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