KITS 05/2022

Lt. Kunio Kanzaki, CO of Hikōtai 311 of Kōkūtai 381, Kendari airfield,

Celebes island, May 1944

Kōkūtai 381 was established in October 1943 at Kendari

Base on the island of Celebes. It was a mixed Kōkūtai with

48 fighter-bombers (Hikōtai 602), 24 night fighters (Hikōtai

902) and 48 fighter aircraft in Hikōtai 311, the latter commanded by Lt. Kanzaki. During the 1944 he operated from

bases on islands in Indonesia and the Philippines. Their

most frequent opponents were U.S. Army aircraft. Kanzaki's unit used special phosphorus anti-aircraft bombs to

attack enemy bombers. Kanzaki's aircraft, manufactured

by the Nakajima company, has been reconstructed in the

past with various color markings. It is assumed that the

vertical tail surfaces and part of the upper wing surfaces

were painted the same color like lower surfaces. The front

part of the engine may also have been painted grey or yellow. It is not entirely clear from the photograph of the

aircraft whether the white stripes on the lower fuselage

are joined. It may have been designed to improve the mutual identification of Army and Navy aircraft when fighting

Allied fighters. Another reason for this camouflage may

have been for easier identification during night fighter flights. For example, Lt. Kanzaki and his wingman shot down

a B-24 of the 380th BG over Balikpapan on the night of January 12-13, 1944. Some aircraft of Kōkūtai 331 were also

painted in the same upper and tailplane camouflage. Both

units operated in one tactical group during part of 1944.

Lt. Nobuo Miyatake, Kamikaze Tokubetsu Kōgekitai, 1. Shichisei-tai,

Kanoya airbase, Japan, April 1944

From the April 3, 1945 a total of eight special attack units

with the battle name "Shichisei" were organized from the

airmen serving in Genzan Kōkūtai (II) and Hikōtai 306 (part

of Kōkūtai 721). Lt. Miyatake, who was 24 years old at the

time, led the 1st Shichisei-tai in an attack on a convoy off

Okinawa on April 6, 1945. During that day, eleven other airmen from Genzan Kōkūtai (II) sacrificed their lives along

with him. They took off successively in four formations.

58

INFO Eduard

Their formation was part of the 524 aircraft of special

attack units and escort fighters from IJN and IJA sent

against Allied vessels off Okinawa as part of Operation Kikusui I. The U.S. Navy lost destroyers USS Bush and Colhoun

and other ships were severely damaged. "Shichisei" units

were sent against ships off Okinawa, Yoronjima, Kikai, and

Tanegashima islands in several missions till May 14. Only

one of them returned to base due to bad weather. Lt. Miy-

atake was born in Kagawa Prefecture and graduated from

the Etajima Naval Academy in 1942. Before the mission, he

wrote farewell letters to his mother and three sisters. His

father was interned in Siberia at the time. Nobuo Miyatake

was posthumously promoted to the rank of Commander.

His aircraft from Nakajima production is designated "Ke113".

May 2022