Customer Reviews

Japanese Paratroop Forces of World War II (Elite)

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This Osprey book looks at the airborne forces employed by the Imperial Japanese Navy and the Imperial Japanese Army. The IJN and IJA both competed for resources and primature in certain typs of missions and like other aspects of the Japanese military at this time this led to unnecessary competition and confusion. Also, of all the major combatants of WWII Japan entered with the smallest resources available to it to prosecute the war. Thus Japan only dedicated resources to airborne forces after their German allies proved their worth. Even so, they could not commit to creating entire airborne divisions since they did not have the necessary lift. The few airborne operations actually carried out used aircraft largely inappropriate for the delivery of paratroopers. Some other operations were planned but not carried out.

As with all books by Osprey it is well-illustrated with paintings, maps, photos and other resources. It is a useful reference for this chapter of the airborne experience.

This book provides a very useful overview of the Imperial Japanese Army and Imperial Japanese Navy's airborne units. It provides good coverage of how these units were raised, organised and equipped and the battles they took part in. I was, however, disappointed that the doctrine which governed how the Japanese employed their airborne units is only covered in passing and the logistical arrangements for supporting airborne operations isn't really addressed. The many photos and drawings of the airborne soldiers' equipment and dress are excellent, and I imagine that they would be useful to model makers.

I was pleasantly suprised by the in-depth coverage of the battles Japanese airborne troops took part in - these are clear and well illustrated with maps and photos. The book would have been stronger though if it had discussed why the role of the paratroopers evolved from seizing strategic objectives in 1942 to performing suicide missions in 1944-45, though this isn't a major issue as the changed role is clear from the accounts of the battles. I was disappointed that the caption to a photo of the commander of the Yokosuka 1st SNLF on page 24 states that he was executed in 1948 for war crimes his unit committed, while what these were wasn't covered in the section on the relevant battle.

All up, Rottman and Takizawa have succeeded in writing a good overview of these units which should be valuable to people with an interest in the Pacific War.