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Info Eduard - September 2010
Page 13
HISTORY
dedicated all of its strength to the liquidation
of the landings, and the battle for Port Moresby,
while Australia took a back seat. The unit began using
Rabaul as its base, since it was closer to Guadalcanal
than Buna.
In the battle over New Guinea, the unit was replaced
by the 2nd Kokutai. It was formed on the last day
of May, 1942, as a mixed unit operating both
ghters and bombers. After two months of equipping
and training, this unit set out on the transport converted
to escort carrier ‘Yawata Maru’, and headed southeast.
Primarily, the unit was committed to ghting in the
New Hebrides. The Japanese never did reach these
islands, and the 2nd Kokutai landed at Rabaul
in mid August. The rst meeting of these pilots with
Airacobras came on the 24th of August on an attack
on Rabi, southeast of Port Moresby. The Japanese,
with no losses to themselves, claimed nine kills,
two of which were probable. Further attacks followed
on the 26th and 27th of August, but this time with the
loss of two bombers and six Reisens (four from Tainan
Kokutai). Attacks on Port Moresby continued by the
2nd Kokutai ying from Buna up to September 8th,
and then came operations in support of counter
offenses in an attempt to push the Americans back from
Guadalcanal.
On November 1st, 1942, came a reorganization
of the IJNAF, affecting the units in question, with Tainan
Kokutai becoming the Kokutai 251, and the 2nd becoming
the Kokutai 582.
Further combat, where units ying the Airacobra
were met, came during Operation ‘I’ (in Japanese
I-go Sakusen). This operation, personally overseen
by the architect of the attack on Pearl Harbor,
and the head of the Japanese Navy, Admiral
Isoroku Yamamoto, took place between the 7th
and 14th of April, 1943, and its goal was to regain
the initiative in the southwest Pacic. Within this operation,
the Japanese undertook massive attacks on Post
Moresby (April 12th), and Milne Bay (April 14th).
The entire venture ended in failure, despite minimal
losses, Yamamoto was killed several days later thanks
to the breaking of encryption codes and P-38s waiting
for him as a result, and the Japanese forces found
themselves strictly on the defensive, which eventual led
to nal defeat.
Over 1943, the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force also
began to commit to New Guinea. Fighter units equipped
with the Ki-43 Hayabusa (dubbed ‘Oscar’ by the Allies)
and the Ki-61 Hien (‘Tony’), as well as bomber units
equipped with light bomber Ki-48 (‘Lily’) and Ki-49 Donryu
(‘Helen’) heavy bombers. These units suffered greatly
at the hands of American ghters, notably the P-38
Lightning and P-47 Thunderbolt.
Getting back to the most intensive ghting that occurred
during the spring and summer of 1942 involving
the Airacobra, claims by the two best known ghter
aces of the Tainan Kokutai, Hiroyoshi Nishizawa and
Saburo Sakai, included quite the list of the P-39.
Nishizawa claimed 21 conrmed P-39 kills plus ve
probables between May 1st and June 25th, 1942.
His best results came over Port Moresby on May
17th, when he claimed ve Airacobras conrmed and
one probable. Sakai claimed 22 conrmed Airacobra
kills and one probable between April 11th and August
2, 1942. He also could boast about downing ve
P-39s in one day, on June 16th. Although these
numbers are evidently inated, there is no doubt that
The Japanese abandoned a large amount of non-functional equipment at Buna in New Guinea. Reisen Model 32 V-187 c/n 3028
left the assembly line to meet the same fate in June, 1942. The circumstances of its purchase and dedication by ‘Kogen’ who’s name
appears on the side of the fuselage as part of the dedication inscription Hokoku No. 870, are symbolized. The vertical tail surfaces have
one horizontal stripe and a yellow diagonal on the fuselage. This marking indicated that the aircraft was own by the Shotai (ight) leader.
The letter ‘V’ identied service with Tainan Kokutai.