Without a doubt, the Japanese feared our flamethrowers more than any other weapon we used against them. But what did our troops fear the most from them ?
I've been told by several WW2 CINCPAC vets that they feared Japanese ARTILLERY & MORTARS more than any other weapon. The US entered into island fighting believing Japanese artillery was poor & inaccurate, having stereotyped Japanese soldiers as not being able to see that well. They quickly found out they were wrong; the Japanese artillery was highly-accurate, powerful, & able to fire repeated rounds quickly.
They often pre-sighted their weapons, giving them interlocking fields of fire; they were often able to hit individual landing craft attacking an island they held. And their use of cover & concealment is still legendary today. Much of their island artillery was in well-protected bunkers, caves, & large pillboxes, with some pieces being able to fire & retract into shelter while being reloaded.
Differences between artillery pieces for non-military people here: A GUN generally fires almost ina straight line. It has the longest range. A HOWITZER fires in an arc; its shells mland at around a 45 degree angle. It's used fot hitting hillsides, or hitting a hill's reverse side. It has a shorter range than a gun. A MORTAR friews its shells in a U-shaped arc so they come straight down or nearly-so. They're used against trenches or other fortifications that are vulnerable in their tops, buildings, or vehicles, or the reverse sides of hills where a howitzer can't reach.. They have the shortest range of any artillery.
On islands such as Iwo Jima, the Japanese had huge mortars that fired a "trash-can" type shell that would hit on the coral surface, making shrapnel from the coral. greatly expanding a shell's range of damage.
Our artillery the Japanese feared most was from ships firing inland; late in the war, many of our ships had radar & computer-assisted aiming. They were very accurate for several miles inland. (Remember, they were designed to hit a moving ship from a moving ship, so, when both the ship & target were stationary, a hit was a gimme!)
I've been told by several WW2 CINCPAC vets that they feared Japanese ARTILLERY & MORTARS more than any other weapon. The US entered into island fighting believing Japanese artillery was poor & inaccurate, having stereotyped Japanese soldiers as not being able to see that well. They quickly found out they were wrong; the Japanese artillery was highly-accurate, powerful, & able to fire repeated rounds quickly.
They often pre-sighted their weapons, giving them interlocking fields of fire; they were often able to hit individual landing craft attacking an island they held. And their use of cover & concealment is still legendary today. Much of their island artillery was in well-protected bunkers, caves, & large pillboxes, with some pieces being able to fire & retract into shelter while being reloaded.
Differences between artillery pieces for non-military people here: A GUN generally fires almost ina straight line. It has the longest range. A HOWITZER fires in an arc; its shells mland at around a 45 degree angle. It's used fot hitting hillsides, or hitting a hill's reverse side. It has a shorter range than a gun. A MORTAR friews its shells in a U-shaped arc so they come straight down or nearly-so. They're used against trenches or other fortifications that are vulnerable in their tops, buildings, or vehicles, or the reverse sides of hills where a howitzer can't reach.. They have the shortest range of any artillery.
On islands such as Iwo Jima, the Japanese had huge mortars that fired a "trash-can" type shell that would hit on the coral surface, making shrapnel from the coral. greatly expanding a shell's range of damage.
Our artillery the Japanese feared most was from ships firing inland; late in the war, many of our ships had radar & computer-assisted aiming. They were very accurate for several miles inland. (Remember, they were designed to hit a moving ship from a moving ship, so, when both the ship & target were stationary, a hit was a gimme!)
