A quite well-known short film today features Aichi D3A1 "Val" dive bombers of the aircraft carrier "Shokaku" during the Battle of the Eastern Solomons.
Sidnei Maneta has a nice entry on his site, here, and I couldn't find anything to disprove or add to what he writes.
"EI-235 was flown by a wingman. EI-232 is in the foreground. By that time the planes had received a coat of green on the upper surface. The motion picture was taken by Lt. Keiichi Arima, observer of the 21st Shotai of Shokaku’s Type 99 Carrier Bomber Squadron in the 1st Strike Group at the Battle of the Eastern Solomons on 24 August, 1942. After striking the Enterprise for direct hits with 250-kg ordinary bombs, PO1c Tamotsu Akimoto, wingman of Arima in the 21st Shotai Type 99 carrier bomber EI-232, looks at the camera. The aircraft commander PO1c Hiroshi Koitabashi is in the rear cockpit. The crew of EI-235 might be PO2c Ryoroku Tsuchiya in the 22nd Shotai because only three out of nine second chutai of IJN Shokaku’s carrier bombers flew by Arima, Koitabashi and Tsuchiya survived in the fierce antiaircraft and interceptions by combat air patrol F4F."
Share your thoughts if you have a different opinion on the above or if there's anything you'd like to add.
No comments:
Post a Comment