Japanese Army 1st Raiding Group Dog Tags (Paratrooper and Ancillary)

9 dog tags identified. At present only 3^rd Air Raiding Regiment tags are available, no indication on how the other three air raiding and two glider regiment tags were stamped ラン ‘Ran’ (katakana ラ ra ノno) appears to crown code numbers for non-air units. Eric Queen suggested, and it makes sense, code kanji 鸞 ‘Ran’ (Phoenix) was perhaps avoided as being illegible when stamped onto the metal tags.

Note: 'Air Raiding Regiment' was the Japanese military's term for paratrooper regiment. 

 

3^rd Air Raiding Regiment 空 9948: 

空 tags stamped “Sora” above unit’s code number.

Company Designations (hiragana arranged alphabetically, their actual order is unknown to me at present):

ろひ Rohi – 1 tag, paratrooper #134 

ろふ Rofu – 2 tags, paratroopers #40 and #45 

ろほ Roho - 2 tags, paratroopers #19 and #57

ろみ Romi – 1 tag, paratroopers, # 38 

ろよ Royo – 1 tag, paratrooper #20 

 

The other known Air Raiding Group tags:

ラン tags stamped “Ran” (Phoenix) in katakana above code number

1^st Raiding Engineer Unit (Ran) ラン 19048, 2^nd Company, soldier #72

1^st Raiding Signal Unit (Ran) ラン 19044, 2^nd ノむ (Nomu), soldier #144

 

Number in parenthesis (123) is the number of men authorized for unit. ‘#’ next to a code number substitutes for the unknown code character, which may or may not be: ラン or 空. 

Order of Battle:

1^st Raiding Group 鸞 “Ran” 

1^st Raiding Group active ca. 1941

1^st Raiding Group Headquarters # 19038 (368) 

1^st Raiding Signal Unit ラン 19044 (?)

1^st Raiding Machine Cannon Unit ラン 19047 (308) 

1^st Raiding Engineer Battalion ラン 19048 (250) 

1^st Air Raiding Brigade:

1^st Air Raiding Brigade Headquarters # 19150 (33) 

1^st Air Raiding Brigade Signal Unit # 19151 (164) 

1^st Air Raiding Regiment # 9947 (468) 

2^nd Air Raiding Regiment # 19039 (468) 

2^nd Air Raiding Brigade:

2^nd Air Raiding Brigade Headquarters # 19040 (140) 

3^rd Air Raiding Regiment 空 9948 (894) 

4^th Air Raiding Regiment # 9949 (894) 

1^st Glider Infantry Transport Wing:

1^st Glider Infantry Regiment # 19045 (848) 

2^nd Glider Infantry Regiment # 19046 (848) 

 

1^st Raiding Brigade: active ca. 1944

1^st Raiding Brigade Headquarters # 9944 (?) 

1^st Infantry Raiding Regiment # 9945 (894) 

2^nd Infantry Raiding Regiment # 9946 (894) 

1^st Raiding Tank Unit #19049 (465) 

1^st Raiding Maintenance Unit # 19051 (340) 

 

Composition of various raiding units: **for reference see below 

Air Raiding Regiment ca. 1944:

HQ unit, 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd rifle companies, engineer company, heavy weapons company.

Glider Infantry Regiment:

HQ unit, 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd rifle companies, engineer company, anti-tank company, mountain gun company

Raiding Engineer Battalion: (glider troops) 

HQ unit, 1^st and 2^nd engineer companies, equipment platoon (w/T95 trucks, light equipment)

Raiding Signal Unit:

HQ unit, wire company and a radio company

Raiding Machine Cannon Unit:

HQ unit, 6 X T98 20mm machine cannon

Raiding Maintenance Unit:

HQ un it, air maintenance company, ground maintenance company.

 

3rd Air Raiding Regiment dog tags:

3rd Air Raiding Regiment, ろひ Rohi Company

3rd Air Raiding Regiment ろふ Rofu Company

3rd Air Raiding Regiment ろふ Rofu Company

3rd Air Raiding Regiment, ろほ Roho Company

3rd Air Raiding Regiment, ろほ Roho Company

 3rd Air Raiding Regiment, ろみ Romi Company

3rd Air Raiding Regiment, ろよ Royo Company

Air Raiding Group Ancillary Unit Dog Tags

1^st Raiding Engineer Unit (Ran) ラン 19048, 2^nd Company

1^st Raiding Signal Unit (Ran) ラン 19044, 2^nd ノむ (Nomu)

1^st Raiding Signal Unit ラン 19044, personnel No. 172

1^st Raiding Machine Cannon Raiding Unit ラン 19047 

1st Raiding Brigade dog tag (brigade active from Nov 30, 1944):

1^st Infantry Raiding Regiment 空 9945, for a warrant officer

Credits and Photos: 

Photos: Eric Queen, Brayden Burman, Tom Long and robinb.

Many thanks to Tom Prall for the late addition tag: Ro-mi, 3^rd Air Raiding Regiment. 

Addition of 1st Raiding Signal Unit and Machine Cannon Unit courtesy of The Tom Long Collection

Thanks to Ben Kauhl for his W/O 1st Inf. Raiding Regt. belt/tag combo. 

Sources: **Osprey book: Japanese Paratroop Forces of World War II. Sept 20 2012. Gordon L. Rottman and Akira Takizawa. 

*** World Militaria Forum post: My Only Dog Tag. robinb.

https://www.worldmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/314792-my-only-dog-tag/

**** War Relics. Japanese Militaria forum: The Evolution of Japanese Army Dog Tags (1894-1945). Sub-heading: Blood Types and ID tags. Nick Komiya. 

https://www.warrelics.eu/forum/japanese-militaria/evolution-japanese-army-dog-tags-1894-1945-a-590055-2/

© 2021 R.S.G.