The Capture of Kiaochow Bay

It was on this day in 1914 that Imperial Japanese forces captured the German colony of Kiaochow Bay in China, centered on the port city of Tsingtao. The Germans gave determined resistance but ultimately stood no chance against the superior forces of the Empire of Japan. The British also sent a token force to participate in the battle, about 1,000 British troops and 500 Sikhs from India. This was done because the western Allies feared that if Japan carried out the operation alone, they would have no say in how the German spoils of war would be allocated when the fighting was over, so Britain sent this small force of 1,500 men to participate as well. However, during the fighting there was some confusion and some Japanese forces mistakenly fired on their British allies because they could not always tell the difference between the British and the Germans who were both north European peoples and many of whom wore similar uniforms. A rather humorous solution to this problem was found which was that the Japanese gave the British troops kimonos to wear over their uniforms so that there would be no confusion in telling the British apart from the Germans. When the siege and battle were finally over and the Germans surrendered, as the defeated German troops marched out, they faced only the Japanese soldiers and turned their backs to the British. This was because the Japanese had carried the brunt of the fighting and the Germans resented the British sending just a small force to claim a share of the glory while Japan did most of the fighting. The British, of course, were offended by this and the British commander complained to General Kamio Mitsuomi who could only reply that they could not repeat the entire ceremony just for that. Japan held the city of Tsingtao until 1922 when it was handed over to the Republic of China.