POSTAVENO

HISTORY

Kaga Fighter Squadron, Kisarazu base, Japan, April 1942

Koga‘s Zero of carrier Ryūjō pictured in Dutch Harbor, Aleutians during transport to the US. The colour of this

relatively new aircraft was described by the Americans in a technical report as “glossy grey-green”.

(Photo: Naval History and Heritage Command)

In early 1942, the aircraft carrier Kaga took part in attacks on Rabaul, Kavieng, targets in

New Guinea and Port Darwin. In March, her aircraft participated in attacks against ships off

Java. Due to hull damage caused by a reef in early February, Kaga was undergoing repairs

at Sasebo from March 22, 1942. The Mitsubishi-built “AII-106” was photographed at Kisarazu

in April 1942. It bears the patriotic donation inscription (Hōkoku) No. 532 and the name of the

donor (Yamanobe-gō). It may be the name of a company or the donor's surname. It is likely

that this aircraft participated in the Battle of Midway on June 4, 1942. Nine fighters from

Kaga flew in the first attack wave, led by Lt. Iizuka. They reported twelve victories. During

the exhausting combats to cover their own task force, the Kaga’s fighters claimed 32 aircraft

destroyed. After the carrier was hit, some of them landed aboard the HIJMS Hiryū. Two took

part, as escort, in the raid on the USS Yorktown. The Kaga's Fighter Squadron lost six pilots

during the battle, four of them during combat air patrol. However, elite ground personnel

suffered heavy losses when the ship was sunk. Also aboard the HIJMS Kaga were fighter

pilots and mechanics from the 6th Kōkūtai, who were to be based at Midway Atoll after its

capture. Some of them also took part in the air battle.

c/n 4593, PO1c Todayoshi Koga, Ryūjō Fighter Squadron, June 1942

Koga's Zero during testing at the NAS San Diego with Lt. Cdr. Eddie Sanders at the controls. During an emergency landing in the Aleutians, the aircraft flipped onto its back, killing its pilot Tadayoshi Koga. The tail unit was

repaired, but the antenna mast had to be shortened.

(Photo: San Diego Air and Space Museum)

This aircraft was released by Mitsubishi on February 19, 1942. In late April and early May the

Ryūjō Fighter Squadron received Zeros instead of older A5M „Claude“ aircraft. PO1c Koga, a

veteran of 12th Kōkūtai in China, piloted “DI-108” on June 4 during the attack on the Aleutians.

He was one of the two wingmen of CPO Endō. Near Egg Island they shot down Ens. Albert E.

Mitchell´s Catalina of VP-42, which was carrying mail to Umnak. The burning aircraft landed

on the sea and several airmen managed to get into the dingy. However, they were strafed

and killed by the Japanese airmen. Koga's Zero was hit either by defensive fire from Catalina or, moments later, by ground fire. Koga attempted to land on Akutan Island, which was

intended for the rescue of the Japanese airmen. The aircraft with retracted undercarriage

and stopped engine overturned after touching soft marsh ground and Koga was killed. The

Japanese attempted to rescue the pilot but were unable to find him due to bad weather. Five

weeks later, the Zero was spotted by the crew of Lt. Williams “Bill” Thies’ Catalina. On July 5, a

US Navy team reached the plane. The Americans transported the aircraft to NAS North Island

in San Diego. The Zero was repaired, given a Hamilton-Standard propeller and registration

number TAIC 1. It underwent intensive testing but was apparently scrapped after the war.

In memory of the Ens. Mitchell and his crew, the destroyer DE-43 was christened Mitchell.

PO1c Saburō Sakai, Tainan Kōkūtai, Lakunai airfield, Rabaul, New Britain island, August 1942

The last pages of Eddie Reuel Sanders' logbook from the tests of Koga's Zero. The tests had a profound effect

on the tactics used against the Zeros and on the design of some Allied aircraft. Sanders fought in the Pacific in

the second half of the war and retired in the 1950s with the rank of Rear Admiral.

(Photo: San Diego Air and Space Museum)

April 2022

Saburō Sakai is best known Japanese fighter pilot, thanks to his memoirs and meetings with

Allied airmen after World War II. He was born in 1916 and served from September 1938 with

the 12th Kōkūtai in China. In October 1941, he was assigned to the newly organized Tainan

Kōkūtai in Taiwan and took part in campaign heading South until he was wounded on August

7, 1942 off Guadalcanal. After recovering, he served as an instructor with Ōmura Kōkūtai, and

later, despite bad eyesight, was combat deployed with Yokosuka Kōkūtai on Iwo Jima. At the

end of war he served with Kōkūtai 343 (II) and Yokosuka Kōkūtai. He is listed as an ace with

64 victories, but Sakai himself claimed the number of his victories was lower. With the first

two units he actually achieved 12 individual victories, 8 shared and 4 probables. The V-128

was also flown by PO2c Arita and PO1c Hiroyoshi Nishizawa, who is credited with 87 victories.

The color of the stripes is chosen from Sakai's recollection, but there are other interpretations, such as a black or yellow stripe on the fuselage. During a fighter escort to Guadalcanal

on August 7, Sakai shot down Wildcat „F12” from VF-5 piloted by „Pug” Southerland in an epic

dogfight. Sakai was later severely wounded in the face by fire from VB-6 Dauntless near

Tulagi Island. After nearly five hours and more than 1,000 km, he managed to land back at

Rabaul. Sakai died in 2000 after formal dinner with members of the US Navy.

INFO Eduard

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