Here is a flag that I picked up recently. There is not much written on the flag, however, this flag has a lot to say. I had a thread about it, looking for help in translating. Thanks to Chen, Guy and Tom for their help with the flag. After the words had been translated, the real mystery was trying to put the words into context. It appears to me that this flag was given as a gift to Kadota Yukio. It appears that Yukio was of a higher rank, or greatly admired by the gifter of the flag, as the kanji for Sama was used after his name instead of Kun. At the top of the flag is the popular phrase: Ki Buun Chou Kyuu, praying for everlasting fortune in battle. On the left side of the flag is two lines of vertical Kanji characters. When these characters are put together and into context, they empower the receiver of the flag to: show the strength of your power,(Show your military might) at dawn, in Shantung Province, Asia. Shantung Province, China is now known as Shandong. Shandong is on the Eastern edge of China between Peking and Shanghai. There were several battles in and around this province during the China Campaign. This reference most likely dates this flag to 1937 / 1938, as Imperial Japanese forces were operating in this area. Many battles were fought in this area including the battle of Taierzhuang, which was the first major Chinese victory of the war. The dawn reference for me is quite thought provoking. As I was doing my research, I found that there were many Japanese attacks that were launched at dawn. The thought of knowing you are attacking at dawn, and waiting through the sleepless night for it, must have been terrifying. This flag has blood spots on it, and eventually ended up in a US serviceman's estate in New Hampshire. How it got there is lost to time. One can only speculate, possibly a Chinese war trophy later given to a US serviceman, or possibly surrendered to a US serviceman by Japanese forces at wars end.
Here is the link to the original thread: http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...d.php?t=860808
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Here is the link to the original thread: http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...d.php?t=860808
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