John Lindsey
7th January 2001, 18:03
On cable, the History Channel is running a show on the guns used by the Japanese during WW-2. Its thesis is that overall, the infantry weapons of the Japanese were of poor quality and outdated. They relied too much on the fighting spirit of their soldiers, which also resulted in experienced veterans being wasted in futile charges. There was also a short mention of the sword, but just in passing. One good observation they made was that the Japanese were never much into anti-tank weapons, other than suicide mines.
It is interesting that a Nation well known for their sword manufacturing methods stands in stark contrast to the poorly engineered weapons their soldiers used during the war.
In contrast (and not covered in the show) was the better job they did with aircraft. The zeke was an excellent fighter at the start of the war. A great turn fighter, it did suffer from a lack of armor though, and its lack of WEP meant that it was a bit slower than the later allied aircraft. The Americans soon learned how to perfect team tactics to defeat the zeros (anyone remember the Thatch weave?).
The Ki series of aircraft were good too, but I don’t think they were built in large numbers as were needed.
At the end of the show, a “historian” made the comment that the Japanese never learned how to put up a good defense that could stop the Allies, other than packing the hills full of poorly armed soldiers who would sooner or later be wiped out by the Allies.
It is interesting that a Nation well known for their sword manufacturing methods stands in stark contrast to the poorly engineered weapons their soldiers used during the war.
In contrast (and not covered in the show) was the better job they did with aircraft. The zeke was an excellent fighter at the start of the war. A great turn fighter, it did suffer from a lack of armor though, and its lack of WEP meant that it was a bit slower than the later allied aircraft. The Americans soon learned how to perfect team tactics to defeat the zeros (anyone remember the Thatch weave?).
The Ki series of aircraft were good too, but I don’t think they were built in large numbers as were needed.
At the end of the show, a “historian” made the comment that the Japanese never learned how to put up a good defense that could stop the Allies, other than packing the hills full of poorly armed soldiers who would sooner or later be wiped out by the Allies.