Japanese Special Naval Landing Forces

This book charts the history of these well-known units, from their true combat debut at Shanghai in 1932 to the Pacific campaigns of World War II.

The Imperial Japanese Navy’s Special Landing Force units enjoyed a reputation out of proportion to their small size.

Often wrongly termed “Imperial Marines”, they were in fact sailors led by Naval officers, and traced their origins directly to landing parties from warships. This book charts their history, from their true combat debut was at Shanghai in 1932; thereafter the SNLF expanded and fought in the assaults that followed Pearl Harbor in 1941, and were dispersed as island garrisons during the Pacific campaigns.

With an unprecedented, detailed look at uniforms and equipment, Gary Nila and Robert A Rolfe's text is accompanied by color photos of original items from private collections.