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We are the DRAGONS OF FIRE;
We eliminate our enemies with repose!
We do our master's bidding at his desire,
With out prejudice to race, religion, or color of clothes. |
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THE AUTHOR'S NOTE
william m.p. EASTERLY
I AM ANAVID STUDENT OF JAPANESE ORDNANCE AND HAVE BEEN RESEARCHING AND COLLECTING DATA FOR OVER 30 YEARS. SOME MAY REMEMBER THE COMPANY IVY ARMAMENT, WHICH I FOUNDED IN 1958 AND USED AS A BASE FOR MY COLLECTING JAPANESE MEMORABILIA. MY SPECIALTY WAS THEIR AUTOMATIC WEAPONS.
I AM IN PROCESS OF COMPILING A DEFINITIVE WORKS ON THE HISTORY OF ALL THEIR AUTOMATIC WEAPONS AND TO PRESENT IT IN BOOK FORM. I INTEND TO MAKE IT THE "MOST COMPLETE" WORKS TO BE ASSEMBLED IN A SINGLE REFERENCE. IT WILL COVER ALL THEIR RAPID FIRE GUNS OF ALL TYPES: SUBMACHINE GUNS, LIGHT AND HEAVY MACHINE GUNS FOR ALL USES BY ALL SERVICES IN ALL CALIBERS.
AN OVERALL INTRODUCTION TO THE BOOK CONTENT WILL SET THE SCENE OF JAPAN'S INTRODUCTION TO FIREARMS AND RAPID FIRE GUNS. IT WILL INCLUDE PRIMARY USE OF "FOREIGN" WEAPONS PRIOR TO LICENSING AND MANUFACTURING BY THE JAPANESE OF THEIR OWN ORDNANCE. WE START WITH EARLY USE OF RAPID FIRE GUNS IN THE RUSSO-JAPANESE WAR OF 1904-1905 AND CONTINUE THRU WORLD WAR II. THE READER WILL TOUR HISTORY IN ITS MAKING OF POLITICS IN THE ARMS WAR FOR JAPANESE FAVORITISM IN USE AND ADOPTION OF FOREIGN ORDNANCE. WE CONTINUE THROUGH THE STRUGGLE OF LICENSING, DUPLICATION AND IMITATING THE FOREIGN SMALL ARMS AND MANUFACTURING TO THE JAPANESE ADVANTAGE. IT WILL SIFT THRU THE POLITICAL, MILITARY AND CIVILIAN ORGANIZATIONS INTERNAL STRUGGLES TO ACCOMPLISH A BACKBONE OF A WORLD POWER. ALL FINALLY ACCOMPLISHING A GOAL OF THE MILITARY FOR DOMINATION WITH THE HELP OF THE AUTOMATIC WEAPON, A VITAL PART OF ITS ARSENAL.
THE WORKS WILL INCLUDE LISTINGS OF MILITARY AND CIVILIAN MANUFACTURING ORGANIZATIONS ALONG WITH EQUIPMENT SPECIFICATIONS, CHANGES/VARIATIONS AND PRODUCTION QUANTITIES.
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ARTICLES
REFERENCE: portions of these articles are excerpted from the soon to be published book:
DRAGONS OF FIRE by william m.p. EASTERLY
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THE BELGIAN RATTLESNAKE
Called the "Belgian Rattlesnake" by its enemies, this early machine gun earned a formidable reputation in the trenches of World War I.
The result of over twenty years of research, this is the most complete account ever published of the life and times of Colonel Isaac Newton Lewis and his crowning achievement, the Lewis Automatic Machine Gun. The Lewis became a favorite tool of the British and Canadian "machine gun killer" teams of World War I, but U.S. "doughboys" and Marines were issued the French Chauchat, instead. This gave rise to a bitter controversy, which became one of the most sensational issues of the decade. The Lewis was the principal "free" or flexible Allied aircraft machine gun of World War I, manufactured by B.S.A. in England, Savage in the U.S.A., and Darne in France. After World War I several versions of the Lewis were manufactured in Holland and by two Naval Arsenals in Japan. Japanese Naval and Air forces remained committed to the Lewis throughout World War II.
Two complete chapters are devoted to the accessories designed and issued expressly for use with the Lewis, one for general and ground gun devices, and one covering the special needs of Air Service guns.
ORDER TODAY!
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KIJIRO NAMBU
"The criticism that the newly adopted 6.5mm caliber offered insufficient man-stopping power is wrong. The objective of war is to destroy enemy's fighting abilities, but not to kill them. If you can hit them with accuracy, that is sufficient to deny them fighting abilities."
Major Kijiro Nambu
January 1902
Born February 21, 1869, Saga City, Saga Prefecture ( Southern Japan]; started his military career at the age of 20, when he entered military academy. He was commissioned Lieutenant of Artillery 3 years later. In 1897 he was assigned to Tokyo Artillery Arsenal. Little was it realized that this man at the age of 28 was embarking upon a career in firearms design that would bring fame to him and respect by his country and other nations.
His contribution to firearms design and their adoption for military use earned him his promotion to Lieutenant General and command of the Tokyo Artillery Arsenal in 1922. The General reorganized the army arsenal structure and system in 1923 and was further assigned Commander of the Army Explosive Arsenal and Army Institute of Scientific research. In 1924 he returned from active military service into a reserve status.
In 1927 General Nambu organized K.K Nambu-Ju Seizosho [Nambu Arms Manufacturing Company Limited], at Kokuburiji, Tokyo to manufacture ordnance under supervision and contract issued by the Imperial Japanese Army. Recommendation by Army authorities for expansion of facilities to increase capacity and produce diversified ordnance under other contracts, forced a merger with Taisei Kogyo K.K. [Taisei Industry Company Limited], in December 1936. The merged companies became known as Chuo Kogyo K.K. [Chuo Industry Company Limited]. In 1949 the company was renamed Shin-Chuo Kogyo K.K. {Shin-Chuo Industry Company Limited]. The company was active through the 1970's engaged in firearms production manufacturing their New Nambu Model 60 revolver for law enforcement and a 9 mm submachine gun for the military. Firearms however were only about 20 percent of their totals production.
During General Nambu's tour at the Army Rifle Manufacturing Plant [later renamed Kokura Arsenal], the Type 3 heavy machine gun was developed and later adopted by the military in 1914. The Type 11 light machine gun was developed also during his active service with the Army and adopted by them in 1922. After the organization of his own company, he developed the Type 92 medium machine gun that replaced the type 3 with the Japanese Army. Following the merger with Taisei Industry Co. Ltd., automatic weapon development continued with the design and adoption of the Type 96, 97, 99 series of light machine guns. Although improved prototype development and testing continued during the war years, the Type 99 was the last substantial contribution by General Nambu for light machine guns adopted and used by the Army during World War II.
The General died in May of 1949 at the age of 80. Mrs. Nambu died in 1968. The surviving son resides near Tokyo.
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All content and graphics (including Web pages, illustrations, photos, articles HTML code and all other materials) on this site are protected by U.S. and international copyright laws and international treaties. Material on this Web site may NOT be copied without the expressed permission of the Owner (William M. P. Easterly) which reserves all rights. Re-use of any of DragonsofFire.com or The Belgian Rattlesnake content and graphics in any format for any purpose is strictly prohibited. DragonsOfFire.com permits the printing of pages from the web site only for personal and non-commercial use of our visitors, provided: all copyright and other notices on any such printed copy are accurately reproduced, and such pages are not subsequently copied or distributed in any manner to any other parties. Except for the above stated use, permission for any other use of materials from the Web Site must be granted in advance in writing by william m.p. Easterly |
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