Japanese items

[ghp95134]

...translates into 独立速射砲第九大隊 or 9th Independent Rapid-firing Gun Battalion, a part of the 109th Division on Iwo. ...

Found this Order of Battle for the Ogasawara Corps; 109th Division, 31 Dec 1944

小笠原兵団長　陸軍中将　栗林忠道 (26)
　　小笠原兵団司令部
　　第一〇九師団
　　　 混成第一聯隊
　　 　重砲兵第九聯隊
　　　 父島陸軍病院
　　歩兵第一四五聯隊
　　独立混成第一二聯隊
　　独立混成第一七聯隊
　　独立歩兵第二七四大隊
　　独立歩兵第二七五大隊
　　独立歩兵第二七六大隊
　　独立機関銃第一大隊
　　独立機関銃第二大隊
　　独立速射砲第八大隊
　　独立速射砲第九大隊
　　独立速射砲第一〇大隊
　　独立速射砲第一一大隊
　　独立速射砲第一二大隊
　　戦車第二六聯隊
　　中迫撃第二大隊
　　中迫撃第三大隊
　　独立迫撃第一中隊
　　独立臼砲第二〇大隊
　　特設第二〇機関砲隊
　　特設第二一機関砲隊
　　特設第四三機関砲隊
　　特設第四四機関砲隊
　　特設第四五機関砲隊
　　特設第四六機関砲隊
　　野戦作井第二一中隊
　　要塞建築勤務第五中隊

Click the "English Version" link and get this:

Ogasawara Corp Commanding Officer
　　　LtG Kuribayashi Tadamichi (26)
　　Ogasawara Corp Headquarter
　　The 109th Division
　　　 The 1st Mixed Regiment
　　 　The 9th Heavy Artillery Regiment
　　　 Chichi Jima Army Hospital
　　The 145th Infantry Regiment
　　The 12th Independent Mixed Regiment
　　The 17th Independent Mixed Regiment
　　The 274th Independent Infantry Battalion
　　The 275th Independent Infantry Battalion
　　The 276th Independent Infantry Battalion
　　The 1st Independent Machinegun Battalion
　　The 2nd Independent Machinegun Battalion
　　The 8th Independent Rapid Firing Battalion
　　The 9th Independent Rapid Firing Battalion
　　The 10th Independent Rapid Firing Battalion
　　The 11th Independent Rapid Firing Battalion
　　The 12th Independent Rapid Firing Battalion
　　The 26th Tank Regiment
　　The 2nd Medium Trench Mortar Battalion
　　The 3rd Medium Trench Mortar Battalion
　　The 1st Independent Trench Mortar Company
　　The 20th Independent Mortar Battalion
　　The 20th Specially Established Machin Cannon Unit
　　The 21st Specially Established Machin Cannon Unit
　　The 43rd Specially Established Machin Cannon Unit
　　The 44th Specially Established Machin Cannon Unit
　　The 45th Specially Established Machin Cannon Unit
　　The 46th Specially Established Machin Cannon Unit
　　The 21st Field Well Drilling Company
　　The 5th Fortress Construction Duty Company

---Guy

[RH1941]

I don't know but I would not want to be on the wrong end of that

[RH1941]

Guy very cool thank you. I love it when one little piece of history can teach you so much

[Nick Komiya]

Regarding the author of the card, the Iwo Jima Association records casualties of the 9th Battalion as 238 with 0 survivors.

[tomp]

I have always had issues with how to most accurately translate that unit kanji: 速射砲
I have viewed these units as anti-tank units, so would the reading of this kanji be closer to that of "high velocity" artillery, i.e. punching through tank armor, or is it speaking more to the cyclical nature of loading the gun, in essence throwing lots of rounds down range in little time?


Tom

[Nick Komiya]

速射砲 was an antitank gun. Called a rapid firing gun, because it only took 40 to 80 seconds to fire it upon sighting a tank. They also boasted a high rate of fire against stationary targets which could reach 20 rounds/minute. The Type 1 47mm anti-tank gun is a typical example

Rounds could penetrate armour plating of 3.7 cm thickness at a range of 1300 meters, but the M4 Sherman had max armour of 7.5 cm and minimum of 2.5 cm, so you really had to be lucky with the location of the hit to incapacitate a M4 with the gun. In the Battle of Okinawa, barely 5 Shermans out of 30 could be knocked out by the 47mm anti-tank gun. But even that was only possible by drawing the tanks within a range of 300 meters, which fully exposed the gun crew.

The Type 1 was designed to be drawn by trucks and other vehicles to make it a mobile gun, for which Independent Rapid Firing Gun Battalions were organized, while earlier rapid firing guns used to be limited to infantry units.

[tomp]

Excellent information! Thanks, Nick!



Tom