75th Anniversary of Peleliu

[Axis Nightmare]

September 15th was the 75th anniversary of the Marines invasion of Peleliu Island. It was one of the most costly and savage battles of the Pacific. As so often happens the planners have their optimistic and often flawed predictions on both enemy strength and how long a campaign objective will take, as well as the cost in lives. Iwo Jima was the famous example but Peleliu would be all but forgotten as it turned out to be of no real strategic value unlike Iwo Jima. It was thought by many it could have simply been bypassed and kept neutralized with naval and air power.

I'm on my second time through Eugene Sledge's "With the Old Breed" which is must reading for anyone wanting insight into the horrors of war in the Pacific. The series "The Pacific" is based on this book and several others written with first hand accounts from enlisted Marines that were there. They're the real story from the front lines, not from some rear echelon officer who's only action was to put pins in a map.

I recently acquired my second Arisaka rifle. This one is a fine example of the Type 38 which proceeded the Type 99 of higher caliber. It wasn't fazed out however and continued in use and production into the late war. My first impression of the 99 was that it was big and heavy. The Type 38 however is a real brute. Much longer and heavier than the 99, with the bayonet attached, it stands taller than the average described Japanese soldier. It had to be cumbersome to use in jungle fighting. The one I got has two desirable collector features. One is the Imperial Chrysanthemum seal is intact. At the end of hostilities, the Japanese obliterated the symbol off surrendered weapons to not disgrace the crest of their holy emperor. This means this one was possibly picked up in the field of battle rather than from post surrender. My 99, like most, has the mum symbol ground off. The other harder to find feature is the dust cover which was usually discarded by the troops in the field as a nuisance and just extra weight.





The 99 is on the left. It fired a 7.7 mm round while the longer and heavier 38 fired a smaller 6.5 mm round. I don't fire either. They are prized artifacts. The bayonet I never could get to fit right on the poorly made "last ditch" Type 99 I have snaps right on to the 38. Japanese WWII firearms are inexpensive compared to German Mausers or Lugers which is fine by me since I have more interest in Japanese items than German.




Here both the chrysanthemum symbol and the dust cover can be seen. Japanese symbols are engraved just below the mum symbol but are under the dust cover. It's still got lots of preservative cosmoline yet to be cleaned off.

[Axis Nightmare]

Although much more scarce, this Nambu 14 can be had for around half the price of a similar actual wartime German Luger. At a recent large militaria show there were Lugers for sale by the dozen. Only recall two Nambus. German items were probably 99 to 1 or higher over Japanese in general.

My research translating symbols and numbers shows this Nambu was manufactured at the Kokubunji factory of Nambu/Chuo Kogyo, under supervision of the Nagoya arsenal. The 16.1 is the Showa date of the first month of the 16th year of the emperor which translates to January, 1941. The earlier 14's had a trigger guard that formed a nearly perfect circle. The bulged front of this one is the modification made after troops in Manchuria couldn't get their finger inside the smaller trigger guard wearing heavy winter gloves without risk of accidentally discharging the gun. All the Nambu pistols were considered unreliable with constant jamming and delicate parts like the firing pins breaking. The type 94 was considered the worst combat pistol of the war. It was downright dangerous to use. In Sledge's book he details an incident where a Marine was inspecting a captured Nambu. It discharged grazing him across the forehead. Sounds like the Type 94 that was so dangerous to handle. The joke was the officers had to carry their swords because their pistols were nearly useless.

The pistols are more expensive than the rifles but I got the Type 38 rifle for considerably less than the current asking prices for a BBi 1/32 F-4 Phantom model.