"Toraware no Nihonki" #19 - Tachikawa Ki-54"Hickory" in White Crosses 一式双発高等練習機, ラブアン, ボルネオ島

From various AWM photo captions:

"As a result of leaflets dropped by RAAF over Sapong Estate on mainland of Borneo, contact was made with Lieutenant General Baba Masao, Supreme Commander of Japanese forces in Borneo, and Commander of the 37th Army. He was instructed to fly to Labuan and surrender to Major General George Frederick Wootten CB CBE DSO, General Officer Commanding the 9th Australian Division.

"The Japanese surrender delegation which included Major General Kuroda, Gen Baba's Chief of Staff, flew to Labuan, Borneo, in a Tachikawa Ki-54 Hei "Hickory" that belonged to the 10th Dokuritsu Hikodan Shireibu (10th Independence Air Brigade). In this case, instead of green crosses, the aircraft sported white crosses to indicate that it was assigned to a surrender mission.

"General Baba was tried as a war criminal on charges relating to the Sandakan death march and was sentenced to death. He was hanged at Rabaul at 0800 on 7 August 1947. 

While the aircraft was at Labuan 300276 Warrant Officer Leonard Anthony (Len) Pearce and his crew had the responsibility for servicing the aircraft. As a souvenir of the event he removed the engine plates from the aircraft, one of which is now in the collection of the Australian War Memorial.

"The aircraft, was flown to Australia and was at RAAF Fairburn for many years. It is now at the RAAF museum at Point Cook, Victoria."

An interesting photo from the AWM collection. The caption says:

LABUAN ISLAND. 1945-09-10. MAJOR GENERAL G. F. WOOTTEN, GENERAL OFFICER COMMANDING, 9TH DIVISION, ACCEPTED THE SURRENDER OF ALL JAPANESE FORCES FROM LIEUTENANT GENERAL MASAO BABA, SUPREME COMMANDER JAPANESE FORCES IN BORNEO AND COMMANDER 37TH JAPANESE ARMY, IN A SURRENDER CEREMONY HELD AT HEADQUARTERS 9TH DIVISION. SHOWN, UNITED STATES PERSONNEL (NISEI), JAPANESE MEMBERS OF ALLIED TRANSLATOR AND INTERPRETER SECTION, 9TH DIVISION, SPEAKING WITH THE JAPANESE AIRCRAFT CREW OUTSIDE THEIR QUARTERS AT 9TH DIVISION.

Two photographs from the Peter Kelly collection, the "Hickory"...

...the Japanese aircrew were given the task of refuelling their aircraft.

Another picture, forwarded by Dirk Broer, of the Ki-54 when in RAAF storage

This blog focuses on the history of Japanese aviation. Please refrain from making any comments regarding war crimes etc. There are other places to do so.

"Toraware no Nihonki" #18 - Hankow, China 漢口, 中国

A collection of Japanese aircraft types found at the end of the war at Hankow Airfield.

Kawasaki Ki-48 "Lily" with Green crosses. Of interest are the areas that have been darkened out. On the fuselage, between the green cross and the tail, it would normaly be the place where an "aikoku" (patriotic donation) inscription would be placed.

The same "Lily" seen in the previous photo. It's rather interesting that there is no big tail marking that has been erased and that it has no camouflage. Could it be a newly arrived aircraft from the Hokkota school?

The same "Lily" in the foreground with more aircraft visible in the background.

In this not so famous photo, we can clearly see some of the aircraft next to the "Lily". A Nakajima Ki-84 "Hayate" (Frank) belonging to the 25th Sentai. The unit was organized in November 1942 and until 1945 it was equipped with Nakajima Ki-43 "Hayabusa" (Oscar) fighters. Starting from February 1945 and for a month, it was re-equipped with "Hayate". This one in the photo belonged to the 2nd Chutai.

In this photo we can clearly the aircraft next to the "Hayate" in the previous photo; it's a Nakajima Ki-43 "Hayabusa" that also belonged to the 25th Sentai but served with the 1st Chutai. Note the unusual uneven size of the tail number.

Next to the "Hayabusa" in the previous photo, is a Fokker Super Universal. Notice the cross under the starboard wing next to the hinomaru. It is not a green cross, it's a red cross. A number of Super Universals were modified and deployed as ambulance aircraft in the '30s. This is a really old aircraft but the camouflage shows that it was still active until the end of the war.

Another "Lily", this one with proper camouflage and the number "1096" on the nose. Unfortunately the tail marking is not visible so it's difficult to be sure about the unit.

Another Nakajima Ki-84 "Hayate" found at Hankow Airfield. There is something dark on the tail but can't see if it's a number or a tail marking.

A Nakajima Ki-49 "Helen". Unfrotunately the tail marking is not visible. Can you figure out the type of the aircraft on the left?

Tachikawa Ki-36 "Ida". But is it a Ki-36 "bomber" or a Ki-55 trainer. After all these years, a book and posts, people still can't tell the difference between the two. Simple stuff: the Ki-55 trainer did NOT have bomb attachments under the wings. This one does and therefore it is a Ki-36.

A well-known photo of a Tachikawa Ki-54 Hei transport "Hickory" that is usually found without a location. Note the huge overpainted tail marking. Note the lack of a green cross on the port wing and the missing propeller on the starboard. What is the aircraft next to it on the right? Could it be.....

A different photo of the same "Hickory" this time with green crosses on the wings and replaced propellers. It seems that this one was deemed airworthy and was put to service again. The caption of the photo confirms that the location is Hankow.

Mitsubishi Ki-46 "Dinah" & Tachikawa Ki-54 "Hickory" Kengun (Kumamoto) Airfield 一〇〇式司令部偵察機 & 一式双発高等練習機 輸送機型の丙型 健軍 - video

A color (not colorized) clip featuring a Mitsubishi Ki-46 "Dinah" Model 3 and a Tachikawa Ki-54 "Hickory" transport found at the end of the war in Kengun Airfield (Kumamoto).

The NARA photo below shows both aircraft and more importantly the tail marking of the Tachikawa Ki-54 "Hickory". Unfortunately the unit it belonged to has not been identified.

Although more Ki-46 Model 3 "Dinahs" can be seen in the photo closeup below, none seem to have any visible tail marking. The only one with a tail marking that seems to be a "hinomaru" is a Mitsubishi Ki-46 Model 3 Kai Fighter with two machine guns on the nose. Again, the unit has not been identified.

UPDATE: Watanabe Yoji, in "Nihon Boku-sen", p. 190, features a photo of members of the unit saying goodbye to Chofu Airfield, Tokyo, and departing for Kengun. According to the caption, the relocation took place on July 25, 1945, when the photo was taken. Only six "Dinahs" were left behind in Chofu and all together 12 planes reached Kengun in two groups. They only managed to perform a couple of patrol flights around Okinawa before the war ended. So, based on this information we can conclude that the "Dinah" in Kengun, indeed belong to the 17 Dokuritsu Hikotai.

Tachikawa Ki-54 "Hickory" in Tachikawa

As you probably know by now, a 38 Sentai Tachikawa Ki-54 "Hickory" was found and pulled out of Lake Towada in 2012 (here). Since then it had been cleared and placed on display at the MISAWA AVIATION & SCIENCE MUSEUM in Aomori (here). It seems that a "pacifist" group related to the museum objected to the presence of a "war plane", and declared that only "civilian airplanes should be on display" in the museum. (Even though there are US/JIETAI combat planes on display and only a fence separates the museum grounds from the Misawa military base). As a result the aircraft relocated back home to Tachikawa, Tokyo. 

From the 25th until the 28th of November (i.e. last week), it was on display, open and VERY accessible to the public.

No less than 9600 visitors came to see the aircraft from up close and among them Arawasi paid their respects for a second time last Thursday.

The aircraft was placed in an old wooden aircraft maintenance building, and after a wait of about 20 minutes, when a video detailed the discovery and recovery efforts, groups of visitors entered the large room. 

At the entrance of the room was a Ha-115 engine from a Nakajima Ki-43-III Koh "Hayabusa" that was recently unearthed in the dumping ground of a US base in the area. 

Then we could enjoy the "Hickory" in all its glory. We could have access to most of the areas (except the underwing) and since the cockpit was separated from the fuselage, it was placed on display in a way that visitors could see inside both the cockpit and the fuselage. The both the horizontal and vertical tail surfaces were placed on the ground to give the opportunity to the visitors to see all the details up close. There were plates with photos and images from the manual of the aircraft that explained clearly what the visitor could or could not see, and the VERY friendly staff members were eager to help, answer questions and show the various interesting details.

Enjoy a tiny sample of the photos we took.

All in all, we had a fantastic day, Kiri for the very first time visiting an aircraft museum commented "立川飛行機　最高！！！". The organization was brilliant, although security was fairly lax (there were morons who thought that it would have been okay to knock on the plane to see if it was made of real metal or something) and the complementary drinks, handbags and more, were very appreciated. 

Let's hope this will become an annual event.

立飛さん　素晴らしい展示構成ありがとうございます。飛行機が好きな方々が企画してくれたんだと分かります。来年もよろしくお願いします。

Tachikawa Ki-54 "Hickory"

Two photos today from the Arawasi collection featuring Tachikawa Ki-54 "Hickory" trainers.

First up is a Ki-54Koh belonging to the "Rikugun Koku Tsushin Gakko" (Army Aviation Communication School). More about the school, here.

The second photo is a very often reproduced one featuring a Ki-54Otsu but here you can find it in better quality.

There is a "Sally" bomber in the background on the right and the other aircraft has tail marking indicating that it belonged to the "Mito Rikugun Hiko Gakko" (IJAAF Aviation School in Mito). So probably this "Hickory" belonged to the same school too.

Tachikawa Ki-54 "Hickory"

A set of Tachikawa Ki-54 "Hickory" photos from a vintage, October 1944, publication of rather poor quality but interesting nonetheless. It features a transport Ki-54c most probably previously belonging to a civilian school as indicated by the civilian J- registration. Although it is not fully visible the only possible one, according to the civilian registration register, is J-BNOZ. Note the red-white-red stripe indicating civilian aircraft.   

Tachikawa Ki-54 "Hickory" - Mito RHG #3

And finally some shooting practise on the ground starting with the wooden guns and moving on to the real ones.

Type 89 flexible twin machine gun, 7.7mm

Note the Kawasaki Ki-32 "Mary" in the background.

Tachikawa Ki-54 "Hickory" - Mito RHG #2

More photos of in-flight shooting training.
Note the Te-4 or Type 89 flexible 7.7mm machine gun. 

Note also the Kaiten-shiki Shageki Kansa Shashin-ki (Flexible Type Training Camera) Type "Haisu". The camera was basically a copy of the Hyth Gun Camera (HERE) and was produced by Rokuo-sha (present day Konica). More photos of a real camera on the top of the page HERE.