Takeshita Naval Landing Force Commemorative Album

[adachi]

I've been searching for this one for a while and finally got my hands on it. Although not a very important unit in the grand scheme of things, this is a very important material for my research on the tactical organization of Naval Landing Forces. This album is for Takeshita Unit, a Naval Landing Force that covertly served in China for training from late 1940 until mid 1941, while officially attached to their base at Yokosuka. Takeshita Unit is properly known as the Yokosuka 1st Special Naval Landing Force, the album acknowledges this was actually the third generation, the first being the 5th Battalion of the Shanghai Naval Landing Force commanded by Minoru Ota in 1932, and the second being a unit with the same name that was formed in 1937 and served in the Battle of Shanghai, Capture of Tsingtao, and cleanup operations around the northern coast of China before being disbanded in late 1939, also commanded by Takeshita Nobutoyo. I guess the Yokosuka 1st SNLF in 1927 was too far back to be mentioned in the album, but moving on. Takeshita Nobutoyo was quite an excellent infantry officer and probably the only one to command two separate units with the same name. Unfortunately for Takeshita, he was appointed commander of the 36th Guard Unit on the island of Negros in the Philippines on October 1st, 1944, and was killed in action (by an air raid I believe) no more than three weeks later.


The album cover, reading "Holy War Commemorative Album, Showa 16 (1941), Naval Takeshita Unit"


The man himself, Takeshita Nobutoyo, at the time ranked commander. Him and many others in the unit didn't feel like spending money on new uniforms after the May 1940 regulations came into effect, so they simply took their rank epaulets off, still leaving the loops, and replaced them with collar insignia.


One of the unit's many platoons. Finally we can see SNLF making use of the Type 96 light machine gun, which had been totally absent from their operations in the 1930's. They are also well-equipped with many Type 89 heavy grenade dischargers. It was almost impossible to see more than one per platoon in the 1930's. One man (perhaps the platoon runner) holds a Type Su (Steyr Solothurn S1-100 machinepistol/SMG). According to US Intel this type of platoon organization was first drafted sometime in 1939 and meant to be the new standard, but ultimately proved to be nothing more than experimental and was not repeated in the Pacific War.

There's many more photos of interest in this album which I will get around to scanning/photographing later on.
On a sidenote there's many other similar albums I'm after for my research, if you have one please let me know.

[Sporter90]

The way how they carried combat loads, the shoulder epaulets were worn off very quickly. That's why they preferred collar insignia.

[adachi]

The epaulets are an interesting matter. Despite the regulation change in May 1940, adherence was not very good, especially in pre-existing units. The Maizuru 1st SNLF for example, which was formed only about a month after the new regulation came into effect practiced nearly zero adherence. The collar tabs also presented their own issues as the straps would cover them and thus they effectively suffered from the same issue of equipment damaging them.


Maizuru 1st SNLF company commanders in 1941.


Also for those interested in swords, the old pattern sabers were still alive and well among infantry units in 1941, as seen by this company commander in the Yokosuka 1st SNLF, and he was far from the only one in the unit carrying a saber.

[Sporter90]

It's the older and higher ranking officers 先輩 who had the sabers. They outranked the newer guys with the Shingunto.

[adachi]

Bringing this thread back from the dead, hope nobody minds. I finally got around to digitizing the album in its entirety. The camera equipment and editing required is a little more than I anticipated but I'm slowly getting the hang of it. Lots of interesting photos, officer info, unit roster, etc. Here's a couple preview pics as well. The full thing is on my website.
海軍陸戦隊史保存会 - 海軍竹下部隊

[Gewehr98]

Bringing this thread back from the dead, hope nobody minds. I finally got around to digitizing the album in its entirety. The camera equipment and editing required is a little more than I anticipated but I'm slowly getting the hang of it. Lots of interesting photos, officer info, unit roster, etc. Here's a couple preview pics as well. The full thing is on my website.
海軍陸戦隊史保存会 - 海軍竹下部隊

Oh wow, is that some sort of amtrack clone on page 36?

[Long Shot]

Followed your link to the website and reviewed the album in detail, page by page, and it is nothing short of stunning! I soooo appreciate your sharing this history treasure box with the community - especially for those who want to know more about the SNLF troops in China. The photo's are amazing and I learned so much by slowly soaking in the details of them. It is amazing the amount of gear the individual soldier and officers carried and the support equip and weapons this force brought with them - all via manpower


David

[adachi]

Oh wow, is that some sort of amtrack clone on page 36?

It does look like one from that angle. The caption just says "small vessel", so I think it's one of the many types of vessels the army and navy utilized in coastal and riverine operations in China. I really need to study up on them more. I also like the small detail that the vessel gunner and crewmen don't wear helmet covers while the rest of the men do.

Followed your link to the website and reviewed the album in detail, page by page, and it is nothing short of stunning! I soooo appreciate your sharing this history treasure box with the community - especially for those who want to know more about the SNLF troops in China. The photo's are amazing and I learned so much by slowly soaking in the details of them. It is amazing the amount of gear the individual soldier and officers carried and the support equip and weapons this force brought with them - all via manpower


David

Thank you for your kind comments. I am really glad others can enjoy these photos. There are similar commemorative books/albums for SNLF in the Pacific as well, very hard to find, but I will keep searching and make them available for the world to see.