Japanese Army Teishin Shudan Paratrooper Squad

Japanese paratroopers – known as Teishin Shudan (Raiding Group) – were among the most formidable elite forces of the early war years. Inspired by the German airborne successes of 1940, the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force (IJAAF) developed its own paratrooper arm. Their first major deployment took place during the Battle of Palembang in February 1942, where one regiment dropped onto the airfield and another seized the town and oil refinery, achieving swift tactical success.