Armor unit ID booklet

**tomp** · 08-01-2019, 04:48 AM

Here is an example of techou used by a member of the 3rd Amphibious Brigade - tank unit. Armor unit booklets do not pop up all that often, and I feel very lucky to have found this as part of a small grouping out of Japan. Included in the grouping were several individual pictures, an armored unit photo, the techou, a small amulet pouch, and a post war unit history booklet (which, btw, would be a huge boon to researching soldier's names if there were a place on the internet that "housed" such post war unit histories). The tanker who used this booklet did not survive the war, unfortunately. If I remember correctly, he died en route to Hokkaido from the Kurils. The 3rd AB did garrison duty in the Kurils in 1944 and then came back to mainland Japan for defense in 1945, being dissolved and folded into another unit. Below are a few details from the techou:

The unit designation/personal information page has the following:
Asahikawa Division
Branch of service: Tanks
Speciality: motor vehicles/chemical gas
"Hokubu" 5 unit: 7th Division Recon. Regiment (at this time, recon. units had tankettes)
Rank: Superior Private

**tomp** · 08-01-2019, 04:55 AM

The history page is as follows:
Entered "Hokubu" 5 Unit: April 1, 1942
Promoted to Private, 1st Class: October 1, 1942
Became Superior Private Candidate: Oct. 3
Trained in chemical gas: Dec. 2 (I believe defensive, but may be other)
Promoted to Superior Private: April 1, 1943
At around this time, entered Hokubu 45 unit, which I believe is tank related
Left Asahikawa, Hokkaido: November 13, 1943
Arrived at Morioka, Japan: November 14, 1943 (which was for tank training, I believe)

**tomp** · 08-01-2019, 05:04 AM

The last page as you can see, is a little different, in that there is a separate loose sheet that should be pasted over part of the entries that are written into the booklet. The booklet entry spells out the unit designation, while the separated sheet goes into code designations for the same unit. The history continues on this last page:
Joined 3rd Amphibious Brigade, tank unit: March, 1944 (unit code on separate sheet: #12635)
Left Morioka: April 18, 1944
Arrived at Otaru, Hokkaido: April 19, 1944
Left Otaru by transport: May 7
Arrived in the North Kurils: May 22
Defended Shumshu Island: May 23
On Onekoton Island: June 26
On Paramushir Island: August 13
Promoted to Lance Corporal: Dec. 1, 1944 (I believe posthumously)

**tomp** · 08-01-2019, 05:07 AM

Here is a map (from WikiVoyage) where I circled the islands this tanker garrisoned while he was in the North Kurils. As you can imagine, probably lucky that his stint there was during the summer and not farther along in the year.

**tomp** · 08-01-2019, 05:12 AM

I believe the tank unit of the 3rd AB utilized 9 light tanks, but I do not have anything further concerning details of their armor.

Here is a picture of an armored related unit that came with the grouping, maybe for the 7th Recon Regt . As you can see, a few individuals in tank uniforms/helmets can be seen above the main group. Probably pretty easy to tell who the commander is in the first row of the photo.

**tomp** · 08-01-2019, 05:19 AM

As I wrote earlier, tanker/armor related booklets are not that common. It seems when you compare Japanese examples to armor related soldbucher, the Germans were up to their eyeballs in tanks and their corresponding ID booklets! I am always looking for armor related Japanese techou to add to my collection, as well as just to study. If anyone has any IJA armor examples that they would like to share from their own collection, I would be very interested in seeing them here, if possible. Thanks for your time.