Air Operations in the China Area (July 1937 - August 1945)

Japanese Monograph No. 76
Prepared by Military History Section Headquarters, Army Forces Far East
Historica Reprint, 2003
132 pages, softbound
$18.50

Reviewed by Chris Banyai-Riepl

For those of you who are interested in the history of the subjects you model, these new reprints from Historica will provide some great reference material. This title deals with the air operations in China, an area that still has not received as much attention as it deserves. The original preface outlines some of the difficulties in preparing the text, such as not having access to operational records. As the original was writted shortly after the war, though, the writers were able to interview sources while the events were still fresh in their minds.

The basic manuscript was written by Major Takejiro Shiba, who was an Imperial General Headquarters staff officer. In addition to interviews, the manuscript is based off of documents held by many Japanese staff officers. Almost half of the whole monograph deals with operations before the Americans showed up in the China Theater, an era that definitely has been poorly covered in the past. In addition to the text, there are maps and charts as well, outlining operating areas and strengths.

There are a total of nine chapters, with each chapter providing an overview of each year, roughly. Some chapters therefore are longer than others. Chapter Two, for example, includes sub-sections detailing operations in North China and Central China, as well as operations during the Battle of Tungshan and the Wu-Han Operation. The majority of the text deals with Japanese Army aviation, but there is also some reference to the naval air arm, as well as the special attack squadrons used at the end of 1945.

Although the monograph has no photos, the information presented provides an insight to the operations of the Japanese in China and puts the photos found in other books in context. Reading this gave me a clearer understanding of Japanese operations in China and really got me fired up to build some Japanese Ki-27s and Chinese I-16s.

For ordering information, visit the Historica website. The site also lists currently available titles as well as upcoming releases. Our thanks to Historica for the review copy.