A Unique Japanese Dive Bomber Medal

[W. C. Stump]

I am not al all educated in the field of Japanese medals, but this one impressed me enough to keep it. Maybe some one can provide some information on this one.

[W. C. Stump]

OBVERSE CLOSE UP

A close up view of the obverse.

[W. C. Stump]

REVERSE IN CLOSE UP

Here is the reverse with inscription.

[Paul Murphy]

A translation of the reverse for you

Hi Wil,

The reverse says "June Showa 14 (ie. 1939). For Participation in the Nomohan Incident. ?? Group."

A nice badge and I have never seen it before.

Regards,

[Ken Jasper]

That is a keeper!

[Jareth]

This is actually not a medal. It's a watch fob. They are often missidentified as medals.

[jlava]

After a secret agreement, Russia created Mongolian people's republic and Japan, Manchukuo but the frontier had not been clearly defined and a border crash took place in summer 1939. First Japanese Guandong army beat the small Mongolian army but Russia sent the best mechanized divisions and beat severely ill equipped Japanese. Moreover Germany and Russia concluded no aggression pact in August, the idea to consider Russia as a potential enemy retreated and Anglo-Saxon replaced it.
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Few in the west knew or cared that Japan and the Soviet Union fought a small war on the Siberia-Manchuria border in the summer of 1939. On the ground, these were the largest tank battles since WWI. In the air, large forces were likewise engaged, with the Japanese taking something of a beating. It is difficult to get a fix on actual losses, both countries being notoriously secretive and notoriously apt to over-claim. The only good book in English about this conflict is Alvin D. Coox, Nomonhan: Japan Against Russia, 1939 (Stanford Univ Press, 1985).
Nomonhan appears to be a village west of the Holsten river (NS at that point) just before it crossed the Soviet claimed boundary (NW-SE at that point). Holsten rises in Lake Abutara a few miles inside Soviet claimed territory, and flows into the Halha river (Khalkhin Gol)