Narciso in Zambales, late January 1945.
JAPANESE WWII TYPE 99 7.7mm RIFLE AS AETA NEGRITO HUNTING RIFLE
During WWII, the Aeta Mag-Antsi of Bamban Hills participated in the resistance against the Japanese by organizing guerrilla warriors outfit, the Squadron 30, Bruce Guerrilla operating in the Bamban Mountains as mountain patrol.
They were using their indigenous weapons; the bow and arrow and Katana blades. With the coming of the American forces in late January 1945, they became instrumental in providing necessary intelligence on the position of the Kembu Group in Bamban Hills. They were issued M1 Carbine and M1 Garand, and were part of the infantry support for clearing operations on Japanese forces holed in the many crevices and tunnels of Bamban Hills.
Arisaka Type 99 used for hunting in their ancestral domain.
(Rhonie Dela Cruz photo)
After the war, they went back to their usual life in their ancestral domain. With the predominant left-overs of WWII rifles in the former battlefields, they collected many Japanese Arisakas; the Type 38 (6.5mm) and Type 99 (7.7mm), and soon made use of them in their hunting of wildlife including wild boars. Later, these Arisakas were converted to make fit for the locally available ammunitions at the time.
Photograph shows Pan Okul with Arisaka, what looked like a converted or modified Type 99 (7.7mm). Most of the metal parts are still original but the wooden stock is already modified.
Glad that I met Pan Okul, the Arisaka, a relic of the war of our grandfathers.
First photo shows the Aeta with the modified Type 99, the second photo shows our Arisaka Type 99.
