Japanese soldiers chained to their machine guns

[MikeW]

I cannot remember where I read this about an officer on the Yamamoto, they were ordered to lash themselves to the ship as it went down.

[Dave Alexander]

That was basically the idea, Jean-Loup, and in the event of your demise it made it more difficult for the bad guys to take it. At that time opposing guerilla units were not as well equipped as they are today especially when it came to automatic weapons so they were much prized. A similar situation probably existed with the Japanese Forces in areas of guerilla activity i.e. New Guinea, Phillipines etc. I can understand snipers securing themselves and their weapons to trees, no fear of falling out or dropping the rifle. I imagine it would be most difficult for an artillery crew to serve their gun if they were all chained to it and I don't see how being chained to a machine gun would stop you from retreating unless it was embedded in concrete. It is a common tactic in any confrontation, be it a football game or a full-blown war, to ridicule and belittle the opposition, "trash talking" as we now call it. It makes us feel superior. I agree with Eric that it would have been an insult to Japanese soldiers as it would have been to any soldier to be told that it was to prevent them from retreating. We have to remember that all the brave talk of units fighting "to the last man and last bullet" the Japanese were the only ones that actually did it.

[MikeP]

Interesting info, Dave.

I worked with irregulars in Vietnam, we never had to chain on our gear with them in the bush, but in cities you really had to be careful. Stick out your arm for a turn signal and they would tear your watch off.
I am appreciative of my time in those conditions, but glad it is in the past.
GIs are not always the best source of facts. Many stories are not first hand or embellished. Not always, but you got to be open minded.
I have heard the same story from Vietvets that I heard in different form from WW2 guys when I was a kid.