Battle of Wuhan Participation Commemorative Badge/本間部隊武漢参戰記念章

1st variation in silver.

1st variation of Battle of Wuhan Participation Commemorative Badge.jpg


1st variation of Battle of Wuhan Participation Commemorative  Badge.jpg






Obverse

武漢参戰記念 - Battle of Wuhan Participation Commemorative


Reverse

本間部隊 - Honma Unit

昭和十三年 - 1938

+

mark 純銀 - pure silver.

1st variation of Battle  of Wuhan Participation Commemorative Badge.jpg
 
Another example of 1st variation badge.

1st variation of Battle of Wuhan Participation Commemorative Badge.jpg


1st variation of Battle of Wuhan  Participation  Commemorative Badge.jpg


1st variation of Battle of Wuhan Participation  Commemorative Badge.jpg
 
2nd variation in silver (different stamp).

Battle of Wuhan Participation Commemorative Badge.jpg


本間部隊 武漢参戰記念章.jpg


Battle of Wuhan  Participation Commemorative Badge.jpg


Different stamp and position of the mark 純銀 - pure silver.
The easiest way to differentiate between 1st and 2nd variations is by using form of in 本間部隊 - Honma Unit.

本間部隊武漢参戰記念章.jpg
 
3rd variation (unmarked).

IMG_5241.JPG IMG_5242.JPG
 
Masaharu Homma (本間 雅晴, Honma Masaharu, November 27, 1887 – April 3, 1946) was a lieutenant general in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. Homma commanded the Japanese 14th Army, which invaded the Philippines and perpetrated the Bataan Death March. After the war, Homma was convicted of war crimes relating to the actions of troops under his direct command and executed by firing squad on April 3, 1946.

With the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War, Homma was appointed commander of the IJA 27th Division in China from 1938 to 1940 and directed the blockade of the foreign concessions in Tientsin, where he led the negotiations with the British https://asiamedals.info/threads/193...ntsin-incident-commemorative-watch-fob.13276/. On July 4, 1938 the 27th division was assigned to 11th Army. From the 25 July 1938, the division has started to participate in the Battle of Wuhan.​

800px-Honma_Masaharu.jpg
 
The Battle of Wuhan (武漢之戰), popularly known to the Chinese as the Defense of Wuhan, and to the Japanese as the Capture of Wuhan, was a large-scale battle of the Second Sino-Japanese War. Engagements took place across vast areas of Anhui, Henan, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, and Hubei provinces over a period of four and a half months. It was the longest, the largest, and arguably the most significant battle in the early stages of the Second Sino-Japanese War. More than one million National Revolutionary Army troops from the Fifth and Ninth War Zone were put under the direct command of Chiang Kai-shek, defending Wuhan from the Central China Area Army of the Imperial Japanese Army led by Shunroku Hata. Chinese forces were also supported by the Soviet Volunteer Group, a group of volunteer pilots from Soviet Air Forces.

Although the battle ended with the eventual capture of Wuhan by the Japanese forces, it resulted in heavy casualties on both sides, as high as 1.2 million combined by some estimates. With the Japanese suffering their heaviest losses of the war, they decided to divert their attention to the north, which prolonged the war until the attack on Pearl Harbor. The end of the battle signaled the beginning of a strategic stalemate in the war, shifting from large pitched battles to localized struggles.​

Battle_of_Wuhan.jpg
 
After a couple of decades of searching photographs with the badges were finally found.

Battle of Wuhan Participation Commemorative Badge in Photo.jpg
 
  • Tags
    1938 homma troops badge battle of wuhan badge china incident commemorative badge general homma badge homma troops badge japanese military badge 本間部隊 本間部隊武漢参戰記念章 本間部隊章 武漢参戰記念章
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