This comprehensive and fascinating title describes and illustrates the
armies of Japan's Asian allies in World War II, and includes rare and
previously unpublished wartime photographs.
During the Japanese occupation of large parts of Asia and the Pacific in
1941--45, Japan raised significant numbers of troops to fight alongside
them, as well as militias to guard their conquests. The total number of
these soldiers is estimated at no fewer than 600,000 men. These ranged
from the regular troops of Manchukuo (200,000 men), Nanking China
(250,000), Thailand, and recruits from the puppet Burmese Independence
Army (30,000) and Indian National Army (40,000), to constabularies and
spear-wielding militias in the Philippines (15,000), Borneo, Indonesia,
and New Guinea.
Many of the recruits from former European colonies hoped for
independence as part of the "Greater East-Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere"
proclaimed by Japanese propaganda, but Japan's intentions were entirely
cynical. They formed alliances to deny the Allied powers access to
territory that they could not actually occupy, and raised these large
numbers of auxiliary troops to relieve the manpower burden of
occupation, or simply as "cannon-fodder."
This extensively researched study examines each of these armies and
militias in detail, exploring their history and deployment during World
War II, and revealing the intricacies of their arms and equipment with
stunning full-color artwork and previously unpublished contemporary
photographs.
