| “Japanese infantry storm a Chinese position outside Peiping (Beijing). This is almost certainly a staged propaganda photo. They wear Type 90 helmets, wear the M90/1930 uniform, and carry Type 38 Arisaka rifles. They are wearing puttees on their legs, which were a standard part of the Imperial Japanese Army uniform throughout World War II. They consist of a long narrow piece of cloth wound tightly, and spirally round the leg, serving to provide both support (as a compression garment) and protection. They were worn by both mounted and dismounted soldiers. On July 28, 1937, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek (October 31, 1887 – April 5, 1975) ordered the Commander of the 29th Route Army, General Song Zheyuan (October 30, 1885 – April 5, 1940) to retreat to Baoding in southern Hebei province. Over the next 2 days, intense fighting took place in Tianjin, where the Chinese forces put up a stiff resistance, but subsequently the Chinese retreated south along the lines of the Tientsin-Pukow Railway and the Peiping-Hankow Railway. On August 4, General Liu Ruzhen’s (1904 – November 1999) remaining 29th Brigade withdrew from Beiping into Chahar. Isolated, Beiping was captured by the Japanese without further resistance on August 8, 1937. General Masakazu Kawabe (December 5, 1886 – March 2, 1965) entered the city on August 18 in a military parade, and posted proclamations at important points announcing that he was the new military governor of the city. | |
| Image Filename | wwii1808.jpg |
| Image Size | 681.81 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 2732 x 1986 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | August 1, 1937 |
| Location | |
| City | Bejing |
| State or Province | Bejing |
| Country | China |
| Archive | |
| Record Number | |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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