Early Organization of Shanghai SNLF 1932

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adachi
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Joined: 10 Sep 2020, 02:36
Location: Nagoya

Early Organization of Shanghai SNLF 1932

#1

Post by adachi » 26 May 2021, 20:59

The organization of the Shanghai Naval Landing Force during the January 28th Incident of 1932 is fairly well-documented, but the organization afterwards when the unit was recognized as a Special Naval Landing Force seems to be nearly non-existent until 1937.

Here is my research/logic so far:
The unit was created on June 1st, 1932, but it does not seem to have been fully activated until the SNLF decree passed on October 1st later in the year. We can see Lt-Cmdrs 古田良夫 Furuta Yoshio and 池田広光 Ikeda Hiromitsu were both appointed to the Shanghai SNLF on October 1st. Furuta joined the Shanghai NLF on May 10th to replace 2nd Btn Cmdr 多田野佐七郎 Tadano Sashichiro and 7th Btn Cmdr 勝野実 Katsuno Minoru, and Ikeda joined the Shanghai NLF on May 30th to replace 4th Btn Cmdr 森可久 Mori Yoshihisa respectively. I think with their ranks and the date of their appointments it can be determined with certainty that these two are each responsible for a battalion. However what makes me uncertain is the appointment of 大沼富男 Onuma Tomio to the Shanghai NLF on May 10th as well (who continued to the Shanghai SNLF on October 1st), although likely a company commander, it seems plausible he could have been commander for a third battalion. After all he was appointed on the same day two battalion commanders left the unit.

I'm wondering if anyone has documents or books that could answer my question. I'm really interested in how many battalions, companies, and special units the Shanghai SNLF had after its formation. Japanese Wikipedia says they had roughly 2000 men across 2 battalions and several special units after the formation, but does not provide a clear citation. In my opinion 2,000 men for just 2 battalions and special units seems extremely unlikely unless each battalion was significantly over-sized.

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