To add to the post of @scipioasina.bsky.social about "Senshi Sosho" - Japanese official history of WW2. My article about Japanese official histories of WW2 (there were several of them) with links to all English translations of "Senshi Sosho" I know: rikukaigun.org/General/Japa...

Japanese official histories of the Pacific War - Nippon Rikukaigun

Imperial Japanese Army and Navy research... not just by Eugen Pinak

rikukaigun.org

A short thread on the Senshi Sōsho (or War History Series), a 102-volume official military history of the Second Sino-Japanese War and Pacific War published by the War History Office of Japan's National Defense College between 1966 and 1980. #JapaneseHistory #MilitaryHistory #WW2

Very impressive project, helping to place events of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War and Pacific War up to 1945 onto the map.

Konrad Lawson@kml.muninn.net · 2w ago

A few new features on the interactive map of Japanese empire. 1) Optional topography layer. 2) Added 1930 admin boundaries for Taiwan (thanks to Academia Sinica GIS datasets and some tweaking) 3) Added two alternative options to the default Mercator projection. froginawell.net/reference/ja...

I've had some fun recently putting together a basic text to ORBAT tool. Try it out at orbat-mapper.app/text-to-orbat/

I’m building a lightweight tool for drawing tactical graphics. An early preview is live at tactrace.orbat-mapper.app if you want to test it out. Feedback and bug reports are welcome!

Another good video on Japanese aviation from knowledgeable researcher. And on rather obscure topic of early uses of the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force to boot. Highly recommended.

Justin Pyke@justinpykehistory.bsky.social · 4w ago

My next video for @milavhis.bsky.social is finally live! The 1931 bombing of Jinzhou is an obscure but interesting episode - a rogue Kwantung Army officer, improvised bombing methods, captured Chinese aircraft, and one of the first bombings of a city since the end of WWI. youtu.be/m_9ALx9C_0I?...

German "Volksgrenadier" rifle company, 1944 - my corrected TO&E drawing. The last German infantry TO&E: 2 rifle platoons armed with assault rifles and train is minimal. Infantry battalion (2 in Infantry regiment) had battalion HQ, 3 Rifle companies, 1 Heavy weapons company. #ORBATBoys

German "Volksgrenadier" rifle company, 1944 - my TO&E drawing. The last German infantry TO&E: 2 rifle platoons armed with assault rifles and train is minimal. Infantry battalion (2 in Infantry regiment) had battalion HQ, 3 Rifle companies, 1 Heavy weapons company. #ORBATBoys

More photos of early Japanese armor.

Олександр Бузько@oleksa79buzko.bsky.social · last mo.

German rifle company, 1943 - my TO&E drawing. "New model" TO&E with only 3 rifle squads per platoon and mortars, not MMGs, as company support. Infantry battalion (2-3 in Infantry regiment) had battalion HQ, 3 Rifle companies, 1 MG company. #ORBATBoys

Imperial Japanese Army Mark A Whippet and Renault FT-17 (or Type "A") tanks of the Infantry School Tank Corps in Chiba, circa 1925.

German rifle company, 1941 - my TO&E drawing. New TO&E with squads no longer divided into LMG and rifle teams, in force from early 1940. Infantry battalion (3 in Infantry regiment) had battalion HQ, 3 Rifle companies, 1 MG company. #ORBATBoys

German rifle company, 1937 - my TO&E drawing. This old TO&E with squads, divided into LMG and rifle teams, remained in force till early 1940. Infantry battalion (3 in Infantry regiment) had battalion HQ, 3 Rifle companies, 1 MG company. #ORBATBoys

Wartime Japanese newsreel about operations of the IJN land combat forces, including SNLF. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xfwp...

[日本ニュース] 海軍陸戦隊 Japanese Special Naval Landing Forces

YouTube video by mitupuuNNM

youtube.com

To add to my previous post - link to the same video on Youtube.

hush@hush-ndb.bsky.social · 2mo ago

The film introduced below can also be viewed here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=AT8Q... However, the automatically generated Japanese is incoherent, so the subtitles will likely make no sense.

Japanese propaganda film, made for the Indonesians c.1943-45. Use the link to watch the whole film - there are many interesting details on ships and combat operations of the Imperial Japanese Navy. zoeken.beeldengeluid.nl/program/urn:...

Couple of IJA Ki-2-II (Army Type 93-2 Light Bomber) on postcards from Kyoto University Digital Archive of Rare Materials: rmda.kulib.kyoto-u.ac.jp/item/rb00031...

British rifle company, 1943-45 - my TO&E drawing, corrected again. Infantry battalion (3 in Infantry brigade) had battalion HQ, HQ company, 4 Rifle companies, 1 Support company (mortars, Carrier APCs, 6-pdr AT guns). #ORBATBoys

British rifle company, 1943-45 - my TO&E drawing, corrected. Infantry battalion (3 in Infantry brigade) had battalion HQ, HQ company, 4 Rifle companies, 1 Support company (mortars, Carrier APCs, 6-pdr AT guns). #ORBATBoys

Yugoslav rifle company, 1941 - my TO&E drawing. Unusual is - 4th rifle squad in each platoon had different organization (without LMG). Infantry battalion (4 in Infantry regiment) had battalion HQ, 3 Rifle companies, 1 MG company. #ORBATBoys

I’d like to share the symbols I use to make company-level TO&E drawings and OOBs. Hope they’ll be useful to other ORBAT makers. The link is: rikukaigun.org/UNIT%20and%2... Thank @battleorder.org for creating original symbols. Repost is welcome! #ORBATBoys

Romanian rifle company, 1941 - my TO&E drawing. This TO&E is before Romanian army transferred to German 4-squad rifle platoon system. Romanian infantry battalion (3 in Infantry regiment) had battalion HQ, 3 Rifle companies, 1 MG and Mortar company. #ORBATBoys

Romanian rifle company, 1942 - my TO&E drawing. This TO&E is after Romanian army transferred to German 4-squad rifle platoon system. Romanian infantry battalion (3 in Infantry regiment) had battalion HQ, 3 Rifle companies, 1 MG and Mortar company. #ORBATBoys

Good thread by @justinpykehistory.bsky.social‬, debunking myths about Japanese aviation, created by A.D.Harvey. In short: classical story about manipulation of facts and selective blindness, that could prove anything you want :(

Justin Pyke@justinpykehistory.bsky.social · 2mo ago

This thread is long overdue. There's an article in my field, one of the only published in a peer-reviewed journal in fact, that is so astonishingly bad and commonly cited that I need to warn people about it. I don't blame unassuming scholars for citing it. Expertise on Japanese aviation is rare.

US rifle company, June 1944 - my TO&E drawing. US infantry battalion had 3 Rifle companies, Bn HQ, HQ company, Heavy weapons company (.30 HMGs and 81mm mortars). #ORBATBoys

Polish rifle company organization 1939 - 2nd version of my TO&E drawing. Polish infantry battalion had 3 rifle companies, Bn HQ with signal platoon, MG company (12 HMGs, 2 mortars). #ORBATBoys

French infantry company, drawing of TO&E organization, 1940. Note, there were two versions of infantry platoons in French companies, both are shown here. @sammyflex.bsky.social - do you have any corrections? #ORBATBoys

Soviet Guards infantry rifle company, TO&E organization December 1944. "Ideal" late was Soviet infantry organization. One rifle platoon was converted into SMG platoon in order to increase company firepower after reduction of bayonet strength. #ORBATBoys

Italian rifle company, TO&E organization 1942. Hope this is the final version. Do you like it better than old version or not? Standard Italian infantry battalion of WW2 was composed of Battalion HQ, 3 rifle companies, 1 support weapons company (HMGs and 45mm mortars). #ORBATBoys

Polish rifle company organization 1939 - my TO&E drawing. Polish infantry battalion had 3 rifle companies, Bn HQ with signal platoon, MG company (12 HMGs, 2 mortars). #ORBATBoys