Wounded document

[schum]

I bought this document that I found interesting, although I don't know exactly what kind of document it is.

It looks like an award of the wounded medal and pension.
It seems that this soldier fought in some battle in China in early 1937 in 氷膛子 (not sure)(although the second Sino-Japanese war had not started yet) and suffered frostbite on his feet and fingers and had to be amputated.

Could anyone provide some information about the document. I would be very grateful.

Thanks in advance.

[Akira Komiya]

It is a petition dated May 25, 1939 sent by former infantry superior private 深澤一(Hajime Fukazawa) formerly of the 2nd Company, 49th Infantry Regiment to the then Army Minister Seishiro Itagaki (板垣征四郎) to be awarded the wound badge.
He had portions of both feet as well as some fingers on both hands amputated as the result of both wounds and frost bite sustained during operations against bandits (匪賊) in March 1937 so that he can only walk with the use of prosthetics and petitions the minister that he be awarded the wound badge. The second sheet is a facsimile of his pension certificate as proof that he was receiving a supplementary disability pension. (It was a condition of the award of the wound badge that the would/ailment was serious enough resulting in disability to entitle the recipient a supplemental disability pension.)
I don’t know the actual procedure leading to the awards of the wound badge but it seems that the petition was written as soon as the Pension Authorities adjudgment of his pension eligibility came out (the Pension Certificate is dated May 11, 1939) and since the Army and Pension Office are separate government offices, maybe the award was not automatic and one had to petition the army (or navy) in order to be awarded the wound badge.
However, the petition doesn’t seem to have been actually sent as there are no official incoming stamps indicating receipt of the petition by the Army.

[schum]

Thank you very much for the information.

Interesting note about the awarding of the wounded medal.

[Akira Komiya]

The topic was brought up in another forum (Wehrmacht Awards Forum) as to why soldiers who were known to have been wounded in action were never seen wearing the wound bade, and it turns out that in order to be eligible for the award, one had to become permanently handicapped so as to be admitted to a “廃兵院, Institute for Invalid Soldiers” or to qualify for a supplemental disability pension.
This is one major difference from the Purple Heart or the German Verwundetenabzeichen except that the criteria is similar to that for the awards of the German silver or gold wound badges for a single wound.

[schum]

It could be this where he was wounded: 冰趟子 / 氷蹚子

冰趟子戰役_百度百科

[Akira Komiya]

My PC blocks the site the link to which you pasted, but if it does say that 冰趟子 was the former 氷蹚子 in Manchukuo, then that must be the place where he suffered wounds/frostbite.　　The petition says that he sustained the wounds/frostbite during operations around 氷蹚子against "土匪, Dohi", indigenous bandits, but that could either be anti-Japan/Manchukuo resistance fighters, or real bandits.
Just as the Germans called partisans "Banden", bandits to avoid romanticizing them, the Japanese also called all irregular forces, "匪賊", hizoku, bandits or as in this case, "土匪", indigenous bandits. Manchuria was also infamous for its bands of bandits, particularly the mounted bandit bands, who even collected taxes in exchange for protection against other marauding bands of bandits, but since there is a Chinese site dedicated to the battle, it must have been the former.

[schum]

(google translator)

Battle of Bingtangzi

The Battle of Bingtanzi was a battle during the Anti-Japanese War. In early March 1937, Zhao Shangzhi, then commander of the 3rd Army of the Northeast Anti-Japanese Allied Forces, led a cavalry team of more than 200 people to encounter a Japanese and puppet army "punitive team" in the mountainous area at the junction of Hailun and Tongxian. Zhao Shangzhi decided to lead his troops in a narrow ravine called "Bingpanzi" near Tongbei County, setting up an ambush to defeat the pursuing Japanese troops. On the evening of March 7, Captain Morita of the Japanese Takeuchi Force led more than 700 Japanese and puppet troops into the ambush circle. Zhao Shangzhi gave an order, and the Northeast Anti-Alliance Forces rifles and machine guns opened fire. The enemy cannot stand on the mirror-smooth ice, let alone organize a counterattack, and can only be beaten passively. In the early morning of the 8th, the remaining Japanese and puppet troops, who had spent the night lying on the glacier at temperatures of minus 30 to 40 degrees Celsius, withdrew toward the mouth of the mire. They were blocked by Zhao Shangzhi's blocking troops at the mouth of the mire, resulting in heavy casualties. During the Bingtanzi battle, Zhao Shangzhi's troops killed more than 200 Japanese and puppet troops and injured and frostbitten more than 100 people, while only 7 people from the Northeast Anti-Japanese Anti-Japanese Forces were killed. A classic example of guerrilla warfare.

[Akira Komiya]

Yes, this must have been the battle; Takeuchi Unit “竹内部隊” - to camouflage the unit’s identity, the Japanese military referred to units by their commander’s name, the 49th Infantry Regiment was commanded by Colonel Hiroshi Takeuchi “竹内寛” from August 1, 1936 to August 14, 1937. 歩兵第49連隊 - Wikipedia
Also, I did recognize Tongbei County as “通北縣” and now that the reading “Bingtanzi” has been pointed out to me, I can also identify it with the location of the action 冰趟子.
The document is indeed an interesting document showing the steps required for one to receive the wound badge and one can only wonder why it was apparently never sent. I forgot to mention it in my earlier post, but the red stamp on the petition is not that of Mr. Fukazawa, the petitioner, but of the village’s office, making it a semi-official document.
On June 6, 1939 a special exception was made to the regulations for awarding the wound badge so that for wounds or illnesses sustained or contracted on or after July 7, 1937 that resulted in obvious disabilities, the badge could be awarded without having to await the adjudgment of the pension office, and although this case predates such by a few months, that may be the reason the petition was not sent as being unnecessary.