Nambu Pistols: Japanese Military Handguns 1900–45 (Weapon)

Before and during World War II, Nambu pistols saw widespread combat use in the hands of the Japanese military, from aviators to tank crewmen. Influenced by the German C/96 and other semi-automatic pistols, the first Nambu model was never accepted for universal issue, being confined largely to purchase by Japanese officers. Adopted in 1925, the 14th Year Type was to become the best-known of these handguns, however, seeing action in every campaign undertaken by the Japanese during the 1930s and then throughout World War II. It served alongside the bizarrely conceived Type 94, intended as the weapon of airmen, tank crew, and anyone for whom its compact dimensions were useful. When World War II ended, thousands of Nambu pistols arrived in America with US veterans, while others were carried by insurgents and other armed groups across South East Asia for decades after 1945.