The IJAAF in Northern China
Although the “China Incident”, as the Japanese referred to the war in China, began near the old northern capital of Beijing air activity in the area was minimal compared to the central Shanghai front. Chiang […]
History
Peaceful Seas: The End of the Chinese Navy, 1937
The Republic of China Navy of 1937 was, by the standards of the era, very small and limited in its abilities. The largest vessels it had in commission were light cruisers like the Ning-Hai (Peaceful […]
Fighter Combat Over Nanking, 1937
By September 1937, the progress of the war was beginning to take shape after the confusing initial forays in Shanghai. Additional Japanese troops had landed on the banks of the Yangtze and had begun to […]
Trans-Oceanic Bombing of China, 1937
In mid-July 1937, with the situation in China clearly heading towards a broader conflict, the newly formed First Combined Air Group (1st Rengo Kokutai) had been deployed to support Japanese forces operating in-country. The group […]
Defending Shanghai, 1937
The Sino-Japanese War began slowly. In July 1937 the Japanese Army, in response to an exchange of gunfire with Chinese forces around the Marco Polo Bridge outside Peking, launched an unauthorised operation to conquer northern […]
The Shanghai Incident, 1932
In September 1931, the Japanese staged the ‘Mukden Incident’ and eventually invaded and occupied Mukden, Manchuria, ejecting the ruling Chinese in the process. After Chinese boycotts of Japanese goods in response to this incursion, Japanese […]