A short undated video today, forwarded by our friend Patrice Fresnel, features a flight of Nakajima Ki-27 "Nates", taking off and flying in formation.
The unit marking is visible and can also be seen in the photos below from a vintage publication, dated February 14, 1945.
Unfortunately, this tail marking has not been identified and therefore has not been included either in the IJAAF markings series of articles by Akimoto Minoru or in Pete Scott's "Emblems of the Rising Sun".
Nevertheless, the video title mentions that the "Nates" belong to the "117 Kyoiku Hikotai" and "Rising Decals" set RD72023 "Japanese Aircraft of Training Units" includes decals for aircraft number "99" seen in one of the photos above, and also mentions the unit as "117 Kyoiku Hikotai" based in Java. The problem with this suggestion is that the highest number of a known kyoiku hikotai is "115" and no "117 Kyoiku Hikotai" is mentioned in any Japanese source, except one ("Hishyo Eno Seishun", published by "Tachihi-kai", 1976 ).
In this publication, the unit's marking is presented as follows.
I believe it is based on veteran recollection as no photos featuring the unit marking are included, but it is indeed very close to the marking in the video and the photos above.
A different Japanese source ("Dare ni sakeban", published by "Shohi Juniki-kai", 1983) unfortunately, also does not include any photos, but has more detailed historical research and data, and mentions that the unit based in Java with the number "117" is the "Dai 117 Kyoiku Hiko Rentai". Here's more about this and other training units of the 3rd Air Army, responsible for Indonesia, from this publication.
An Army Order dated July 21, 1943, established the 106 Kyoiku Hikodan (Training Wing) (Headquarters), the 116 Kyoiku Hiko Rentai (heavy bomber) based in Kalijati, West Java, and the 117 Kyoiku Hiko Rentai (fighter) based in Bandung, also in West Java, as well as the 1 Hikotai of the 3 Air Army.
During the March 8, 1944, reorganization six kyoiku hikotai were established. The 1st Chutai of the 117 Kyoiku Hiko Rentai, became the 17 Kyoiku Hikotai, the 2nd Chutai became the 34 Kyoiku Hikotai, and the 3rd Chutai became the 35 Kyoiku Hikotai.
The information concerning the organization of the 17 Kyoiku Hikotai is confirmed by the publication "Hishyo Eno Seishun," which mentions that Major Munekata Tatsuo served as the commander and Captain Matsushima Mitsuru held the position of chutai commander.
Simply put, the only difference is that the "Hishyo Eno Seishun" publication mentions that the 17 Kyoiku Hikotai came from the "117 Kyoiku Hikotai", while the "Dare ni sakeban" explains more convincingly that it came from the 117 Kyoiku Hiko Rentai.
Based on the above, our conclusion is that either the marking in the video and the photos was originally used by the 117 Kyoiku Hiko Rentai and was later continued to be used by the 17 Kyoiku Hikotai or it was only used by the 17 Kyoiku Hikotai. In any case, since the photos are dated February 1945, the correct unit designation should be "17 Kyoiku Hikotai".
Unfortunately, apart from the above, there is no additional Japanese source that confirms unequivocally that the "Nates" in the video/photos or the unit marking are associated with the 17 Kyoiku Hikotai. Thus, the marking confirmation needs to be regarded with caution.
No comments:
Post a Comment