David McCormack

I bought this book to expand my knowledge about Japanese armor and the wars that armor fought in China, Manchuria, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific. I was also hoping for some insight into how the Japanese developed their armor doctrine, a subject upon which other World War II armies spent considerable time and effort.

What David McCormack gives his reader is a 225-page (at least according to Kindle) effort that is more wide-ranging than this topic and book title should be. Following the usual acknowledgements page, the author provides an illustrated section (here called plates) which offeres a variety of old and new images, the new images being color photos of restored Japanese tanks in modern collections, and old images of tanks in action, campaigns, and maps taken uncredited from other publications, although they are mentioned in the author's bibliography.

McCormack then gives an introduction followed by 14 numbered chapters. Chapter 1 provides a broad overview of the Imperial Japanese Army's attitude towards armor in general, armor doctrine, and armor production. The next 12 chapters delve into the war as it unfolded for Japanese armor operations, starting with the sound thrashing the Soviet Red Army gave Japanese armor and infantry formations at Khalkin Gol in Chapter 2. Chapter 14 ends the book with a relatively brief discussion of IJA counter-invasion plans with an emphasis on the small number of armor formations dedicated to homeland defense as well as a quick survey of Red Army operations against the Kwantung Army at the end of the war.

After Chapter 14, McCormack provides a total of 16 appendices, most of which or one or two pages in length. The appendices I found useful were 7 through 14 which covered the details of specific tank, self-propelled gun, and tank destroyer models, although these entries were no where near as inclusive as they should have been. Other appendices of interest are those dealing with Japanese tank and AFV production, tank crewmen uniforms, tank radios, and vehicle maintenance.

The problem with this book is that relatively little text is presented about Japanese armor operations. The reason is simple; there simply weren't many. Most Japanese armor operations were marked by the very limited number of AFV's involved, usually a battalion-sized force or even smaller when it comes to some of the Japanese island garrisons. As the author relates repeatedly in the book, senior IJA officers were dedicated infantry advocates who saw all other IJA branches as mere handmaidens of the infantry. The IJA had very few senior armor advocates, which meant that armor received far fewer resources or staff attention than the Imperial Japanese Navy or the air arms of both Army and Navy. This lack of attention towards armor became more marked after mid-1942 when the Battle of Midway and the Guadalcanal campaign convinced the Imperial General Staff of Japan's increasingly worse military situation.

What that means for this book is that the author resorts to filler material to make this book a marketable length. This is seen in the book's detailed coverage of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the strategic bombing campaign against the Home Islands, and the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. When one purchases a book with the title "Japanese Tanks and Armored Warfare, 1932-1945," the reader has reason to expect that subject to dominate the pages of this book. Instead the reader is present with coverage of battles and campaigns in China, Manchuria, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific with a focus on some armor operations--coverage that is best delivered in other volumes.

The author could have organized this book better as well. I think some of the appendices could have been expanded and better placed in the main body of the book, especially those appendices dealing with Japanese tanks and AFV's. A greater focus on the technical aspects of Japanese armor would have provided better balance in coverage as well as context for the amor operations described in the main body of the book. Finally, the author sure could have used some Japanese language sources, or at least outreach to those sources. This over-reliance on secondary sources, especially World War II-era intelligence products, makes for an unbalanced writing effort.

So my high expectations for this book were disappointed. There are other works, in particular Raymond Surlemont's "Japanese Armour: A Detailed Review of Japanese Armour Development, Production, Organization and Tactics During the Period 1925-1945, that do a better job with this topic.… (plus d'informations)