Shanghai Archives

Shanghai

A Memorable Marine Mascot

By Eric Niderost

Soochow was a mongrel dog with a remarkable gift for self-preservation. A homeless stray, he attached himself to some U.S. Read more

American and Filipino troops raise their hands in surrender after emerging from Malinta Tunnel on the island of Corregidor. The victorious Japanese captured thousands of prisoners during the largest mass capitulation of U.S. military personnel in the nation’s history.

Shanghai

WWII Veterans: Donald L. Versaw, From Shanghai to Corregidor

By Eric Niderost

Donald L. Versaw joined the U.S. Marine Corps on Armistice Day, November 11, 1939. After basic training and a stint in the Marine Corps Operating Base Band in San Diego, he was sent overseas to join the Fourth Marines Band in Shanghai. Read more

Japanese marines prepare to open fire with machine guns on the outnumbered Chinese position at Sihang Warehouse in October 1937. National Archives

Shanghai

Chinese Alamo: Last Stand at Sihang Warehouse

By Eric Niderost

On October 27, 1937, the Zhabei district of Shanghai began to burn, an enormous conflagration that stretched for five miles and filled the northern horizon from end to end, almost as far as the eye could see. Read more

Shanghai

Bridge House Hotel: Crimes of the Kempeitai in Shanghai

By Eric Niderost

By the 1930s, Shanghai was already a legend in its own time––the most modern, populous, and decadent city in China. Read more

Shanghai

The Kempeitai: Japan’s Dreaded “Gestapo”

By Eric Niderost

In Western countries, “military police” are associated in the public mind with keeping order among off-duty personnel, such as arresting drunken servicemen. Read more

Shanghai

Attack on the USS Panay

By Chuck Lyons

For some Americans, World War II started early. In December 1937, four years before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor propelled the United States into the war, Japanese planes attacked an American gunboat, the USS Panay, on China’s Yangtze River, strafing and bombing the boat, sinking it, killing three American crew members, and the wounding 45 others. Read more

Citizens of Hamburg, Germany, pick their way through the rubble of their city during the Allies’ week-long Operation Gomorrah air raids in July 1943.

Shanghai

The Children of WWII: Remembering the Conflict That Stole Their Childhoods

By Susan Zimmerman

World War II affected nearly every area of the world. It was the deadliest conflict in all of human history. Read more

Following a brutal assault, conquering Japanese troops parade triumphantly through the Chungshan gate that leads into Nanking, the capital of China.

Shanghai

The Japanese Army’s “Rape of Nanking”

By Walter Zapotoczny Jr.

On August 15, 1937, the Japanese Imperial Army bombed Nanking, the capital of China. These raids were unrelenting until December 13, when Japanese troops entered the conquered city. Read more

Shanghai

The Arisaka Rifle: Weapons for the Imperial Japanese Army Way of War

By Jon Diamond

As militarism grew in Japan in the early 1930s, conscription began at the age of 19, and the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) cadet entered military service. Read more

Shanghai

Frederick Townsend Ward and the Ever— Victorious Army

By Robert Heege

Wu Hsu was having trouble sleeping. As the taotai, or mayor, of Shanghai, Wu was charged with the ultimate welfare of China’s greatest cosmopolitan city. Read more

From Around the Network

German Interest in Adolf Hitler on the Rise

Game Reviews: Sniper Elite’s Zombie Army Trilogy

The War of 1812: Joseph Willocks and the Canadian Volunteers

A Triumph of Naval Gunnery at Cape St. Vincent