A paratrooper or military parachutist is a soldier trained to conduct military operations by parachuting directly into an area of operations, usually as part of a large airborne forces unit. Traditionally paratroopers fight only as light infantry armed with small arms and light weapons, although some paratroopers can also function as artillerymen or mechanized infantry by utilizing field guns, infantry fighting vehicles and light tanks that are airdropped together into the combat zone.
Airborne forces are ground combat units carried by aircraft and airdropped into battle zones, typically by parachute drop. Parachute-qualified infantry and support personnel serving in airborne units are also known as paratroopers.
The Southern Expeditionary Army Group was a general army of the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. It was responsible for all military operations in South East Asian and South West Pacific campaigns of World War II. Its military symbol was NA.
The Special Naval Landing Forces were the marines of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) and were a part of the IJN land forces. They saw extensive service in the Second Sino-Japanese War and in the Pacific theatre of World War II. The SNLF should not be confused with the Naval Landing Forces, which were primarily ad-hoc units of naval personnel formed into naval infantry and paratrooper units whom rarely performed proper amphibious operations and were primarily utilized in a defensive role ashore.
The Imperial Japanese Navy land forces were a variety of land-based units of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) organized for offensive operations, the defense of Japanese naval and shore-based facilities, military policing tasks, construction and engineering, training, and shore-based anti-aircraft roles; both overseas, and in the Japanese home islands. Units ranged from dedicated military police formations, to ad-hoc groups of naval personnel pressed into service as naval infantry, to professional marines, among others. The land forces were most active during the interwar period and World War II, with IJN land forces complementing, supporting, and in some cases, operating in-place of Imperial Japanese Army units. Upon Imperial Japan’s defeat in WWII, IJN land forces were disbanded alongside the IJN proper in 1945.
The 503rd Infantry Regiment, formerly the 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment and the 503rd Airborne Infantry Regiment, is an airborne infantry regiment of the United States Army. The regiment served as an independent regiment in the Pacific War during World War II; at Fort Campbell, Kentucky; in Okinawa, Japan; and in Germany. Regimental elements have been assigned to the 2nd Infantry Division, the 11th Airborne Division, the 24th Infantry Division, 25th Infantry Division, the 82nd Airborne Division, 101st Airborne Division, and the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team. Regimental elements have participated in campaigns in the Vietnam War, Operation Enduring Freedom–Afghanistan, and Operation Iraqi Freedom. The regiment claims 15 Medal of Honor recipients: two from World War II, ten from Vietnam, and three from Afghanistan. A parent regiment under the U.S. Army Regimental System. The regiment's 1st and 2nd Battalions are active, assigned to the 173rd Airborne Brigade, based at Caserma Ederle, Vicenza, Italy. The 3rd and 4th Battalions as well as Companies E, F, G, H, and I have been inactived.
Colonel Edson Duncan Raff was a United States Army officer and writer of a book on paratroopers. He served as Commanding Officer (CO) of the first American paratroop unit to jump into combat, the 2nd Battalion, 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment, near Oran as part of Operation Torch during World War II. His book, We Jumped to Fight, was based on his experience in that operation and was published in 1944.
This article covers the Japanese garrisons on the by-passed Pacific islands from 1944 to 1945, including the Japanese mandated territory of the South Seas Mandate.
The Mitsubishi G3M was a Japanese bomber and transport aircraft used by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJNAS) during World War II.
Nagara (長良) was the lead ship of her class of light cruiser in the Imperial Japanese Navy. She was named after the Nagara River in the Chūbu region of Japan.
Chitose (千歳) was a warship of the Imperial Japanese Navy that served from 1938 to 1944, seeing service as a seaplane carrier and later as a light aircraft carrier during World War II. In her initial guise as a seaplane carrier, she first saw service during the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1938, and subsequently played a key role in the Imperial Japanese Navy's development of a network of seaplane bases on the islands of the Pacific Ocean. After the outbreak of World War II in the Pacific, she took part in the Philippines campaign, the Dutch East Indies campaign, the Battle of Midway, and the Guadalcanal campaign, during which she was damaged in the Battle of the Eastern Solomons and also saw service related to the Battle of Cape Esperance.
Teishin Shudan was a Japanese special forces/airborne unit during World War II. The unit was a division-level force, and was part of the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force (IJAAF). The Teishin units were therefore distinct from the marine parachute units of the Special Naval Landing Forces.
The Battle of Palembang was a battle of the Pacific theatre of World War II. It occurred near Palembang, on Sumatra, on 13–15 February 1942. The Royal Dutch Shell oil refineries at nearby Plaju were the major objectives for the Empire of Japan in the Pacific War, because of an oil embargo imposed on Japan by the United States, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom after the Japanese invaded China. With the area's abundant fuel supply and airfield, Palembang offered significant potential as a military base to both the Allies and the Japanese.
The Regimento de Paraquedistas, based in Tancos, Portugal, is a unit of the Portuguese Army and serves as the instruction center for recruitment and training of the Portuguese paratroopers. This unit includes an entire battalion, acting as support and reserve for airborne units which contains for example, military war dogs and airborne pathfinders and an instruction battalion responsible for the forming of new paratroopers.
Below is the order of battle for the Amoy Operation fought May 10–12, 1938, part of a campaign by the Imperial Japanese Navy to blockade the Republic of China during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
The Fallschirmjäger were the paratrooper branch of the German Luftwaffe before and during World War II. They were the first paratroopers to be committed in large-scale airborne operations. They were commanded by Kurt Student, the Luftwaffe's second-in-command.
The Portuguese Paratroopers are an elite infantry assault force, representing the bulk of the airborne forces of Portugal. They were created in 1956 as part of the Portuguese Air Force, being transferred to the Portuguese Army in 1993. Presently, most of the Paratroopers are part of the Portuguese Rapid Reaction Brigade which comprises all 3 special forces troops.
The 2nd Raiding Brigade, also known as the Takachiho Paratroopers, was an Imperial Japanese airborne forces unit. Part of the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service (IJAAS), the unit was notably involved in the Battle of the Philippines in 1945, during which it was almost completely destroyed.
Sanuki Maru (Japanese:讃岐丸) was a 1939-built cargo ship, requisitioned as a seaplane tender by the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II.
Empire of Japan 
Imperial Japanese Navy 