Japanese troops in operation Market Garden?

[ki sanak]

i want to know if this true or not, i found this in facebook group

"at 02.00 PM Typhoon squadroon take off and half an hour later launched their rockets and cannons to the JAPANESE position in the edge of Waal river. after that, the Irish Guards tanks take up position in the south"

lttle bit strange here that there was japanese battalion in OMG,,

then he wrote that the japanese battalion come from Guadalcanal. he also said that he quoted from cornelius ryan or urquhart book.

any idea guys?

[phylo_roadking]

A whole battalion????

[OpanaPointer]

How would they have made it there?

[OpanaPointer]

i want to know if this true or not, i found this in facebook group

"at 02.00 PM Typhoon squadroon take off and half an hour later launched their rockets and cannons to the JAPANESE position in the edge of Waal river. after that, the Irish Guards tanks take up position in the south"

lttle bit strange here that there was japanese battalion in OMG,,

then he wrote that the japanese battalion come from Guadalcanal. he also said that he quoted from cornelius ryan or urquhart book.

any idea guys?

The Guadalcanal Campaign, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal and codenamed Operation Watchtower by Allied forces, was a military campaign fought between 7 August 1942 and 9 February 1943 on and around the island of Guadalcanal in the Pacific theatre of World War II. It was the first major offensive by Allied forces against the Empire of Japan.

[StefanSiverud]

Given the quote, it looks like JAPANESE is a code word for the position to be attacked. There were no Japanese battalions near the Waal in 1944 (obviously).

[ki sanak]

A whole battalion????

i dont know,even i will be surprised if there were a single japanese fought in european theatre

How would they have made it there?

i dont know, do you know any japan that fought in europe?

Given the quote, it looks like JAPANESE is a code word for the position to be attacked. There were no Japanese battalions near the Waal in 1944 (obviously).

so do you mean it is a CODE? not a real JAPANESE troops/battalion?

i never read cornelius ryan or urquhart book about operation market garden, thats why i am asking here.

[gebhk]

i will be surprised if there were a single japanese fought in european theatre

I wouldn't be. Firstly POWs taken by the Soviets, incorporated into the Red Army, subsequently captured by Germans and incorporated into the Wehrmacht. Koreans conscripted into the Japanese army certainly were, some were present on D-Day. Secondly Japanese nationals in Germany when hostilities broke out eg students. Many Japanese were very pro-German and people who opted to study in Germany are likely to have been of that persuasion.

[ki sanak]

i will be surprised if there were a single japanese fought in european theatre

I wouldn't be. Firstly POWs taken by the Soviets, incorporated into the Red Army, subsequently captured by Germans and incorporated into the Wehrmacht. Koreans conscripted into the Japanese army certainly were, some were present on D-Day. Secondly Japanese nationals in Germany when hostilities broke out eg students. Many Japanese were very pro-German and people who opted to study in Germany are likely to have been of that persuasion.

so, what do you think of Japanese troops or battalion in operation Market Garden? any valid info?

[OpanaPointer]

How would they have made it there?

i dont know, do you know any japan that fought in europe?

Zero that I know of. There's a oft-reprinted picture of a "Japanese in German uniform" at Normandy, but the guy's really a Soviet volunteer or some such. A battalion of Japanese forces would have had a very hard time getting to Europe, and the IGHQ needed all their troops in the Pacific War at that time.

[Marcus]

Please keep this thread focused on the claim about a Japanese unit in Arnhem, for Japanese military observers we have this thread: http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic. ... 6&t=200286 and for the POW in Normandy we have this thread: http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=82819

/Marcus

[Marcus]

There were no Japanese battalions near the Waal in 1944 (obviously).

I can only agree.

/Marcus

[ki sanak]

so the conclusion is there were no japanese batalion/unit/troops in operation market garden?

[Stephen_Rynerson]

I would say that's correct. "Japanese" is almost certainly just an error by the writer, as I can't even find evidence of "Japan" or "Japanese" being used as a code name in connection with any part of the Operation Market Garden offensive.

[OpanaPointer]

Would be helpful if the original poster could tell us what book it was from.

[gebhk]

so, what do you think of Japanese troops or battalion in operation Market Garden? any valid info?

Alas without further information, nothing. I merely pointed out that there would be nothing surprising about Japanese individuals being in the Wehrmacht. Incidentally I suspect the 'Japanese' in the D-day photo referred to is in fact Yang Kyoungjong. a Korean.

There was, if memory serves a battalion -strength unit of the Wehrmacht (Battalion 43?) in France which consisted of East Asian volunteers including Japanese. This was destroyed in the Normandy fighting but it is not inconceivable that a small group of survivors from this unit ended up near the Waal, alkbeit not in battalion strength. I am not saying that it is likely just that we should not reject it out of hand without adequate information.

Best wishes
K