KMT Big Sword Unit

Peter H · Post by **Peter H** » 28 May 2006 07:36

Photo from here: http://www.hardcorpsmodels.com/index.ph ... &Itemid=28

What was this unit?

asiaticus · Post by **asiaticus** » 30 May 2006 18:19

This looks like a Chinese soldier in northern China in the 1930's. Many were equipped with these big swords.
They became well known in the fighting in Jehol in 1933 but were in the fighting later after 1937 too. The sword, Mauser C96 pistol and grenade were the favored weapons for close assaults.

see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defense_of_the_Great_Wall

Here are some other photos of these type of soldiers

Peter H · Post by **Peter H** » 31 May 2006 13:28

Thanks,great pics!

This from Corbis as well,September 1937 Shanghai.

The Old and New China. At left are modern fighters of China. At the right is the "Spirit of Ancient China." Though outfitted with the latest military equipment, many Chinese soldiers sometimes deliberately discard their rifles, helmets and khaki and attack with the traditional Chinese sword.

Peter H · Post by **Peter H** » 23 Apr 2008 10:06

Nanwan Town 1937

http://images.google.com.au/imgres?imgu ... safe%3Doff

sjchan · Post by **sjchan** » 15 Nov 2008 16:52

A couple more widely circulated photos of Big Sword Units.

Although some claimed that these big swords were very effective, the fact that they were not widely used except in the early stage of the war is a clear indication that using big swords was more a stop-gap measure than anything else. It was easy to manufacture these big swords, but they were heavy and no match for Japanese swords / bayonets.

Peter H · Post by **Peter H** » 16 Nov 2008 01:06

1949--Soldiers of the Disciplinary Corps patrol Shanghai suburbs to keep order in the area...

Peter H · Post by **Peter H** » 16 Nov 2008 01:20

Japanese with captured sword 1932

Peter H · Post by **Peter H** » 16 Nov 2008 01:32

From: http://www.emptyflower.net/forums/index ... topic=3447

Poster Brian Kennedy

The movie "Heroic Martyrs Remembered for a Thousand Years".

Peter H · Post by **Peter H** » 16 Nov 2008 01:34

http://www.asu.edu/lib/archives/smedforeign.htm

"Chinese armies and railway men tore up their railways to prevent the Japanese from using them. Then the railway men carried away the steel rails and girders and welded them into big swords for soldiers and guerrillas to fight the enemy. This is a Chinese railway worker, member of a group of 60 railway workers who banded together to form a cooperative. They use blacksmith forges and bellows to melt and weld the steel rails, then hammer them into swords for use against the enemy."

Peter H · Post by **Peter H** » 16 Nov 2008 01:42

From: http://forum.grtc.org/viewtopic.php?t=607

..with a dadao with ring pommel on his back..

More photos here: http://thomaschen.freewebspace.com/photo6.html

According to Scott Rodell, the 2-handed "Da Dao" was used by Nationalist troops in the 1930s-40s as a close-quarters weapon during planned ambushes on Japanese soldiers in appropriate terrain such as tall grass
or paddy fields, and by artillery soldiers to defend themselves when their lines are over-run by
the enemy. The Chinese Red Army was also similarly equipped.The weapon was a direct descendent of the Ming Dynasty sword-polearms shown above.

Leonard · Post by **Leonard** » 20 Nov 2008 20:20

1 of the reason you don't see so many Big Swords in action during later part of the war is that the weapon (and the skill of using it) was mostly by northerners.

aipaul · Post by **aipaul** » 21 Nov 2008 17:33

sjchan wrote:A couple more widely circulated photos of Big Sword Units.

Although some claimed that these big swords were very effective, the fact that they were not widely used except in the early stage of the war is a clear indication that using big swords was more a stop-gap measure than anything else. It was easy to manufacture these big swords, but they were heavy and no match for Japanese swords / bayonets.

I read somewhere that the Japanese used to use a western style sword known as the "kyu-gunto" up until they went into action against these Chinese big swords. They weren't very effective so for this and other reasons, the Japanese switched to the more traditional "shin-gunto".

sjchan · Post by **sjchan** » 23 Nov 2008 11:50

It was said that the big swords were too big and unwieldy, and the Japanese swords were easier to handle thus giving them the edge.

Lawrence · Post by **Lawrence** » 03 Dec 2008 04:33

I remember reading how Sadao Araki, Army Minister in the early 1930s, urged the return to the traditional Japanese swords as a way of spiritual mobilization and a way to remove Western influence from the Army.

sjchan · Post by **sjchan** » 31 Dec 2008 16:37

A couple more links to sites on the big sword units:

http://www.geocities.com/quan_fa/saber.html

http://www.xifengkou.org/photo/index.as ... me=&page=1

This is a collection of photos of the 29th Corps defending the crucial passes in the Great Wall against the Japanese in 1933, and include quite a few photos of the big sword units training.

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