Japanese Special Naval Landing Forces: Uniforms and equipment 1932–45

Gary Nila · Robert A. Rolfe

Dec 2011 · Bloomsbury Publishing

About this ebook

The Imperial Japanese Navy's Special Landing Force units enjoyed a reputation out of proportion to their small size. Often wrongly termed “Imperial Marines”, they were in fact sailors led by Naval officers, and traced their origins directly to landing parties from warships. Their true combat debut was at Shanghai in 1932; thereafter the SNLF expanded and fought in the assaults that followed Pearl Habor in 1941, and were dispersed as island garrisons during the Pacific campaigns. This book describes their uniforms and equipment in unprecedented detail, including color photos of original items from private collections.

About the author

Dr Stephen Bull worked for the National Army Museum and BBC in London before taking up his current post as Curator of Military History and Archaeology with Lancashire Museums. A consultant to the University of Oxford he is also a Member of the Institute for Archaeologists, and has made TV appearances that include the series Battlefield Detectives, news and archaeology features. Published on both sides of the Atlantic and in several languages, he is the author of a number of works for Osprey including titles on tactics in World War II. Dr Bull has been one of the key contributors to the accompanying television series screened in the United Kingdom and North America.

Impossible Pictures is an award-winning independent television production company led by Tim Haines, creator of the ground-breaking Walking With Dinosaurs. Other credits include Blitz Street, Primeval and the forthcoming Sinbad. www.impossiblepictures.co.uk