Japanese WWII Photo Album, Request for Help

[Clayton]

Gentlemen;

Would any of our Japanese speaking WAF member be able to help us identify the WWII photo album? We would very much appreciate knowing the unit, photo locations, etc.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Best regards to all,

Clay

[Clayton]

More Photographs

[chen]

It is a photo album of 14th division fighting.
The place is in China . Place is near North eastern part of Inner Mongolia.

[Rod G]

Chen turned the picture upside down so the writing would be right side up. The date is Showa 7, 12 month, 7 day or December 7, 1932.

Rod

[chen]

This photo was about the battle around this area as shown in the map.

[Clayton]

Guys, thank you very much for identifying this photo album. Your help is very much appreciated.

We have another question. The majority of these photos look like candid photos, not formal or commercial photos. If that is true, then how could this album have printed identification inscriptions? Were albums of ths type given to some specific group of soldiers like officers for example?

The point I'm getting at is, were pages with preprinted identification inscriptions available and then a soldier would just add his own photos to the appropriate page? Or are these photos simply commercial photos that were designed to appear in photo albums of this type that would be given to or purchased by members of the 14th Combat Division?

We will watch for your responses and again your help is much appreciated.

Best regards,

Clay

[Nick Komiya]

This was one of the many albums from the series that covered the 14th Division's service on the continent starting with their landing in Shanghai in March 1932 to provide protection to the Japanese settlers there, and then their further reposting to northern Manchuria. What you have is one of the albums for their Northern Manchurian actions. A printed version that covered their expedition from March 32 till November 32 was issued to all members of the division as well as to the families of the fallen in Feb 1933. That version came with illustrations as well as a list of the fallen comrades, etc. It was funded by donations collected by the ministry of the army on behalf of the Northern Manchuria Expeditionary Forces. The captions were generated for the specific photo and not generic captions to which individuals provided photos of their choice. This album you posted appears to be a by product or work in progress version of the larger printed compilation.

[Clayton]

Gentlemen;

Thank you all very much for this information. There are real experts here on this forum and you have all demonstrated your genuine expertise. Thank you very much for sharing your knowledge.

Our sincere appreciation,

Clay