Giretsu
Encyclopedia
was an airborne special forces
unit of the Imperial Japanese Army
formed from Army paratroopers
, in November 1944 as a last-ditch attempt to reduce and delay Allied
bombing raids on the Japanese home islands
. The Giretsu Special Forces unit was commanded by Lieutenant General
Michio Sugahara.
strategic bomber
s began attacks on Tokyo
from bases in the Mariana Islands
, the 1st Raiding Brigade of the Teishin Shudan
was ordered to form a commando
unit for a “special operations” mission to attack and destroy the bombers on the Aslito Airfield
on Saipan. Captain Michiro Okuyama, commander of the Brigade's engineering company and trained in sabotage
and demolition
was selected as mission leader, and he selected an additional 126 men from his own team (1st Teishin-Dan 1st Regiment 4th Company) to form the first Giretsu Airborne Unit. It was initially organized with a command section and five platoons and one independent squad, based at the IJA air academy at Saitama
. The group unit also included eight intelligence officer
s and two radio men from the Nakano School
.
s.
. After the Marianas raid was cancelled plans were made to attack airfields on Iwo Jima captured by the United States Marine Corps
in March, but these too were cancelled when the Iwo Jima garrison fell
.
On 1 April, US forces landed on Okinawa, and American fighters based on Okinawa's west coast intercepted and shot down many kamikaze
aircraft attacking the American fleet. In the middle of April, the Sixth Air Army requested the deployment the Giretsu Special Forces to neutralize these airfields, in what was designated "Operation Gi-gou". On 18 May, this was authorized.
On the night of 24 May 1945, 12 Ki-21-IIb
s of Daisan Dokuritsu Hikotai ("3rd Independent Squadron": 32 crew members commanded by Captain Chuichi Suwabe) were dispatched for a strike, each with 14 commandos. Eight were assigned to Yontan
and four to Kadena
. Four aircraft aborted the mission with engine problems, and three more were shot down, however five managed to crash-land at Yontan airfield during the confusion caused by a diversionary attack by some 50 IJAAF and IJN bombers and fighters.
Only one plane landed successfully. About 10 surviving raiders, armed with submachine gun
s and various explosives then wreaked havoc on the supplies and nearby aircraft, destroyed 70,000 gallons of fuel and nine aircraft, and damaged 29 more before being annihilated by the defenders. One survivor joined the Thirty-Second Army Headquarters around 12 June.
A second large-scale attack on bases in the Marianas with the specific intent of destroying B-29 Superfortress bombers was again planned with 60 transports and 900 commandos for the nights of 19-23 August 1945 (Operation Ken-gou). On 15 August, Japan surrendered
and the operation was canceled.
s, Type 99 rifle
s, Type 99 light machine gun
s, and Type 30 bayonet
s, Type 89 Grenade Discharger
s, Type 99 Grenade
s and Type 99 mine
s, as well as Type 94 8 mm Pistols.
Special forces
Special forces, or special operations forces are terms used to describe elite military tactical teams trained to perform high-risk dangerous missions that conventional units cannot perform...
unit of the Imperial Japanese Army
Imperial Japanese Army
-Foundation:During the Meiji Restoration, the military forces loyal to the Emperor were samurai drawn primarily from the loyalist feudal domains of Satsuma and Chōshū...
formed from Army paratroopers
Teishin Shudan
was a Japanese special forces/airborne unit during World War II. The unit was a division-level force, and was part of the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force...
, in November 1944 as a last-ditch attempt to reduce and delay Allied
Allies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
bombing raids on the Japanese home islands
Japanese Archipelago
The , which forms the country of Japan, extends roughly from northeast to southwest along the northeastern coast of the Eurasia mainland, washing upon the northwestern shores of the Pacific Ocean...
. The Giretsu Special Forces unit was commanded by Lieutenant General
Lieutenant General
Lieutenant General is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages where the title of Lieutenant General was held by the second in command on the battlefield, who was normally subordinate to a Captain General....
Michio Sugahara.
History
After USAAF B-29 SuperfortressB-29 Superfortress
The B-29 Superfortress is a four-engine propeller-driven heavy bomber designed by Boeing that was flown primarily by the United States Air Forces in late-World War II and through the Korean War. The B-29 was one of the largest aircraft to see service during World War II...
strategic bomber
Strategic bomber
A strategic bomber is a heavy bomber aircraft designed to drop large amounts of ordnance onto a distant target for the purposes of debilitating an enemy's capacity to wage war. Unlike tactical bombers, which are used in the battle zone to attack troops and military equipment, strategic bombers are...
s began attacks on Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
from bases in the Mariana Islands
Mariana Islands
The Mariana Islands are an arc-shaped archipelago made up by the summits of 15 volcanic mountains in the north-western Pacific Ocean between the 12th and 21st parallels north and along the 145th meridian east...
, the 1st Raiding Brigade of the Teishin Shudan
Teishin Shudan
was a Japanese special forces/airborne unit during World War II. The unit was a division-level force, and was part of the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force...
was ordered to form a commando
Commando
In English, the term commando means a specific kind of individual soldier or military unit. In contemporary usage, commando usually means elite light infantry and/or special operations forces units, specializing in amphibious landings, parachuting, rappelling and similar techniques, to conduct and...
unit for a “special operations” mission to attack and destroy the bombers on the Aslito Airfield
Saipan International Airport
- See also :* East Field * USAAF in the Central Pacific-References:* Dorr, Robert F. B-29 Units of World War II. Botley, Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing, 2002. ISBN 1-84176-285-7...
on Saipan. Captain Michiro Okuyama, commander of the Brigade's engineering company and trained in sabotage
Sabotage
Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening another entity through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. In a workplace setting, sabotage is the conscious withdrawal of efficiency generally directed at causing some change in workplace conditions. One who engages in sabotage is...
and demolition
Demolition
Demolition is the tearing-down of buildings and other structures, the opposite of construction. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction, which involves taking a building apart while carefully preserving valuable elements for re-use....
was selected as mission leader, and he selected an additional 126 men from his own team (1st Teishin-Dan 1st Regiment 4th Company) to form the first Giretsu Airborne Unit. It was initially organized with a command section and five platoons and one independent squad, based at the IJA air academy at Saitama
Saitama Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of the island of Honshu. The capital is the city of Saitama.This prefecture is part of the Greater Tokyo Area, and most of Saitama's cities can be described as suburbs of Tokyo, to which a large amount of residents commute each day.- History...
. The group unit also included eight intelligence officer
Intelligence officer
An intelligence officer is a person employed by an organization to collect, compile and/or analyze information which is of use to that organization...
s and two radio men from the Nakano School
Nakano School
The was the primary training center for military intelligence operations by the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II.-History:The Imperial Japanese Army had always placed a high priority on the use of unconventional military tactics...
.
Tactics
The Giretsu operations were to be undertaken at night, beginning with air strikes by bombers. After this, commando units would be inserted onto the target airfield by crash landing their transports. The fact that there was no provision for extraction of the strike force, along with the rejection of surrender in Japanese military doctrine at the time, meant that Giretsu operations were intended as suicide attackSuicide attack
A suicide attack is a type of attack in which the attacker expects or intends to die in the process.- Historical :...
s.
Operations
The attack against the Marianas was scheduled for 24 December 1944, but was called off after American raids damaged the planned refueling airfields on Iwo JimaIwo Jima
Iwo Jima, officially , is an island of the Japanese Volcano Islands chain, which lie south of the Ogasawara Islands and together with them form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The island is located south of mainland Tokyo and administered as part of Ogasawara, one of eight villages of Tokyo...
. After the Marianas raid was cancelled plans were made to attack airfields on Iwo Jima captured by the United States Marine Corps
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
in March, but these too were cancelled when the Iwo Jima garrison fell
Battle of Iwo Jima
The Battle of Iwo Jima , or Operation Detachment, was a major battle in which the United States fought for and captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Empire of Japan. The U.S...
.
On 1 April, US forces landed on Okinawa, and American fighters based on Okinawa's west coast intercepted and shot down many kamikaze
Kamikaze
The were suicide attacks by military aviators from the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, designed to destroy as many warships as possible....
aircraft attacking the American fleet. In the middle of April, the Sixth Air Army requested the deployment the Giretsu Special Forces to neutralize these airfields, in what was designated "Operation Gi-gou". On 18 May, this was authorized.
On the night of 24 May 1945, 12 Ki-21-IIb
Mitsubishi Ki-21
The was a Japanese bomber during World War II. It began operations during the Second Sino-Japanese War participating in the Nomonhan Incident, and in the first stages of the Pacific War, including the Malayan, Burmese, Dutch East Indies and New Guinea Campaigns...
s of Daisan Dokuritsu Hikotai ("3rd Independent Squadron": 32 crew members commanded by Captain Chuichi Suwabe) were dispatched for a strike, each with 14 commandos. Eight were assigned to Yontan
Yomitan, Okinawa
is a village located in Nakagami District, Okinawa, Japan. As of 30 September 2005, the village has an official population of 38,532. The total area is 35.17 km²....
and four to Kadena
Kadena, Okinawa
is a town located in Nakagami District, Okinawa, Japan.As of 2005, the town has an estimated population of 13,624 and a density of 915.9 persons per km². The total area is 15.04 km². Approximately 85% of the town is controlled by the US Government including Kadena Air Base, the second-largest...
. Four aircraft aborted the mission with engine problems, and three more were shot down, however five managed to crash-land at Yontan airfield during the confusion caused by a diversionary attack by some 50 IJAAF and IJN bombers and fighters.
Submachine gun
A submachine gun is an automatic carbine, designed to fire pistol cartridges. It combines the automatic fire of a machine gun with the cartridge of a pistol. The submachine gun was invented during World War I , but the apex of its use was during World War II when millions of the weapon type were...
s and various explosives then wreaked havoc on the supplies and nearby aircraft, destroyed 70,000 gallons of fuel and nine aircraft, and damaged 29 more before being annihilated by the defenders. One survivor joined the Thirty-Second Army Headquarters around 12 June.
A second large-scale attack on bases in the Marianas with the specific intent of destroying B-29 Superfortress bombers was again planned with 60 transports and 900 commandos for the nights of 19-23 August 1945 (Operation Ken-gou). On 15 August, Japan surrendered
Surrender of Japan
The surrender of Japan in 1945 brought hostilities of World War II to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy was incapable of conducting operations and an Allied invasion of Japan was imminent...
and the operation was canceled.
Uniforms and equipment
Giretsu personnel wore special hand-made camouflage uniforms and carried special equipment. Most were armed with Type 100 submachine gunType 100 submachine gun
The was a Japanese submachine gun used during World War II, and the only submachine gun produced by Japan in any quantity. It was made in two basic variants referred to by American and British observers as the Type 100/40 and the Type 100/44, the latter also known as the Type 100...
s, Type 99 rifle
Type 99 Rifle
The was a bolt-action rifle of the Arisaka design used by the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II.-History:During the Second Sino-Japanese War in the 1930s, the Japanese soon found that the 8×57mm IS cartridge the Chinese used was superior to the 6.5×50mm cartridge of the Type 38 rifle,...
s, Type 99 light machine gun
Type 99 Light Machine Gun
The was a light machine gun used by the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II. -History and development:The Type 96 Light Machine Gun, an improvement over the previous Type 11 Light Machine Gun was introduced into combat service in 1936, and quickly proved to be a versatile weapon to provide...
s, and Type 30 bayonet
Type 30 bayonet
The Type 30 bayonet was designed to be used with the Japanese Type 30 Rifle and later used on the Type 38 Rifle and Type 99 rifle. The weapon was a sword-type bayonet with a 400 mm long blade and an overall length of 514 mm...
s, Type 89 Grenade Discharger
Type 89 Grenade Discharger
The , inaccurately known as a knee mortar by Allied forces, is a Japanese grenade launcher or light mortar that was widely used in the Pacific during the Second World War.-Background:...
s, Type 99 Grenade
Type 99 Grenade
The was an improved version of the Type 97 fragmentation hand grenade used by the Imperial Japanese Army and Imperial Japanese Navy SNLF during World War II. -History and development:...
s and Type 99 mine
Type 99 mine
The Type 99 mine was a Japanese anti-tank weapon used during the Second World War. It entered service in 1939. Four magnets were attached to the casing made of hemp cloth, along with an external fuze. The fuze had a time delay, which enabled it to be used as an anti-tank hand grenade, or a...
s, as well as Type 94 8 mm Pistols.
External links
- Nippon News, No. 252. in the official website of NHKNHKNHK is Japan's national public broadcasting organization. NHK, which has always identified itself to its audiences by the English pronunciation of its initials, is a publicly owned corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee....
. "Giretsu Kuteibutai".