Type 38 15 Cm Howitzer - Combat Record

Combat Record

Despite its obsolescence, the Type 38 150 mm Field Gun was found in theatres of operation in the Second Sino-Japanese War, Soviet-Japanese Border Wars and in the early Pacific War. Against the Chinese, the Type 38 was used with some success due to the fact the Chinese were desperately lacking in heavy artillery in the early part of the war. However, whenever the Japanese did face Chinese heavy artillery typically armed with German 15 cm sFH 18 heavy artillery guns, e.g. in the Battles of Wuhan and Changsha, Japanese gun crews found themselves badly outranged and hopelessly outgunned and the Type 38 was withdrawn from front-line service in 1942. However, as the Type 4 Ho-Ro self-propelled gun, units were deployed on Luzon and other islands in the Philippines, and were used in combat against American forces at the Battle of the Philippines in 1944. Other units were retained on the Japanese home islands in anticipation of the projected Allied invasion.