JAPAN (August 1942 - June 1944)

After being sent to Yokosuka Marine Hospital, he

was immediately treated by senior eye surgeon

Lt. Cdr. Dr. Sakano. The operation was done during Sakai's full consciousness, and the torture

lasted for thirty minutes. The left eye eventually

healed completely, but with the right eye he was

able to see only up to distance of about 40-60

cm. He was then hospitalized in Sasebo hospital. His friend and former colleague Hiroyoshi

Nishizawa visited him there. The conversation

revealed that both were practically the last to

remain alive from the original Tainan Kōkūtai. 6)

On November 1, 1942 Sakai was extraordinarily promoted to Warrant Officer rank, then

the hospital released him in January 1943.

8

INFO Eduard

Artifacts given to Capt. Dana “Smudge” Potts, USN on one of several visits to Mr. Sakai´s home. The metal artifact is a piece of Zero V-103 recovered in Guadalcanal in 1993. The piece of cloth was part of the scarf Mr. Sakai used to stop the bleeding from his head wound August 7, 1942.

A6M2 Type 21, c/n 3647, Warrant Officer Tora-ichi Takatsuka, Tainan Kōkūtai, Lakunai airfield, Rabaul, September 1942

This aircraft was produced by Mitsubishi on March 3, 1942. It was flown in legendary Tainan Kōkūtai by the also famous fighter aces Saburō Sakai

and Hiroyoshi Nishizawa. It is believed that with this Zero, on September 13, 1942 over Guadalcanal, Shōtai leader W. O. Takatsuka was shot down

in a dogfight with Wildcats from VF-5 and VMF-223. Three of his wingmen were also shot down in the same action. The wreckage of this Zero was

found in 1993 in a swamp about five miles east of Henderson Field. Remnants of code and markings remained on some parts. Takatsuka had served

in the IJN aviation since 1933. In the 12th Kōkūtai he was one of the fighter pilots who achieved the first victories with Zeros in aviation history on

September 13, 1940. He was promoted to Warrant Officer in October 1941 and demobilized. However he was soon called back into service by the IJ

Navy and from June 1942 was assigned to Tainan Kōkūtai in Rabaul. He mainly took part in the fighting over New Guinea. In total he was credited

with 16 victories including three in China. Fighting with the Wildcats had already nearly proved fatal to him once. During the raid on Guadalcanal on

August 7, 1942, although he claimed four victories, he flew in front of one of his opponents and immediately was hit. The victor was Thomas Rhodes

of VF-6 (USS Enterprise). Takatsuka's Zero caught fire, but he managed to put it out and escape.

He reported at the former Tainan Kōkūtai now

designated as Kōkūtai 251 at the Toyohashi base

in Japan. There he was able to test a captured

Boeing B-17.

A few months later Kōkūtai 251 had to return to

Rabaul and Sakai was supposed join his unit. In

the end, however, the chief surgeon in Toyohashi

intervened and in May 1943 instead of going to

Rabaul, Sakai went to Ômura Kōkūtai, where he

trained novices, like he was doing during the

past few months.

At the end of 1943 Ômura Kōkūtai received new

reinforcement, the highly experienced Shō-ichi

Sugita (80 v.), who was recovering from burns

suffered with Kōkūtai 204 over Shortland. Sakai finally had some equal combat veteran for

talks. Soon they became friends, but in the

spring of 1944 their paths diverged. Sugita went

to Kōkūtai 263 and Sakai was transferred to Yokosuka Kōkūtai in April 1944.

IWO JIMA

After the American landing at Saipan, the Japanese began to worry about their other stronghold - Iwo Jima. Yokosuka Kōkūtai next destination was right there. Twenty-seven pilots

including Sakai and Hikōtaichō Lt.Cdr. Tadashi

Nakajima had been trying to get to the island

since June 16 despite the unfavorable weather.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

highest chance for accurate fire was Jones.

When Sakai's aircraft was shaking under the

fire of the Americans, he flew at 7,800 feet.

When he regained control, he was at 800 feet.

A large part of the windscreen was gone, the

air flowed uncomfortably into the cabin. Sakai

was bleeding from his right eye and with his left

eye he saw only a little. Several times, he tried

to bandage the wounds, but the bandages flew

away every time. Finally, he used a scarf around

his neck. He was far from certain whether he

had enough fuel to return, and he did not know

exactly where he was. The pain drove him to

madness. Between the islands of Santa Isabel

and Choiseul he decided to perform a suicide

attack on any Allied vessels. He went back several times toward Guadalcanal and then north

again to Rabaul, but he found no target.

Again he decided to fight for his life but sleep

began to overhelm him. Sakai woke up several

times as his aircraft went into a dive. But what

he did not know was that he was flying in the

wrong direction. After a while, he looked straight ahead and saw a clear vision of his mother

calling him, “Saburō, get up! Get up! Shame on

you!” He saw her pointing to the direction where

he was supposed to fly. He turned in this direction (90 ' to the left), and after a long time he saw

the sweet silhouette of the Green Island. Rabaul

was about 100 miles away.

Eventually, he arrived at Lakunai Airport, and

after several unsuccessful attempts, he finally

landed and collapsed on his seat. He had flown

560 miles and his flight lasted 4 hours and 47

minutes. Officers Lt. Sasai, Lt.Cdr. Nakajima and

Cdr. Kozono personally helped Sakai to get out

of cockpit. It was very unusual for senior officers to take care of a subordinate.

The doctors were unable to deal with such injuries, therefore he was sent to Japan. When Sakai was giving goodbye, Sasai gave him a silver

buckle with an engraved legendary tiger, "Come

back to us when you are healed, we'll wait for

you." 5) but it was too ambitious a wish, in a very

short time almost none of Sakai's comrades

were still alive.

Photo: D. Potts

HISTORY

A Grumman F4F Wildcat of VF-5 in 1942 near Guadalcanal. This squadron based on USS Saratoga clashed in heavy fight on August 7, 1942

against Tainan Kōkūtai. Lt. J. J. Southerland surprised Sakai with his

pilot skills as well as with solid design of Wildcat that could absorb

amazing amount of damage.

June 2022