Japanese Aces

[PF]

Link of interest
http://surfcity.kund.dalnet.se/japan_fukuyama.htm

[durb]

I recommend Nicholas Millman´s book "Ki-27 Nate Aces" (Osprey), which covers the combat history of Ki-27 fighter pilots in China, Nomonhan, Malaya, Philippines, Duth East Indies and Burma during 1938 - 1942 (and not only that). Many JAAF pilots became aces while flying Ki-27 and "Nate" had notable combat role in the initial stages of the Pacific War. Millman´s book has not only Japanese accounts, but included are also accounts of the other side (Soviet, British and American pilots). Millman has made good basic research work for his book. Good photos and very nice colourplates are included.

Samurai by Martin Caidin (& Saburo Sakai) used to be a standard book concerning the history of Japanese Aces, but it has been demonstrated to have many errors and was more a work of Caidin than the autobiography of Sakai. The latter did not receive royalties of the very succesfull sale of the book, which was based on his interviews and represented him as the principal author.

Some episodes of Samurai book have been demonstrated to be pure fiction or impossible when compared to the records of Allied archives and even with Sakai´s own accounts. More recommended book is Henry Sakaida´s "Winged Samurai", which is not only about Sakai but also about other Zero pilots. See: http://www.warbirdforum.com/wingsams.htm

[Pips]

Also look for a book titled "Bloody Shambles", Parts I and II. Covers the early part of the war - Malaya, Philippines, Burma - just the period when the Ki-27 was used extensively. Great read.

[durb]

Thanks for info - "Bloody Shambles" seems to be interesting books and has received positive reviews. I also know the writer Christophes Shores to be a good researcher who has worke hard to find the grains of truth behind some legends and myths, which still are very much alive. I know one writer who dismissed the examination of claims records unnecessary when one particular fighter unit with its (over)claims boosted the morale and created important propaganda victory. Shores has different view, which in my opinion is better - now after decades we do not anymore need to rely on wartime propaganda, legends and myths (although it is good to know them).

When it comes to Japanese Aces, I find it strange that there seems not to exist any monograph book in English devoted to Hiroyoshi Nishizawa, who is considered as the highest scoring Japanese ace of WW2. In the literature we rely mostly in the accounts of Saburo Sakai as represented in "Samurai". There are some reasonable websources as http://www.historynet.com/hiroyoshi-nis ... f-aces.htm. But they are not exactly the same thing as the full biography with its notes based on thorough research (including the verification of Nishizawa´s claims when possible). Nishizawa had a interesting career by being one of those pilots, who still flew with the old A5M Claude at the beginning of Pacific War and near the end of his life he escorted first kamikaze attacks and reported about the results. He did see the course of war from the early success to the war of attrition and to the beginning of final phase with it´s desperate measures.

[Sergio Uno]

I, too, have a copy of Millman's Ki-27 book, but once you have the IJAAF aces volume by Hata/Izawa/Shores, much of the same info is available there, as well as many photos.

The Osprey paperback would have benefited from better editing and proofreading. There is an annoying amount of typos and misspellings, coupled with sudden jumps from one romanization system to another, sometimes in one and the same sentence. Most modern historians prefer to adhere to a single system throughout the text.

At least some of the info provided is at odds with the existing Japanese research. The profile No. 8 shows us a Ki-27 with a construction number (c/n) 5326, purportedly flown during the Nomonhan Incident. As a matter of fact this is one of the best documented mounts of that type, first photographed at Haneda airfield on May 6th, 1940, several months after the termination of the conflict when that fighter was donated to the 11th Sentai. The Japanese original of Hata/Izawa's book includes that image with the correct caption. In any case, a four-digit c/n in case of a Nomonhan-period fighter would certainly raise a few eyebrows.

The caption to profile No. 9 refers to another Ki-27 with a c/n 292, aka the ‘angry head Nate’. Here 292 marks the donation or Aikoku number, not the construction number of that plane. There is a Soviet photo of the wreck of that particular fighter, clearly showing the Aikoku inscription with the associated digits.

Ronnie Olsthoorn’s artwork, on the other hand, is just superb.

[durb]

Thanks for notes. I have also noted some inaccurancies on Osprey books like in the "Spanish Republican Aces" or "I-15, I-16 and I-153 Aces". Also I noted that the presented colourplates do not always match with the photo material provided from the same time.

By the way, is there a good book on A5M? It is a well known plane, but not easy to find good info from the web.