Forty George. The Japanese Army Handbook 1939 - 1945

Stroud: Sutton Publishing. 2003. — 288 p. — ISBN 0750931965This is an insight into the most feared army of World War II. The Japanese Imperial Army grew from 1.5 million men in 1939 to 5.5 million men by the end of the war. Their highly successful campaigns in the Far East and the Pacific at the beginning of World War II were every bit as spectacular as those of the Germans in Europe, and they earned an enviable reputation as expert jungle fighters which it took some years for the Allies to match. Their code of honour also made them extremely cruel enemies to prisoners and civilians alike, while their Kamikaze suicidal tendencies meant they would automatically fight to the last without any thought of surrender. Fully illustrated with rare archive photographs, this is a comprehensive study of the army. The author describes how they mobilized and trained their soldiers, and looks at their organizational structures, from high command down to divisional level and below. Also included are uniforms, equipment, all kinds of weapons ranging from tanks and artillery, technical equipment, tactics, symbology and vehicle markings.
First published July 1, 1999
George Forty OBE served for thirty years as a British army officer in the Royal Tank Regiment before becoming curator of the Bovington Tank Museum, where he was the inspiration for its growth in the 1980s and 1990s. His first book was on the Desert Rats (with whom he served postwar) and were published by Ian Allan in 1976; since then he has written over fifty more, including Patton’s Third Army at War, and handbooks of the World War II armies of Britain, Japan, and the United States.