When the Japanese sought to modernize their military following World War One and into the 1920s and early 1930s, they looked to the French, U.S., and the British for assistance. This assistance took the form of hiring foreign designers and engineers to work at the fledgling Japanese aviation companies, studying abroad, and in many cases, obtaining examples of foreign equipment to study and test or outright purchase production rights. In regards to aviation, the British featured heavily in terms of assisting the Japanese advancing in their aircraft. A prime example was former Sopwith engineer Herbert Smith who was the designer for the Mitsubishi 1MT1N torpedo bomber, the Mitsubishi 1MF1 carrier fighter, and the Mitsubishi B1M attack aircraft. Other prominent British aviation firms which influenced the Japanese included Blackburn and Short. Included in the exchange of aircraft data and technology was some of the weapons used by British airplanes that were simply adopted by the Japanese and one such weapon is shown here, the Type 92 (or Model 92) light machine-gun. The photograph shows a soldier belonging to the 32nd. Infantry Division holding up a captured Type 92 for the camera among other captured arms. The photograph was taken in Buna, New Guinea either in November or December 1942 while the Battle of Buna-Gona was underway. This battle commenced on November 16, 1942 and ran through January 22, 1943 and ended in an Allied victory. The Type 92 actually began as the Type 91 which was, more or less, the Lewis light machine-gun built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN). In 1932, production of the weapon commenced in Japan and was accepted into IJN service as the Type 92.
Construction of the Type 92 was aimed more at usage on IJN aircraft and as such, it was typically devoid of the barrel shroud and utilized a spade grip rather than a buttstock. Also, the Type 92 had an enlarged trigger guard, necessary to allow for the gunner wearing thick flight gloves. The main reason for the lack of the barrel shroud was that airflow across the weapon from the slipstream was more than adequate for cooling plus it lessened the weight. A 96-round circular pan magazine was the usual load but it could also use a smaller, 47-round pan magazine as well. For ammunition, the Japanese copied the original British .303 inch (7.7mm) rimmed round. This was because the standard Japanese 7.7mm rounds already in use were either semi-rimless or rimless which meant they could not be used in the Type 92 since they would simply fall out of the magazine. The Type 92 as fitted to aircraft was 3.25 feet long and weighed 19 pounds. The weapon was gas operated and had a rate of fire of 600 rounds per minute with a muzzle velocity of 2,440 feet per second. Regular iron sights were used and every fifth round in the magazine was a tracer.
The Type 92 was also utilized on ships for anti-aircraft defense. For this purpose, the Type 92 was fitted to a tripod which allowed for 85 degrees of elevation and 80 degrees of depression when the legs of the tripod were fully extended. If need be, a crew could shift the Type 92 on the tripod from vertical firing to horizontal firing in under 15 seconds. Finally, the Type 92 was also utilized by naval ground forces and the example shown here is typical of those used by naval infantry. When utilized on ships as well as the ground, the barrel shroud was usually fitted. The purpose of the shroud was to channel air that was drawn across the barrel by the muzzle blast. In addition, heat sinks were fitted to the front and rear of the shroud to aid in cooling. The front heat sink is underneath the shroud but the rear heat sink is visible in the photograph. For ground use, the enlarged trigger guard was not fitted as evidenced here. In addition, some Type 92 weapons deployed on ships and the ground had either the spade grip or the buttstock. It is believed this Type 92 was part of the arsenal of the 5th. Yokosuka Special Landing Party (SLP), a part of the IJN's Kaigun Tokubetsu Rikusentai (Special Naval Landing Forces). These were not marines (as, say, the U.S. Marine Corps which was part of the U.S. Navy) but were simply regular sailors who received additional basic training in infantry tactics and weapons, were grouped together into battalions, and were deployed as landing forces. The 5th. Yokosuka SLP was a part of the Japanese defenders at Buna. Since the Type 92 here was used by infantry, it was fitted with a buttstock and has a bipod fitted over the barrel shroud. In this guise, the Type 92 was longer, measuring 4.7 feet long and was heavier at 26 pounds. It had the same rate of fire and muzzle velocity as the Type 92 used in aircraft and it also utilized both types of pan magazines (not seen here). It also used a blade-type front sight with a folding leaf peep-sight in the rear that was graduated from 0 to 1,700 meters.
By 1940 and 1941, the Type 92 as used in aircraft was obsolete and the 7.7mm caliber was underpowered with an effective range of 1,970 feet. Despite this, it remained in service until the end of the war in August 1945 though it was partially replaced in later IJN aircraft by the heavier 13mm Type 2 machine-gun and the 20mm Type 99 cannon. Despite being outclassed in the air, as a ground weapon, the Type 92 retained a level of effectiveness and was also utilized until the war's end.
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