The Infantry Weapons of the Royal Dutch East Indies Army Against Japan in 1941-1942

During the Japanese invasion of the Dutch East Indies, the KNIL or the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army fought the invading Japanese soldiers on different places in the archipelago. For this, they made use of several weapons. The average soldier was equipped with the standard service rifle, the Hamburg M95. The bayonet of the CAL rifle was shorter than that of the regular army. There were special KAL carbines used by the corpse marus. These men were also equipped with the iconic Dutch saber. The claywong officers had a claywong as well. The most commonly used handgun of the KNL between 1912 and 1942 was the M11 pistol. As for light machine guns, the Matsan M15, which was of Danish origin, was widely used. Later, a shortened version was introduced. So, why were the Dutch colonial forces so quickly defeated by Japan? Click on the link below to find