BUILT
1/48
Eduard
built by Jan Kotas
# 11171
Kōkūtai 452, Bettobi Lake, Shumshu Islands, Kuriles, July 1943
This aircraft was taken over by Kōkūtai 452 in Japan after
evacuation from Aleutians. The top of the main float did not have
purge system cover. At the unit level, the aircraft received a coat
of dark green paint. The aircraft probably had a late production
stencil on the fuselage. Among the successful pilots of this unit
was Warrant Officer Kiyomi Katsuki. He served on the seaplane
tender Chitose at the start of the Pacific War as a F1M biplane
pilot. In January 1942, he claimed shared destruction of Dutch PBY
flying boat. In the Solomon Islands area, he shot down a Dauntless
on October 3 and during the following day, while defending his
60
INFO Eduard
own ship, he rammed a B-17 of the 72nd BS. The entire crew of
Capt. David C. Everitt was killed, but Katsuki and his observer
survived. Katsuki received a written commendation from the unit
commander. He achieved two more victories during the same day.
After retraining to A6M2-N, he was assigned to Kōkūtai 452 and
claimed B-25 and B-24. With N1K Rex at Kōkūtai 934 he shot down
a B-24 in January 1944. He achieved two more victories as Zero
pilot with Kōkūtai 381 over Balikpapan and Singapore. At the end
of the war, he served with Kōkūtai 352 in Japan.
April 2023