Manchuria), while an expeditionary force with almost 100 tanks landed near the port of Tianjin and advanced inland towards Beijing. Within six months, much of the territory north of the Yellow River had been overrun, and by late 1938 all the major ports had been captured, leaving the battered Chinese forces to attempt to re-form deep in the interior. Despite isolated reverses inflicted by the few relatively well-equipped Chinese units, the campaign produced a dangerous overconfidence that slowed the development of improved AFVs.
The risks of falling behind in this area were dramatically demonstrated in the summer of 1939, when tension with Russia along the disputed Manchurian/Mongolian border flared into heavy fighting around the Khalkhin Gol River. The armoured Yasuoka Detachment of the Kwantung Army eventually fielded almost 100 tanks, a mixture of Type 95 lights, Type 89 mediums, and some newly issued Type 97s. However, these were far outnumbered by the Soviet armoured forces, which may have had 550 tanks (T-26s and BT-7s) plus 450 armoured cars (mainly BA-10s). Although many of the Red Army’s best officers had been shot or imprisoned during Stalin’s purges, a cadre of able leaders remained, and one of the most promising of this group – the ruthless Georgi Zhukov, later to be recognised as the Soviet Union’s outstanding military figure – had been appointed to command the Soviet forces.
The Japanese were on the offensive in the initial part of the battle, during which the Yasuoka Detachment lost more than half its tanks to Russian anti-tank guns, while perhaps 40% of the Soviet AFVs were destroyed (many by 37mm anti-tank guns and infantry armed with Molotov cocktails). Despite these losses, the Russians still had overwhelming armoured strength to spearhead a devastating counter-attack, which eventually won a decisive victory. Although the Kwantung Army’s defeat spurred the development of more powerful AFVs such as the Shinhoto Chi-Ha (literally: ‘New Turret Chi-Ha’), its most important effect was to make the Japanese very reluctant to provoke the Russians again. This reluctance may well have changed the outcome of the Second World War, as it allowed Stalin to transfer Siberian divisions to shore up the defence of Moscow when the city seemed about to fall to the Germans in late 1941.
The period from Khalkhin Gol to the attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 saw a rapid growth in Japanese armoured units. The Kwantung Army’s Mixed Brigade was replaced by the 1st and 2nd Tank Groups, each of three regiments, while 12 other independent tank regiments were operational and more were forming. A high proportion of Japan’s AFVs were deployed in small formations – 23 companies of nine tanks each (usually Type 95 Ha-Go) were attached to infantry divisions, marine brigades, and Army HQs. The interminable war in China tied down large numbers of Japanese units, supported by the majority of the 41 Patrol Companies of light tanks and ‘tankettes’, which were ideally suited for use against the ill-equipped Chinese forces.
Allied armour
Before the Japanese offensive of December 1941, the whole of the Pacific theatre was regarded as a backwater by the Allied powers who assigned small numbers of obsolete or obsolescent AFVs to their garrison forces. Approximate holdings were:
- British: only a handful of elderly Lanchester and more modern Marmon-Herrington armoured cars were stationed in Malaya (present-day Malaysia), together with the infantry’s Universal Carriers.
- Dutch: 24 of the 75 Vickers Carden Loyd Model 1936 light tanks on order had been delivered to the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) when the Japanese attacked. A total of 600 Marmon-Herrington light tanks were also on order, although only 25 had arrived by December 1941. Roughly 30 armoured cars of various types were available, too.
- US: 108 M3 light tanks of the Provisional Tank Group had been sent to Luzon in the Philippines as recently as November 1941. They were supported by 50 SPMs (Self-Propelled Mounts), more formally designated 75mm GMCs – a conversion of the standard M3 half-track with a 75mm gun in a shielded limited-traverse mounting, firing over the driver’s cab.
As the Allies fought desperately to slow the Japanese advance, more AFVs were deployed. At first, only a very few tanks of any description could be spared – in early 1942, the only British armoured unit available to reinforce the hard-pressed Dutch was B Squadron, King’s Own Hussars, with 16 Vickers Mark VI light tanks.
Allied armoured strength gradually increased, with a variety of AFVs including M3 Stuarts, Lees, and Shermans. The dense tropical rain forests covering much of the region severely limited large-scale armoured warfare, and AFVs were generally deployed as battalions or regiments rather than the larger formations common in north-west Europe, Russia, and North Africa. Despite the enormous problems posed by climate and terrain, AFVs proved invaluable throughout the vast area from Burma to the scattered islands of the central Pacific, and from the steamy heat of Java to the cold hills of Manchuria.
Japanese conquests, 1941-1942
The Japanese forces that invaded Malaya on 8 December 1941 included the 1st, 6th, and 14th Tank Regiments, with a total of 211 assorted tanks. Each regiment had an HQ company with four Ha-Go and four companies each with ten Chi-Ha. The 1st Tank Regiment played a key role in the breakthrough of the defences along the Slim River line covering Kuala Lumpur and Singapore on 7 January 1942, in which most of the British armour was destroyed. This speeded an already fast-moving advance, which culminated on 15 February in the capture of Singapore – an event described by Churchill as the worst disaster in British military history.
The 1st and 14th Tank Regiments were joined by the 2nd for the invasion of Burma, which formed the next stage of the campaign. Allied forces in Burma included the Stuart tanks of the newly arrived 7th Armoured Brigade (also known as the ‘Desert Rats’), which had been transferred from North Africa, and the Chinese 200th Mechanised Division equipped with T-26 light tanks. Both of these formations fought fierce rearguard actions to slow the Japanese advance, but lost virtually all their equipment in the retreat.
While the conquests of Malaya and Burma were under way, another campaign was being fought in the Philippines, where the Japanese 4th and 7th Tank Regiments spearheaded the advance through the islands. The US Provisional Tank Group, which began the campaign with 108 M3 Stuart light tanks, covered the garrison’s retreat and clashed with Japanese armour on several occasions. Type 95s ambushed one of its patrols on 22 December but it took its revenge on the 31 December, when eight Ha-Go were knocked out in another skirmish. Many US AFVs were abandoned in the retreat, and several captured Stuarts were used in action by the Japanese, who regarded them as distinctly superior to both their own tanks. (The Ha-Go’s main armament was a low-velocity 37mm, while the Chi-Ha carried a short-barrelled 57mm gun optimised for firing HE, or high-explosive, rounds in the infantry support role.) In response, a few Shinhoto Chi-Ha armed with the high-velocity 47mm gun were hastily sent to Corregidor for the final stages of the campaign.
Interlude, 1942
In the aftermath of their spectacular successes, the Japanese reorganised their armoured forces. In July 1942, the Tank Groups in Manchuria were re-formed as a new Mechanised Army, consisting of the 1st and 2nd Tank Divisions. Each division had an official strength of 87 light, 249 medium, and 40 reserve tanks. These were divided between its two tank brigades, each of which had two tank regiments, a motorised infantry regiment, a motorised artillery regiment, and supporting engineer and signals units.
Later in 1942, the 3rd Tank Division was formed in China, while the 4th was raised at the same time in Japan. Despite this, there was little real understanding of the potential of such formations, and only two of the divisions saw combat as complete units – the 2nd, in the defence of the Philippines in 1944-1945, and the 3rd, which contributed to the success of Operation Ichi-Go, the Japanese offensive between April and December 1944 which saw major battles fought in the Chinese provinces of Henan, Hunan, and Guangxi.
The Allies strike back, 1942-1945
The Guadalcanal operations of August 1942 marked the first significant offensive deployment of Allied armour in the Far East – mainly M3 Stuart light tanks. Although the Japanese infantry were desperately short of any sort of anti-tank weapons, they made repeated attacks, climbing on to the US tanks, firing through vision slits and attempting to force open hatches. The tanks shot them down in droves using machine-guns and 37mm canister rounds, while others fell to covering fire from the US Marines and infantry. After the action, one shaken American general described the blood-spattered tanks as ‘looking like meat-grinders’.
Such ferocious fighting was to become commonplace as the Allied offensives gathered momentum throughout the remainder of the Pacific War. The US assault on Saipan, launched on 15 June 1944, included 700 of the versatile amphibious Landing Vehicle Tracked (LVTs), supported by the 708th Amphibian Tank Battalion equipped with the LVT(A)-1 and LVT(A)-2. The LVT(A)-1 was essentially a fully armoured LVT with the cargo compartment decked in and fitted with the turret of the M5 Stuart light tank. The LVT(A)-2 was developed from the LVT(A)1 to meet the need for greater close-support firepower and was fitted with the turret of the M8 HMC (howitzer motor carriage) armed with a 75mm howitzer.
The 708th proved to be invaluable, opening fire from 300 yards offshore in support of the leading assault wave, before advancing inland to help secure the beachhead. Within a few hours, they were reinforced by the 2nd and 4th Marine Tank Battalions, each with 46 M4A2 Shermans and 14-24 M3A1 Satan flamethrower light tanks. US armour played a key role in destroying Japanese artillery positions, which were inflicting heavy casualties in the crowded beachhead, and in defeating a night counter-attack by Japanese Marines supported by several Type 2 Ka-Mi amphibious light tanks.
This was followed by a much larger counter-attack in the early hours of 17 June, spearheaded by the 44 surviving tanks of the 9th Tank Regiment (a mixed unit with Ha-Go and Chi-Ha tanks, which may have been reinforced with a few Shinhoto Chi-Ha). The noise of this force forming up alerted nearby US Marine detachments, which were quickly supported by a Sherman platoon and several SPMs. Naval star shells illuminated the area as the counter-attack went in, allowing the US tanks and infantry bazooka teams to knock out 32 of the Japanese tanks. Although the survivors (six Ha-Go and six Chi-Ha) posed little real threat to the overwhelming American armoured strength and were all destroyed over the next week or so, US AFVs took quite heavy losses until the island was finally secured on 9 July.
Some of these losses were due to well camouflaged artillery and anti-tank guns, but many were the result of suicidal banzai attacks by infantry using demolition charges, anti-tank grenades, and lunge mines. (The lunge mine was an impact-fused hollow charge on a 1.5m pole, which was wielded like a rifle with a fixed bayonet, and thrust against the target, destroying the user and penetrating up to 150mm of armour.) A further variation on the theme of suicidal anti-tank devices was encountered in Burma by British armoured units in 1944-1945. Carefully camouflaged foxholes had been dug in jungle tracks, each occupied by a Japanese infantryman with a bomb or artillery shell which he would detonate with a hammer as an AFV passed over his position. Such tactics were employed until the end of the war, and could be highly effective. On Okinawa, the US 193rd Tank Battalion lost 22 of its 30 Shermans in a single day’s fighting, at least six of which were blown apart by members of anti-tank squads who threw themselves under the tanks before detonating demolition charges.
The American landings in December 1944 on Luzon, the most populous island of the Philippines, were opposed by General Yamashita’s 2nd Tank Division, the largest Japanese armoured formation in the region, which was by now largely equipped with the Shinhoto Chi-Ha. Its tanks were dispersed in detachments of up to 52 vehicles, which were assigned to a number of large strongpoints. These were designed with a network of heavily camouflaged hull-down (that is, with the main part of the vehicle hidden) fire positions, which also allowed the tanks to move rapidly to reinforce any threatened sector. US armoured units quickly worked out drills for dealing with such strongpoints – Shermans would provide cover for the 105mm armed M7 HMCs (Priests), allowing them to manoeuvre into direct fire positions from which they could blow away the camouflage before demolishing the protecting adobe revetments with concentrated HE fire to open the way for an all-arms attack. These tactics were first employed at San Manuel on 24 January and accounted for 12 of the garrison’s 42 tanks. The survivors were all knocked out as they headed three counter-attacks during the early hours of 28 January – while, for their part, US AFV losses were three Shermans and one M7. The remaining strongpoints were taken using similar tactics, and by 5 March the Americans had destroyed a total of 203 Chi-Ha and 19 Ha-Go tanks.
The final major actions of the US ‘island-hopping’ campaign on Iwo Jima and Okinawa simply re-emphasised the importance of AFVs in overcoming fanatical resistance. Specialised tactics were developed to counter the Japanese skill in preparing strong bunkers and fortified caves – the ‘corkscrew and blowtorch’ tactics, by which the defences were broken open by AFV gunfire before the position was burnt out by flamethrower tanks.
Despite frantic efforts, Japanese war industries were unable to produce improved AFVs in significant numbers – several promising designs never got further than the prototype stage (or, at best, very small pre-production batches). As a result, the final weeks of the war saw some grossly unequal actions when Stalin declared war on Japan and launched an invasion of Manchuria in August 1945. A total of 76 Red Army divisions with 5,000 AFVs (including many T34/85 medium tanks) swamped the two weak armoured brigades of the Kwantung Army, which were still equipped with nothing better than the Shinhoto Chi-Ha.
All images: Wikimedia Commons, unless otherwise stated; Alamy
