IJA IJN Kill Markings

[ShindenKai]

This thread is for any/all kill markings applied to aircraft (or anything).

Anyone have any info on the unit this Zero flew with and its tail markings?

[fontessa]

This thread is for any/all kill markings applied to aircraft (or anything).

Anyone have any info on the unit this Zero flew with and its tail markings?

I found.

撃墜マーク 零戦 1.jpg (107.34 KiB) Viewed 1949 times

fontessa

[ShindenKai]

This thread is for any/all kill markings applied to aircraft (or anything).

Anyone have any info on the unit this Zero flew with and its tail markings?

I found.
fontessa

Thank you Fontessa. Is it known who flew that Zero?

The post protruding from the rear fuselage is a spring-loaded hand-hold, the button that releases the hand-hold is the black dot directly below it. It is simply pushed inward, by hand, to conceal/retract it flush with fuselage skin. There is another of similar type further forward on the fuselage, below the canopy, and three retractable steps. There are also two, flush fitting, spring-loaded retractable tie-downs on the underside of the wings, outboard of the 20mm guns.

[fontessa]

Thank you Fontessa. Is it known who flew that Zero?

Unfortunately no. Two detachments from Tainan Naval Air Group and 3rd Air Group were attached to 22nd Air Squadron HQ temporally. It is difficult to identify who flew that Zero.

The post protruding from the rear fuselage is a spring-loaded hand-hold, the button that releases the hand-hold is the black dot directly below it. It is simply pushed inward, by hand, to conceal/retract it flush with fuselage skin. There is another of similar type further forward on the fuselage, below the canopy, and three retractable steps. There are also two, flush fitting, spring-loaded retractable tie-downs on the underside of the wings, outboard of the 20mm guns.

Thanks!

[fontessa]

fontessa

[ShindenKai]

Thank you Fontessa!

Did Tetsuzo Iwamoto every publish anything about his experiences?? -If I recall correctly, he died not long after the war due to complications from surgeries to a war wound? -His personal story of the combats he took part in has been something I've wanted to read FOREVER. -I have read that he kept a detailed log-book of his flights & combat...

Did Cpt Takeuchi Shogo survive the war? -Did the full Eagle/Hawk(?) marking have a special significance over the wing markings?

Both aircraft would be great model subjects.

Although not a pilot, I'd love to read the story of the IJN Destroyer Yukikaze's Captain.

[fontessa]

Did Tetsuzo Iwamoto every publish anything about his experiences?? -If I recall correctly, he died not long after the war due to complications from surgeries to a war wound? -His personal story of the combats he took part in has been something I've wanted to read FOREVER. -I have read that he kept a detailed log-book of his flights & combat...

Yes, there are two. But the latter is out of print now. It had his kill list summary. I have uploaded the kill summary.
viewtopic.php?f=65&t=256665&p=2338530#p2338203
Many question his kill score. Indeed, he seems to have included his unit's kill count in his kill count, which some criticize. I guess as forrows. In Japan, unit scores were more important than individual scores. In Japan, there were many pilots of the rank below the officer. They had more flight time than officers, and of course more kills. Emphasizing personal records makes this obvious. Navy upper officials hated this. That's why the policy was changed to "unit records rather than personal records''. Especially in Navy, there was a strong sense of identity. For example, the ``義済会 Gisaikai'', a mutual aid organization for naval officers, allowed reserve officers to join, but did not allow special duty officers, including Iwamoto. Iwamoto may have rebelled against these trend and included the unit's records in his records. This is only my guess. 秦郁彦 Hata Ikuhiko, a well-known military historian, speculates that "His personal record was about 80" I think that even that the score is great.

岩本本.jpg (60.89 KiB) Viewed 948 times

Did Cpt Takeuchi Shogo survive the war? -Did the full Eagle/Hawk(?) marking have a special significance over the wing markings?

Unfortunately he was KIA on 21 December 1943, and was promoted to Major.
The kill marks were those of 64th Air Regiment he belonged to before. 64AR (famous Kato Hayabusa Sento-tat) Commander Lieutenant Colonel Kato Takeo (2nd rank specially promoted to Maj Gen with KIA) banned kill marks, so there were no K-43s wearing them. I do not know the origin of Ki-10 and Ki-27 kill marks.

撃墜マーク 95戦.jpg (89 KiB) Viewed 953 times

Although not a pilot, I'd love to read the story of the IJN Destroyer Yukikaze's Captain.

I think most famous Yukikaze's Captain was LCDR Terauchi Masamichi. But none of the captains of Yukikaze, including Terauchi, have left a memoir.

fontessa

[ShindenKai]

Did Tetsuzo Iwamoto every publish anything about his experiences?? -If I recall correctly, he died not long after the war due to complications from surgeries to a war wound? -His personal story of the combats he took part in has been something I've wanted to read FOREVER. -I have read that he kept a detailed log-book of his flights & combat...

Yes, there are two. But the latter is out of print now. It had his kill list summary. I have uploaded the kill summary.
viewtopic.php?f=65&t=256665&p=2338530#p2338203
Many question his kill score. Indeed, he seems to have included his unit's kill count in his kill count, which some criticize. I guess as forrows. In Japan, unit scores were more important than individual scores. In Japan, there were many pilots of the rank below the officer. They had more flight time than officers, and of course more kills. Emphasizing personal records makes this obvious. Navy upper officials hated this. That's why the policy was changed to "unit records rather than personal records''. Especially in Navy, there was a strong sense of identity. For example, the ``義済会 Gisaikai'', a mutual aid organization for naval officers, allowed reserve officers to join, but did not allow special duty officers, including Iwamoto. Iwamoto may have rebelled against these trend and included the unit's records in his records. This is only my guess. 秦郁彦 Hata Ikuhiko, a well-known military historian, speculates that "His personal record was about 80" I think that even that the score is great.

Did Cpt Takeuchi Shogo survive the war? -Did the full Eagle/Hawk(?) marking have a special significance over the wing markings?

Unfortunately he was KIA on 21 December 1943, and was promoted to Major.
The kill marks were those of 64th Air Regiment he belonged to before. 64AR (famous Kato Hayabusa Sento-tat) Commander Lieutenant Colonel Kato Takeo (2nd rank specially promoted to Maj Gen with KIA) banned kill marks, so there were no K-43s wearing them. I do not know the origin of Ki-10 and Ki-27 kill marks.

Although not a pilot, I'd love to read the story of the IJN Destroyer Yukikaze's Captain.

I think most famous Yukikaze's Captain was LCDR Terauchi Masamichi. But none of the captains of Yukikaze, including Terauchi, have left a memoir.

fontessa

Looks like I need to acquire a copy of Tetsuzo's book, thank you Fontessa. The IJNAF's attitude towards pilots scores is unfortunate. 80 does seem to be a fair guess at his score.

I've always found the variety of kill marking styles on Japanese aircraft to be very interesting, more aesthetic.

Very unfortunate to hear that none of the IJN Yukikaze Captains ever wrote about their experience. Would've been a fantastic read.

[fontessa]

I've always found the variety of kill marking styles on Japanese aircraft to be very interesting, more aesthetic.

CPT / MAJ Kobayashi Teruhiko
First, let me talk about CPT (and finally MAG) Kobayashi Teruhiko. He graduated from Army Academy (class 53) and was appointed as an artillery lieutenant in 1940. He changed the specialty to air (light bombing) the same month. His specialty was changed to air (fighter) in November 1943 again. Then he was appointed 244th Air Regiment Commanding Officer in November 1944. He was 24 years old at this time and the youngest commanding officer in IJAAF. In January 1945, he already shot down 5 B-29s. It shows he was a very good fighter pilot. On 27th January 244 AR carried out a large-scale ramming attack on B-29s. He conducted a ramming and shot down one B-29 and survived. The upper Ki-61 of the 2nd picture shows the airplane he flew on that day. Of course, he was not a member of Shinten-seikutai which was the ramming unit of 144AR, but he must have thought that taking the lead in ramming was necessary for unit leadership. Later, a kill mark was added to his plane, indicating a ramming kill as shown in the 1st Picture. He was ordered to ground duty at the end of the war, so his final kill score was 14, as shown by the Ki-100 in the second picture. He joined the JASDF in 1954 as a major. He received F-86 flight training in the United States, after which he became the 1st Squadron Commander of the 1st Wing. In 1957, he was killed in a T-33 trainer accident in which he was an instructor. His posthumous rank was Lieutenant Colonel.

The 3rd picture shows Ki-5Kais of 4th Air Regiment. 4th AR had a ramming unit called Kaitentai 回天隊. Kaiten was the same Kanji 回天 as the Navy’s suicide mini-submarine. Its unit mark was “B-29 pierced by Kanji 回天 Kaiten”
The 4th picture shows Gekko belonging to Yokosuka Naval Air Group. It was equipped with FD-2 RADAR.
The 5th picture shows Shidenkai belonged to 343rd Naval Air Group. Its kill marks were common to the airplanes of 343rd.

撃墜マーク 小林 照彦 1.jpg (96.03 KiB) Viewed 770 times

撃墜マーク 菅野直大.jpg (64.47 KiB) Viewed 770 times

fontessa

[ShindenKai]

Excellent! Thank you for the detailed info Fontessa! Very interesting that some aerial units shared the Kaiten/Kaiten-Tai moniker. I very much like its stylized graphic. Makes sense that the Tsuba was used in the tail markings, represents the units duty to defend Japan.

[ShindenKai]

For those who may be unfamiliar with the type of bomb Tetsuzo Iwamoto used in combat...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07TOpjZmnM0

[fontessa]

Tsuba-zeriai 鍔迫り合い
Tsuba was necessary to protect the hand from the opponent's sword in close combat between Japanese swords which is called “Tsuba-zeriai' 鍔迫り合い'. Even if there was a Tsuba, there were cases such as the finger was cut off within a hard "Tsuba-zeriai". That's why I don't think a lightsaber without a tsuba can handle close-quarters combat.

鍔迫り合い 1.jpg (38.52 KiB) Viewed 627 times

鍔迫り合い 2.jpg (49.18 KiB) Viewed 627 times

fontessa

[ShindenKai]

Tsuba-zeriai 鍔迫り合い
Tsuba was necessary to protect the hand from the opponent's sword in close combat between Japanese swords which is called “Tsuba-zeriai' 鍔迫り合い'. Even if there was a Tsuba, there were cases such as the finger was cut off within a hard "Tsuba-zeriai". That's why I don't think a lightsaber without a tsuba can handle close-quarters combat.
fontessa

Thank you Fontessa. You make a very good point about the lightsabers!