LOST LEGIONS
Michael John Claringbould
This article was published in the May 2002 edition of Flightpath,
Australasia's most Prestigious Flying magazine
Most Allied aerial combatants flew their war in Europe, where a well-documented aerial trench warfare extracted its predictable toll. The history of the era is well?known, right down to every piece of minutiae involving the Axis powers which opposed us. Countless records are available to anyone interested, and whilst it is true that there is much yet to be written about that theatre, the material is there to draw from. The European theatre had a certain sameness about it - airmen of both sides lived and flew over urbanized environments, and if shot down could be almost guaranteed to see out the war in a POW camp. The skies were ruled by aircraft types most of us can still recognize today. The enemy, apart from the language difference, was in many ways the same as us. At the risk of appearing heretical, much of this history will never be written as it was, in a word, boring.
Then there was the Pacific theatre. Its predictability was anything but, its weather could and did kill more airmen than either enemy side, and its vastness had to be flown to be believed. No pilot, Allied or enemy, could fail but to be impressed by the beauty of New Guinea's landscape. It was breath-taking, even though every pilot who flew the blue and green expanse knew that there was little chance of escaping the jungle. Allied pilots knew that capture meant death, or worse, whereas Japanese ones vowed death before capture. This did not always pan out of course, although in some cases the a sentiment was institutionalized - witness the decision made by all Japanese Navy bomber crews that they would not carry parachutes. However, towering above all of these considerations is a legacy which is unparalleled in aerial warfare. Just to Australia's north the fate of legions of our former enemy remains lost to history. The truth is that, in most cases, we will never know what happened to them. These lost legions are of course the Japanese ones against which Australia and our Allies flew. From New Guinea and the Solomon Islands all the way up to the Philippines, Japanese aviators flew a unique and treacherous war. Yet nearly six decades later our knowledge of their legacy is limited to a handful of facts and data - the bare skeleton of nearly four years of some of the richest aerial warfare ever conducted.
How did this depleted state of events come about ? The answer lies in both the contemporary and the past. After their initial flush of victory the Japanese advanced their aerial units as far south as New Guinea and Guadalcanal. Their offensive was checkmated in late 1942 and from hereon in reality they fought a defensive war. It was primarily US airpower which commenced to overpower these units, and the Japanese response was simply to feed increasing numbers of aircraft into the maw which apologized as the front line. In reality there was no such thing as the Japanese Air Force. Two separate aerial commands - Navy and Army - often fought each other at Headquarters level rather than concentrating on winning the war.
Whilst we at least have a reasonable idea of the Japanese Navy's aerial war, our knowledge of the Army's at best threadbare. Strict wartime censorship prevented all Japanese aircrews from keeping records, but matters are more insidious than that. The truth is that by early 1944 many Army units had been reduced to starvation. One prime example is the 77th Sentai - a crack Army fighter unit equipped with Ki-43 Oscars. Its original complement of 2,500 men was reduced to approximately 300 odd as they made their final retreat into the jungle behind Wewak. It was there that more starved or died of disease (it was estimated by Allied Intelligence that only three of this unit's original complement returned to Japan at the end of hostilities).
One of the most telling pilot's reports of this era derives from 110th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, a U.S unit flying from Tadji in late 1944. Their Airacobras were used for search and destroy missions well after the Pacific frontline had moved to the Philippines. Then, in the midst of increasing Japanese desperation, and under daily Allied attack, as of mid-1944 these 'Cobra pilots discovered a bizarre phenomena - during their early morning sweeps along the beaches near Wewak, emaciated Japanese soldiers would huddle together at the waterline waiting to be blown to bloody rags. Clearly they viewed this fate as preferable to either capture or starving to death. The Airacobra pilots were, in most cases, only too happy to oblige. Little wonder so much Japanese wartime history was lost when the complete decimation of units was so assured.
Not surprisingly, Allied intelligence had a field day monitoring radio transmissions from Japanese aerial units, and reading the transcriptions today (if you can locate them in Australian Archives) is interesting, but contains no elaboration. For example, why did a Chutai of Oscars flown by pilots Hatoshi, Taniguchi and Hagaki fail to return from a patrol from Madang on 23 August 1943 ? No Allied aircraft engaged them in combat that day. My guess is that the New Guinea weather claimed them, as indeed it did nearly 70% of U.S losses in that theatre. Apart from the fate of thousands of Japanese aircrew which remains unanswered, a myriad of other unanswered questions surface from this lost history. Why did the 248th Sentai continually experience problems with their drop-tanks when other Oscar units, apparently, did not ? Why, on 12th April 1944, did Oscars decide to gang up on straggling Liberator Yankee Doodle Dandy over Hollandia when in the past they had carried the attack to main formations ? (It was an unnerving sight to those who witnessed it - the chutes of three survivors were incessantly strafed as the Liberator continued downwards and crashed into a mountain at 6000 ft Southwest of Hollandia). Why did the Ki-61 Tony, one of the sleekest fighters to grace any theatre, give its parent 68th and 78th Sentais so many problems with their hydraulic systems in Wewak and Rabaul whereas similar problems on other Japanese aircraft were readily fixed ? What were the circumstances which led to twelve Tonys ditching in Nuguria Lagoon in late 1943, during a delivery flight from Truk to Rabaul ? What of the Tony recovered in 1984 from near the New Guinea village of Nuku, some 90 kilometers SW of Wewak, slung under a RAAF CH-47 ? The PNGDF subsequently brought the components from Jacksons Airport back to the PNG Museum's storage facility (this neglected wreck will soon be restored in Australia). What is its history ?
There were a variety of Helen bomber units based in New Guinea. Why were they so rarely used as opposed to their Lily counterparts ? The Japanese "official" war histories greatly exaggerate the achievements of these Helen units, and deeply so. In some cases the questions are even more fundamental. Many Helens based in New Guinea had the large yellow letter Z appear on their tail inside a yellow circle. It was only in recent years that historians have learned that the marking is probably that of the 20th Dokuritsu Hiko Chutai (No 20 Air Transport Company), a transport, not a bomber unit. However, many other Japanese unit insignias are lost to history, indicating a fundamental lapse in our basic knowledge.
There are a thousand mysteries on the Navy aerial side of the war as well. Why did the 751st Kokutai give up so easily in its attempt to resupply the embattled Japanese troops on the Kokoda trail ? The unit dropped supplies from its G4M1 Betty bombers, and although the surviving records do not say whether these were dropped from bomb racks or through the aircraft's hatches. We know that this Kokutai only made two attempts. Interestingly, neither were intercepted by Allied aircraft. If you want a story full of disquiet, try the wreckage of a 751st Kokutai Betty which was shot down into Mt Albert Edward on 12th April 1943. For years the villagers refused to go near the wreck because of the unusual noises which came from it for a few days afterwards. In the eighties they found out why. The remains of tail gunner Otani Mitsuru indicated he survived in his rear turret, but with a broken back. He was returned to Japan sometime in the late 80s.
The Japanese Navy Zero was a finely-built machine, with a two and a half degree wingtip washout to compliment its aerobatic performance. Its flush riveting and fine manufacture would have brought prestige to any Allied manufacturer . Its technical details and performance are all well-documented, however for all this mechanical knowledge we know next to nothing of its Pacific history. For example, fundamental questions such as which Japanese pilot shot down RAAF Squadron Leader John Jackson after whom Port Moresby's international airport is today named ? We know that the infamous Tainan Kokutai was airborne that day in early 1942, but perhaps too was the 4th Kokutai.
Zero wrecks continue to be found in New Guinea, the most recent of which was located on a logging trail near Finschhafen in May 2001, still with the pilot strapped in. The loggers bulldozed through the wreckage, pilot and all. Countless similar Japanese wrecks lie in Pacific jungles. It is rare that anyone takes the time to identify them when found, let alone having the basic skill to identify the wreck as Japanese. Perhaps more telling is the fact that the Japanese government has no interest in claiming its own - only Japanese veterans groups do that. This is in direct opposition to U.S and Australian governments, both of which remain committed to resolution and identification of MIA cases when located. Why does the wreckage of G4M1 #377 of the 705th Kokutai lie on Guadalcanal when it was definitely lost on a mission against U.S shipping in Rendova, hundreds of kilometres to the Northwest of where it lies. Was it shot down, for U.S claims of the day are inconclusive. The loss of WW2 constituted a loss of face for the Japanese nation. Their war dead in many ways still constitute an embarrassment to the nation. This sentiment does not further the cause of history. In 1998 I explored the site of #377, and when obvious human remains were found near the tail section I subsequently informed the Japanese consulate in Honiara. "Just bring the bones in", they said, "and we will burn them". In response to my query as to whether they would first determine whose remains they were, they replied this could not be done as no records existed for such losses. I refused to partake in such cursory action and pursued private investigation channels instead. Luck was on my side. Within 48 hours I had a response and crew list from Yoshi Shinozaki in Japan. His brother flew and was lost with the 705th Kokutai and after retirement his quest became and remains to recover as many of his former brother's comrades as he can. A year later eighteen relatives descended near the site of #377 by helicopter. One was the pilot's 78 year-old sister. The ceremony was emotional, but conclusive for those involved. It was good to be part of such an event, despite its intensity.
There is another reason why the Japanese side of the war is still so elusive, six decades on. It is the formidable language and cultural barrier between the Western and Japanese nations. American and Australian relatives are usually only too happy to entertain requests for photos, log books et al. Japanese ones, if you can find them, are not. Then there is the language barrier itself. In 1998 I held lengthy communication with former Japanese ace Saburo Sakai, but it had to be done through his daughter in the US because of this language barrier. Good Japanese Navy records exist for much of their movements and losses from Rabaul. These were flown out weekly on a flying boat and stored underground near the Royal Palace in Tokyo. They survived the war and are today accessible (with the right contacts). Historically invaluable, they once again contain little elaboration beyond dates, rounds expended, losses, and crew lists.
There is a small number of historians who are trying to paint a more expansive picture of what really occurred. They are fighting the odds, but in some cases they have drawn success where it was least expected. US historian Henry Sakaida has compiled much useful and history. A Japanese-American who does not speak Japanese, his neutral credentials have assisted him establish good relationships with Japanese veterans. Hiroshi Ichimura is a Japanese whose father flew Oscars in the Indo-China theatre. He now runs a small aviation historical magazine in Japan. When I need pieces to a jigsaw, he is good to work with. Ichimura is truly devoted, a man with a cause. I supply him missing Allied jigsaw pieces and he returns Japanese ones, with interest. US citizen Larry Hickey, who saw service himself in Indochina during the Vietnam era, is working on a mammoth series called Eagles Across the Pacific, and in this series he has taken aboard a project on Japanese bomber units, although don't hold your breath. It will take years before it is released. The CD ROM produced by New York company www.pacificghosts.com has excellent elaboration on Japanese wrecks contained in their comprehensive CD ROM. Several Japanese wrecks are profiled in great detail, while others are acknowledged as ghosts - wrecks that have been identified, but their complete "stories" will probably never be learned. Another interesting site is www.pacificwrecks.com, which consists of collaborators who try to identify fresh Pacific wrecks when they are found.
Most histories which refer to the Japanese side of the aerial war are curtailed at best, and plain wrong at worst. How much the poorer we are to have lost this part of history, probably forever. I so wish it were so otherwise.