William Manchester's statement

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4V50 Gary

Staff
I'm reading William Manchester's Goodbye Darkness: A Memoir of the Pacific War.

"Not only was he the first Japanese soldier I had ever shot at; he was the only one I had seen at close quarters. He was a robin-fat, moon-faced, roly-poly little man with his thick, stubby, trunk like legs sheathed in faded khaki puttees and the rest of him squeezed into a uniform that was much too tight. Unlike me, he was wearing a tin hat, dressed to kill. But I was quite safe from him. His Arisaka rifle was strapped on in a sniper's harness, and though he had heard me, and was trying to turn toward me, the harness sling had him trapped."
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I'm not sure what a "sniper's harness" is but I think he means the rifle sling. I'm no expert on WW II Japanese sniper equipment and my knowledge on equipment is limited to what Peter Senich wrote. Unfortunately, Senich crossed the Styx years ago so I can't correspond with him like I used to.

Thought's on Manchester's statement?
 
Sorry guys but I should have mentioned the "sniper" was inside a grass hut. Manchester burst into the first room and discovered then and there that there was an inner room. Fully cognizant that he may have alerted the sniper, he burst into the second room and fired one round with his 1911. He missed and hit the grass wall. His second shot hit the fellow in the femoral artery and he bled out. Manchester promptly threw up and soiled himself.
 
My first impressions of the context and subject matter would have me leaning toward the "harness" being an improvised sling to hold the rifle steady in the hut.
 
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Just a guess, but being as Japanese soldiers were notorious for tying themselves (and their rifles) into the tops of trees, using an improvised rope arrangement, it is quite possible that the Japanese soldier could have been wearing one, and was caught in the hut on his way to, or from a tree-hide.

otherwise, the statement sounds fine to me, written in the jargon of the era..
 
Unfortunately Manchester crossed the Styx so unless I consult a Ouija Board, I won't know. I don't think Ouija Boards are reliable sources of information and no one will cite them as a reference. :D
 
The problem with the "witch board" is that one does not know for sure whom they are talking to....only who they SAY they are...
;):D
 
Been waiting for the answer...

I'm guessing from the passage that maybe it was tied to him, so he could climb. But that's only a guess.
 
"Just a guess, but being as Japanese soldiers were notorious for tying themselves (and their rifles) into the tops of trees, using an improvised rope arrangement, it is quite possible that the Japanese soldier could have been wearing one, and was caught in the hut on his way to, or from a tree-hide."

This.

The Japanese issued heavy-duty web gear harness to sniper during the war that was complete with tree climbing spikes.

The Arisaka rifle could be attached to the harness to prevent it from being lost/dropped.

It's very possible that this gear is what the guy was wearing.


There's an artistic rendering of a Japanese sniper climbing a tree at this site: http://www.ww2incolor.com/rating/3.5?g2_itemId=253340
 
Manchester wrote one of the best memoirs of the war from a rank and file viewpoint. Take a look at George MacDonald Fraser's 'Quartered Safe Out Here' for a Burma memoir, and Audie Murphy's 'To Hell and Back'. The latter is much darker than the 1957 film, in fact similar to Manchester's memoir.
 
Also loot at "With the Old Breed" (Seldge) and Helmet for My Pillow (Leicke)

First person, combat Marines memoirs, the stories told in the recent mini-series "The Pacific".

I've read accounts, talked to vets who were there, and even seen a couple of pictures of dead Japanese, hanging from trees in their harnesses, often with the rifle hanging on its own rope.

I was not aware the Japanese had the harness as an actual issue item, though it makes perfect sense. Much of their equipment was made for jungle conditions (rubberized canvas, etc.)
 
Interesting illustration Mike. The trouble is that the "sniper" Manchester killed was inside a grass hut.

I wonder if he had that strap around a post/pole to steady the rifle (think of it like a stick on a torniquet)?
 
Manchester's book is excellent .If you can find one read it !

I'm still trying to find the name of the author and title of a book written by a soldier who fought in the Burma campaign .Excellent source of info , even a chapter about the choice and use of the various cutting tools . Machetes, kukris , axes .Know it ??
 
name of the author and title of a book written by a soldier who fought in the Burma campaign
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There are probably several, one I sort of remember (but not the title, sorry) was by "Mad Mike" Hoare. (might have the spelling wrong, again, tis been a LONG time)

One part that stuck in my memory was a story about how he was "following too close" to an elephant they were using to break trail. Elephant pee is apparently a very stinky thing...;)
 
4V50Gary, thanks ! Scoped Springfield ? That's where I must have seen the method of using a scoped rifle in the jungle . The Jap 6.5 MG had a vertical magazine .He looked for the top of a magazine in the grass , then held 12" low and scored !
 
BTW

George didn't have a 03A4 but a Griffin & Howe detachable scope base on his personal Springfield.

Mad Mike Hoare is best known for being a mercenary in Africa (methinks Congo). Al Ventner (sp) used to write about him in SoF.
 
Ok, I'm probably wrong about "mad mike" but I do remember the elephant story, and the author was fighting in Burma, and had some kind of nickname name. For whatever reason, mad mike popped into my head, but it could very well have been someone else.
 
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