TO&E drawing, Japanese Infantry Company and Assault Company, IJA infantry regiment Type 1, 1945

On 28 February 1945 Imperial Japanese Army introduced new TO&Es for the divisions to be formed for the Homeland defense.

 

Type 1 infantry regiments were for the "Coastal Deployment Divisions" (沿岸配備師団) to defend the coastline proper (Type 2 infantry regiments were to be formed for the "Mobile Striking Divisions" (機動打撃師団), intended to counter-attack US forces, that landed on the Japanese Islands).

 

For static coast defense firepower was preferred over maneuverability. Each infantry company had 6 machine guns and 2 battalion guns – on par with some Japanese infantry battalions. Each of first three infantry battalions of Type 1 infantry regiment had 3 such companies and 1 infantry gun company (armed with any guns IJA could find, including old tank guns, installed in tank turrets).

But Japanese refused to abandon the ground rule of their tactics, that defense must be active. That’s why they’ve created smaller assault company for local counter-attacks against landings. Each of first three infantry battalions of Type 1 infantry regiment received 1 assault company, while fourth battalion of the regiment was entirely composed of 3 such companies.

 

Squad organization of those companies was different from the standard IJA infantry organization.

First of all, in 1945 the Infantry Training Inspectorate published "Infantry Combat Training", which officially introduced the so-called "group tactics". Now rifle squads were to be made up of groups with its own designated leaders. Also grenade discharger groups now could be attached to the rifle squads, which was not allowed before.

Second, squads in companies of Type 1 infantry regiments were smaller, then standard IJA infantry squads. Compared to standard 13-men squad assault companies had only 10 men in squads, while infantry companies had only 7 men (TO&E note prescribed 8 men and 7 rifles in each rifles squad, but detailed organization research shows such number of men was impossible to maintain while such number of rifles was simply unavailable in TO&E).

Third, rifle squad of assault company was unique, as it had no LMG, but instead had SMG and grenade discharger. And from the TO&E it seems, that IJA still treated SMG as “mini-LMG”, because it was not just crewed with LMG-men, but there were 2 of them – so SMG wasn’t personal, but crew-served weapon.

TO&E drawing, Japanese Infantry Company, IJA infantry regiment Type 2, 1945

On 28 February 1945 Imperial Japanese Army introduced new TO&Es for the divisions to be formed for the Homeland defense. 

Type 2 infantry regiments were to be formed for the "Mobile Striking Divisions" (機動打撃師団), intended to counter-attack US forces, that landed on the Japanese Islands (Type 1 infantry regiments were for the "Coastal Deployment Divisions" (沿岸配備師団) to defend the coastline proper).

Besides increased number of grenade dischargers, company and platoon organization of the new company was roughly similar to the standard infantry company organization from 1940.

But squad organization was a bit different. In 1945, the Infantry Training Inspectorate published "Infantry Combat Training", which officially introduced the so-called "group tactics". Now rifle squads were to be made up of 4, and grenade discharger squads - of 3 groups with its own designated leaders. Also grenade discharger groups now could be attached to the rifle squads, which was not allowed before (probably that was the reason for the increase of the number of grenade discharger teams in the squad). 

TO&E drawing of the infantry company of the Imperial Japanese Army 1940-1945

 TO&E drawing of the infantry company of infantry regiment of the Imperial Japanese Army according to the 1940 and 1943 mobilization plans.

This was the standard organization of Japanese infantry during 1940-1945. 

Compared to 1936 plan, strength of rifle platoons was reduced, but company services were increased in number. Number of firearms was also reduced: LMG gunners and loaders lost their pistols while grenade discharge gunners lost their rifles.

TO&E drawing of the draft of the new organization of the infantry company of the Type “A” IJA infantry regiment, 1936

 TO&E drawing of the draft of the new organization of the infantry company of the Type “A” infantry regiment of the Imperial Japanese Army, based on the 1936 document, acquired by the Soviet intelligence.

After few changes during 1937-39 this will become the standard organization, in which IJA infantry fought till the end of the Pacific War in 1945.

I’ve made 2 versions: one based on symbols of my own design, another based on NATO symbols with my symbols added.

TO&E drawing of the infantry company of the Type “A” IJA infantry regiment, 1936

TO&E drawing of the infantry company of the Type “A” infantry regiment of the Imperial Japanese Army, based on the original TO&E from Mobilization plan for 1937, approved in 1936. This is the organization in which IJA infantry went to war with China in 1937.

Organization of the infantry company of the Type “B” infantry regiments, which were formed on mobilization (they didn’t existed in peace-time), was essentially the same, but with only 4 grenade dischargers: which means two of three grenade discharger squads had only 1 grenade discharger each.

For purists: grenade discharger squads were not considered squads in IJA manuals (only “groups” or “units”). Probably that was the reason they were not led by non-commissioned officers.

Note, that IJA TO&Es does not provide detailed organization below company level – only general guidance and overall number of specialist personnel. That’s why some guesstimation was involved in making this TO&E.

I’ve made two versions of the TO&E drawing: one, based on well-known NATO symbols, another, based on symbols of my own design, which shows details on individual armament and special assignments.

UPDATE: Added another version of the TO&E drawing, combining NATO and mine symbols.

Click on the drawing to enlarge it.

Ukrainian People's Republic Army Infantry Regiment - December 1918 TOE organization

 

Infantry Regiment TOE, authorized on 31 December 1918, was the basic organization of the infantry of the Army of the Ukrainian People's Republic in 1918-1919.

Authors of the TOE tried to make organization, based on experience of the WW 1. But due to the lack of weapons (especially LMGs), equipment and trained personnel actual organization of the regiments never corresponded to the TOE.

That's why in May 1919 it was officially ordered not to form 4th (regimental) machine-gun companies, “Lewis” machine-gun platoons in infantry companies, foot reconnaissance and sapper-chemical companies in all infantry regiments.

Anime "Fuku-chan's Submarine" = Fuku-chan no Sensuikan = フクチャンの潜水艦 (1944)

Fuku-chan is a character from the comic strip of the same name by Ryuichi Yokoyama, which was so popular that it was published from 1936 until 1971.

During the Pacific war Fuku-chan obviously "went to war", appearing in three military animes.

In the anime "Fuku-chan's Submarine" (1944), he and his friends serve on the submarine "I-1" and dashingly defeat US enemies.

See full anime below:

Mind you, that’s not ordinary propaganda cartoon. I don't know, who studied the IJN submarines so thoroughly when creating it - but in this anime you can see a lot of details of service on a submarine: from attacking an enemy convoy to cooking in the galley, from a duel with an enemy submarine to replenishing supplies.

Cartoon shows many details. For example, after refueling the submarine, the hose is not simply disconnected - a cap is put on the fuel neck, and the pit with the neck is closed with a special hatch. It feels like the anime authors had a real submariner as a consultant.

  

The purely artistic part is also interesting. With primitive graphics (the norm in anime of that time), two combat missions with a lot of details were packed into half an hour. The characters does not look primitive, despite the fact that there are almost no dialogues in the anime. The almost complete absence of PATHOS!!!! in a product of military propaganda is also interesting. Not once characters cry ubique "Banzai!".

 

For the anime fans I will add, that for the first time in the history of Japanese anime all songs were specifically written for this anime, and not taken from somewhere else. Yes, the entire anime music industry traces its lineage to "Fuku-chan's Submarine".

The song about the submarine galley (潜水艦の台所) is still sung by Japanese submariners:

Also this anime shows you the coolest picture of the "Big Ben" - US aircraft carrier USS "Franklin" (CV-13):