Paratrooper Belt

[byBen]

Hello,
Just picked up this belt as buy it now since i saw the code 9945 for the 1 raiding regiment, Could someone do a translation for me???? I would also be interested in the unit history where this guy was etc.

Thanks already.
- Ben

[SHEMP H]

Ben,looks like you have a nice IJA officers sword belt and sword hanger not a paratrooper belt, sorry I can't help with the tag but I'm sure someone will swing by to help you with it.

[byBen]

Bill,
thanks for your reply glad you like it... i said paratrooper since the code 9945 on the tag translates to the 1 raiding group/regiment... lets see who comes along and knows more about it

- Ben

[Nick Komiya]

When you came up with the repurposed postwar umbrella tag, I was afraid you lost it, but with this one, you hit the jackpot, as it is indeed a sword belt for a paratroops officer.

The tag reads 空九九四五、陸軍准尉、清水保郎　O (Sky 9945 Army Warrant Officer Yasurou Shimizu Blood type O) and 9945 stood for the First Paratroops Regiment.

Stitching the tag onto sword belts was a very typical way for officers to wear their tags, so the combination is a good sign of authenticity.

The timing of your request is also fortuitous, as only last night I was browsing through my PC files and noticed I had saved an officer's roster for IJA paras and moved it to my desktop for further study today, when I saw your request.

The 1st Paras had two warrant officers, one at Rgt. HQ and another in the 1st Comp. However, because the status of warrant officer wandered between NCO and officer for some time before finally gaining full officer privileges, Shimizu's name is not in the officer's roster shown below.

Another point I haven't yet gotten my head around is why the kanji code on top is 空, which is actually the code for the 第五一航空師団, the 51st Aviation Division. Paras are more famously associated with the code 鸞, the phoenix, which seems to have only come in 1944.

The first paras were supposed to be in the famous Indonesian oil field raid, but because most of their gear got lost in a freighter sinking and a double whammy of a paratyphoid cluster (pun intended) within the unit, they had to bail out (another pun intended) and the 2nd Paras got the honor of making the IJA's first combat jump.

　

[byBen]

Nick,
Thank you so much, again like so often, im glad you like the Belt... Saw it on ebay newly Listed already had 2 watchers so i knew there was no time to ask somebody before its gone... So i bought it... Im glad i did the right move.

Anyway, so you mean there is a possibility this guy was at the first ever IJA Paratrooper Jump????
And its probably a very early belt + tag is what im also gleaning from your text????

I should also mention i bought it from seller in Tokio, Japan... So where the units HQ was.

- Ben

[Nick Komiya]

No, even had he been a member of the first paras from the formation, he would have missed the famous drop, because of the paratyphoid pandemic and loss of equipment at sea.

The code 9945 would have been in use from the start, but how early this tag is depends on when the "sky" code applied as a prefix, which I am not going to spend time unravelling and leave as your homework.

[byBen]

Ah ok, i twisted something in my head... I see he was in the 1st para regiment not 2nd regiment... Ok still neat belt + tag.

Thank you Nick, as always good work.

- Ben

[Razorback76]

Jackpot!!

[Geoff Ward]

Nice Find Ben Congrats!

Geoff

[Rod]

Outstanding find Ben! First '1st Air Raiding Regt.' tag I've seen.

It appears air raiding units used 空 to differentiate from non-air raiding units within the Raiding Group. There's some evidence the others used katakana ラン "Ran" for code name.

Link to 9 more raiding group tags that from time to time arose from the ether, mostly from the 3rd Air Raiding Regt.

Japanese Army 1st Raiding Group Dog Tags (Paratrooper and Ancillary)