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| IJA 4th Tank Regiment 2nd Company    USSR circa 1939 |
Tank History Delivered to the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) as Type 95 Ha Go Light Tank. Wartime History Assigned to the 4th Tank Regiment, 2nd Company. This tank was commanded by 1st Lt. Yoshihisa Ito, commander of the 2nd Company since June 30, 1939 when Captain Kitamura was killed. On July 2, 1939 had advanced to 2-3km southeast of Lake Iringin and by 9pm issued orders for a night attack toward Heights 757 at Khalkhin Gol / Nomonhan. By 10:30pm gave final instructions, and before 11pm began to advance, flying a Hinomaru flag (Japanese flag) from each tank for recognition. On July 3, 1939 after midnight, the tanks advanced under the cover of darkness, a thunderstorm and rain. After successfully overrunning forward pickets in holes, the tanks were ordered to charge at 12:20am with the storm at its peak. This tank was part of the regimental reserve, and advanced behind the 4th Company (Captain In with Type 89 tanks. Facing strong enemy defense, Ito's tank entered the battle on the right wing, between 4th Company under the command of Captain In with Type 89 tanks and 3rd Company under the command of Tamaki. Durign confused close quarters combat, this tank was hit by an anti-tank or artillery round in the ammunition compartment behind the driver and exploded and set the crew compartment on fire. Lt. Ito was badly burned. The driver was burned and hit by fragments. The gunner's face and hands was burned and wounded by fragments. The engine stopped and could not be restarted, nor could the fire be extinguished. The three crew managed to exit but the flaming tank attracted both enemy and friendly fire. Together, the crew staggered for 150m before the driver and Ito were picked up by Lt. Niikura's tank. Since there was not enough room for all three, the wounded gunner was picked up by another tank as the advance continued. Afterwards, fellow tankers searched for Ito's disabled tank to tow it back to safety or destroy it, but were unable to locate it and abandoned their search by 4:00am. Afterwards, Ito was brought to Regimental Headquarters and evacuated to the hospital due to his wounds. Wreckage By July 6, 1939 this tank was salvaged from the battlefield by Lt. Alymov's platoon (2nd Company, 24th Tank Battalion, 11th Tank Brigade. Taken to the rear, this was the first Type 95 Ha Go captured by the Soviet Red Army. It appeared in propaganda photographs of the Battle of Khalkhin Gol. Afterwards, the fate of this tank is unknown, likely scrapped or otherwise disappeared. Since tank crews were expected to share the same fate as their vehicles, when these photographs were published, some official from Japan visited General Yasuoka to have the crew assume responsibility for the captured tank and commit suicide. Instead, General Yasuoka defended his tankers and explained that cases like this could happen during close, confused combat and no member of the staff or Ito were not obligated to commit suicide. But, this incident brought disgrace to the 4th Tank Regiment, and some felt Ito's survival was reprehensible behavior for a military academy graduate. References Nomonhan (1990) pages 382, 385, 388, 392, 392-393, 1120 Thanks to Taki Takizawa for additional information Contribute
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