Follow-up to one of the books mentioned here
Imperial Japanese Army and Navy - Uniforms and Equipment
Title: Japanese Special Naval Landing Forces
Author: Gary Nila & Robert A Rolfe
Publisher: Osprey
Year: 2006
ISBN: 978 1 84603 100 7
Overall review: From the first few pages it becomes clear the publication is littered with factual errors and conjecture. The very small list of citations and lack of primary sources is concerning to say the least. Gary Nila, Robert A Rolfe and the other contributers fundamentally misunderstand what Special Naval Landing Forces are, asserting their role as elite troops tasked for difficult missions in spite of both Japanese records and wartime US intel clearly stating otherwise. The period photographs simply have too much false information and generally useless details about uniforms and equipment in the captions. The photographs of militaria are interesting, but generally lack detailed information and suffer from collector names as well as outright inaccuracies, such as wrong dates of introduction attached to many uniforms and pieces of equipment. The use of models was a nice concept, but it's execution left much to be desired, with major inaccuracies visible for every setup. For a book supposed to cover 1932-1945, info on the SNLF units raised during the Second Sino-Japanese War (which appear extensively in numerous photographs in the book) is almost totally absent. Nila and Rofle vastly overestimate the role SNLF troops played in the Pacific War, making mention of SNLF involvement in battles such as Iwo Jima and Okinawa despite no evidence for such claims. In conclusion, this is a very unsatisfactory book that I can't recommend to anyone wanting to learn about the Special Naval Landing Forces. The sheer amount of misinformation is simply not tolerable. Even for an Osprey Publication, the quality is notoriously low, most likely a result of hobbyist collectors without any credentials relevant to the subject attempting to play the role of historical authors.
Major Errors:
Period Photo Captions:
Page 5 - "Ozaki Unit, Shanghai 1934". Ozaki did not command an infantry unit until December 20th, 1937. This unit is mostly known for operations in Tsingtao, so the location of Shanghai is suspicious.
Page 7 - "Maizuru 1st SNLF, 1937". The uniforms are post 1937 regulation. The unit sign says Sugino Unit, who was commander of Kure 3rd SNLF between 1937-1939. Maizuru 1st SNLF did not exist until 1940.
Page 20 - "SNLF troops pose with their commanding officer in Shanghai,1934." The equipment and uniforms are not possible for 1934. Most notably many wear late pattern Type 38 pouches which did not exist until 1937. A soldier is noted as having a Bergman SMG, it is actually a Steyr-Solothurn S1-100, which were not seen in use until at least 1938.
Page 22 - "Troops of the Maizuru 1st SNLF pose in Hainan, China, in 1939... all the enlisted men hold the superior Type 99 rifle and all wear Type 99 pouches". As previously stated, the Maizuru 1st SNLF did not exist until 1940. All of them clearly have Type 38 rifles. There is no such item as Type 99 pouches.
Page 41 - "SNLF troops of the 81st security battalion". This is not possible, SNLF and "security battalion" are two distinct unit types. Security battalion is a somewhat unsatisfactory translation of keibitai, which is better described guard unit. The men depicted are the 81st Guard Unit, it has no relation to SNLF.
Models
Page A - The haversack is worn on the incorrect side, the helmet is tied incorrectly, the gaiters are worn on opposite sides.
Page B - Petty officers were not issued officer gaiters, the undershirt is worn incorrectly, the gas mask bag is in incorrect configuration, the canteen is not secured.
Page C - The date of 1942-45 is not possible for this uniform and equipment. It should be late 1943 to 1945. The canteen and mapcase are worn on incorrect sides for a naval officer.
Page D - This equipment is not appropriate for the date of 1940-45. The cap is late 1943 regulation, the gas mask bag is 1942. Body armor did not see significant use by the IJN aside from in Shanghai between 1936 and 1937. The configuration of gear is not correct for any IJN Type 89 user.
*This is just a list of major errors. About 50% or more of the period photos have incorrect information captioned. There are countless minor errors and inconsistencies present on every page in the book.
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by adachi
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