Manchurian Russians, Part 1
A poorly understood curiosity in the West is the presence of Russians in Japanese uniform, often referred to as “Japan’s White Soldiers.” What isn’t often acknowledged, or investigated, are exactly how deep the political and military ties between the Russian emigres and their East Asian neighbors go. Though by and large most of the early…
The Korean War’s First Chinese Participants
The first Chinese to go abroad in support of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea(DPRK) did so well before China’s official entry into the war on October 19, 1950. The first to report were senior cadre (officers) of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) who wore completely sanitized Korean People’s Army(KPA) officer’s uniforms. Likewise, junior personnel…
Germany’s Idiot Star
Most nations’ armed services past, present and likely future, often require little more than the requisite Time-in-Service (TIS) and Time-in-Grade (TIG), to use contemporary US military vernacular, to be promoted within the junior enlisted grades. Germany’s armed forces were no different. The pictured rank, Oberschütze (Obergrenadier, ~kanonier, etc.), Senior Private or Private First Class, was…
Instructions for Japanese Regarding Korean Soldiers
Even prior to the annexation by the Japanese Empire, the Korean peninsula had close military ties with the Japanese, of varying degrees of warmth or animosity, and just as varied political motivations. Once the nation became a colony in 1910 however, Koreans were not permitted to serve in the Japanese military except for the following…
Chinese People’s Volunteer Army Patch
Emerging from the Chinese Civil War (1927-1949) as the nation’s monolithic armed forces, The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) continued the Sino practice of wearing breast and sleeve identification patches. Departing from the variance of patches worn by China’s diverse militaries of the past, the new patches would be standardized in graphic design and method…
First, a mission statement
It is my strongest desire to see MARS MILITARIA grow as an entity serving the military enthusiast and collector. Quality reproductions of specific East Asian uniforms of the 20th century’s first half are still missing from the growing catalog of offerings from other manufacturers. The reader is probably already thinking of a few notable Japanese…
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IJA3PLT x MARS MILITARIA 