"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.

"Toraware no Nihonki" #17 - Mitsubishi Ki-57 "Topsy" with Green Crosses 一〇〇式輸送機, 緑十字, ラングーン, ビルマ

The August 27, 1945, issue of the newspaper "The Sydney Morning Herald" included a short report that mentioned: 

PEACE ENVOYS AT RANGOON 

Japanese Southern Army's Surrender 

From A.A.P. Special Representative RANGOON, Aug. 26.— A conference will begin in Rangoon to-day between Japanese and Allied representatives for the surrender of the Japanese armies in Burma, Malaya, the East Indies and Indo-China. 

An official spokesman said the Japanese had been asked to give specific replies on the following points—Air reconnaissance by day and night over Japanese-held territory, mine-sweeping in enemy waters, and dropping of supplies and donors on prisoner of war camps. 

It is expected that the Supreme Allied Commander in South-east Asia. Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten, will receive the surrender of Field Marshal Count Terauchi's forces early in September at Singapore. Lieutenant-General Takazo Numato[sic], Chief-of-Staff to Terauchi, arrived in Rangoon by air from Saigon at 9.43 a.m. yesterday, to discuss the surrender arrangements with Admiral Mountbatten's Chief-of-Staff, Lieutenant-General F. M. Browning. Numato and his stall, who arrived in two white transport planes, were met at Mingaladon (Rangoon's airport) by Major-General G. W. Symes (Commander of the southern Burma district) and driven to two houses in the residential section of Rangoon Australian, French, Dutch, and Chinese delegates will attend to-day's conference. The speed with which the talks are completed will depend on the amount of information and the degree of agreement contained in the documents they carry. 

Delelates to the conference are: Australia, Air Vice-Marshal A. T. Cole; Holland, Captain Perks; France, Group-Captain Fay; and China Major General Fung Yee; as well as staff officers and the chief political adviser, Mr. J. Denning. Japanese delegates are: Takazi[sic] Numata, Rear-Admiral Kaigye Hudo[sic] (Deputy Chief of Staff), and Lieutenant-Colonel Morio Tomura.

As a result of the delay in the  signing of the surrender in Tokyo, no landings will be made in Malaya before nest Sunday to prevent "incidents."

According to the Dutch Radio, the Lieutenant Governor-General of the Netherlands East Indies Dr. van Mook, will go to Kandy next week to negotiate with Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten about re-occupation of the Netherlands East Indies.

Paris Radio said to-day that General Leclerc, who will represent France at the Japanese surrender ceremony, has spent two days at Kandy conferring with Admiral Mountbatten.

From here:

"Rangoon Agreement, 26-28 August, 1945

"The Japanese unilateral cease fire on 15 August caught the South East Asia Command (SEAC) unprepared. The next day President Truman issued “General Order Number 1" setting out the immediate aims for the allies. General MacArthur,  who had been appointed as Supreme Commander Allies Pacific (SCAP) issued an order that no allied units may move into Japanese held territories or engage in conferences with the Japanese until after the formal surrender, which was expected to be signed on 28 August (subsequently became 2 September). Despite these orders Mountbatten commanded his counterpart, Field Marshal Terauchi (also a cousin to his sovereign) of Southern Command, to send a delegation to Rangoon to sign a preliminary agreement before the Tokyo surrender.

"The delegation arrived on 26 August and it immediately became clear the Japanese would agree to any proposal. They revealed that Tokyo had ordered Southern Command to care for the PoW and assist the British in any way in this regard." 

The article also includes a photo with the following caption:

"In the Throne Room, Government House, Rangoon, which was used for the surrender negotiations, Lieutenant General Takazo Numata with Lieutenant Colonel Morio Tomura (left) and Rear Admiral Kaigye Chudo (right) faces the Allied commanders (front row, l to r): Brigadier E G Gibbons, Captain F S Habecker, Major General Feng Yee, Mr M E Dening, Rear Admiral W R Patterson, Lieutenant General Browning, Air Marshal Sounders, Major General Denning, Brigadier M S K Maunsell, Air Vice Marshal A T Cole and Captain J P H Perks. In the rear row, seated to General Browning’s left is Lieutenant General Sir Montagu Stopford."

The video graciously shared by our friend Patrice Fresnel included short clips from various cameras stitched together in a rather confusing order. I edited the video to make it more coherent.

Note that curriously there were about a dozen pilots and crew members on the two Ki-57 transports, which would normally have a crew of a pilot, co-pilot and maybe a radio operator. I wonder why that many.

"Toraware no Nihonki" #16 - Mitsubishi A6M "Zero with Green Crosses 零戦, 中支航空隊, 龍華飛行場 上海, 緑十字

At the end of the war a number of Zeros and other aircraft including Mitsubishi J2M "Raiden" (Jack), were found in Longhua airfield in Shanghai with an unusual tail marking. It's the kanji "中" which signified the unit "中支航空隊" (Chushi Kokutai - Central China Air Group) which was organized in February 20, 1945, with various IJNAF dispatched elements of various kokutai, that were based at the time in China. It was one of the Otsu kokutai meaning it was mainly assigned to airfield/base protection duties.

The first Zero is a Model 21. Behind it is a Mitsubishi K3M "Pine" crew trainer.

Although the marking "中1" can be seen in this photo, the rest of the marking is on the piece of fabric that has been removed. In the previous photo though, it should have been visible as it is written in the oposite direction. Unfortunately the previous photo is not of the best quality and therefore I can't be 100% sure of the complete tail marking. Note the fuselage hinomaru with the white surround.

Another photo of the Mitsubishi K3M "Pine" trainers.

A photo featuring on the left the tail of a "中133" Zero, the Model 21 of the first photo in the middle and the Mitsubishi K3M "Pine" of the first photo on the right.

Another Zero found in the same location was a Model 52 Otsu.

Although the "中" part of the tail marking is not visible, the location the aircraft was found confirms the unit. So tail marking for this Zero is "中132" (no hyphen).

Another photo of the "中132" Model 52 Otsu Zero, revealing that a part of the tail number "32" was repeated on the cowling lip.

This photo features a Nakajima built A6M7 Model 62 or 63.

Again the "中" part of the tail marking is missing but a closeup reveals that there is indeed a tail marking which I believe is "中153". Actually this can be confirmed by noticing that the two last digits of the tail number are repeated on the wheel cover of the original photo (thanks Martin). 

Of particular interest is the wing hinomaru with the darker green surround and the position of the white box with the cross. Note also the white lines on the cowling.

This one...I don't know. In the background are the three aircraft in the first five photos (the "中132" Model 52 Otsu Zero, the Model 21 and the Mitsubishi K3M "Pine") but I can't identify the model of the Zero in the foreground. Any ideas? And what's with the white patch on the fuselage next to the cockpit? And where is the green cross on the wing?

"Toraware no Nihonki" #20 - Omura Base 紫電改 - video

After the end of the war, the US forces found a large number of Japanese aircraft at Omura Airfield, Nagasaki Prefecture. It was the base of the 343rd and the 352nd Kokutai, along with other units. There were 74 Kawanishi N1K-J "Shiden" and N1K2-J "Shiden-kai" (George), 14 Mitsubishi J2M "Raiden" (Jack), 24 Zero-sen fighters, 77 Yokosuka/Kawanishi K5Y1 "Akatonbo" (Willow) trainers, and more; 206 aircraft in total. 

Among them was a lone Showa L2D with Green Crosses, but unfortunately, we cannot determine if it flew any surrender or other special missions. 

In this video, we can see the US Forces, under the command of Major General Roscoe Barnett Woodruff , setting the Japanese aircraft on fire.

Here are some more photos from NARA of the event.

From the dozens of Japanese aircraft that were found in Omura Base, the six Kawanishi N1K2-J "Shiden-Kai" deemed to be in the best condition were selected by the occupying US forces for evaluation. They were maintained by Japanese ground crews and were flown from Omura to Yokohama, taking off on October 16, 1945.

The collection of images from different Japanese publications, plus one sourced from the web, showcases these six planes just prior to their departure from Omura Base.

Once in Yokosuka the six aircraft were to be shipped to the USA for testing and evaluation.

Note that the aircraft on the left side of the photo still has its 20mm wing cannons.

The six aircraft originally belonged to the 343 Kokutai and some members of the unit's maintenance and flight crew who had been demobilised were called back to work on them. Japanese sources mention that the ground crews were moved to tears by the aircraft's final flight.

As we can clearly see in this photo, in preparation for the long-distance flight, the aircraft were equipped with a 400L drop tank.

During the flight, the "Shiden-kai" were escorted by Grumman F6Fs. The Japanese pilots were warned that they would be shot down immediately if they flew suspiciously.

The Japanese fighters used high octane fuel provided by the US forces for this flight and it is said the engines performed excelently with the F6F barely able to catch up.

After arriving in Yokosuka, two "Shiden-kai" were removed from the shipping list and scrapped. The aircraft that were transported to the United States has serial numbers #71, #533, #5218 and #5341. There are currently no more than three "Shiden" planes left in museums across the United States.

"Toraware no Nihonki" #6

The other aircraft carrier that ferried Japanese aircraft back to the States for evaluation was the USS Bogue (CVE-9). There are very few photos of the aircraft on the deck of the carrier and no inventory list to tell us what types exactly she carried. The photos below, as Harold pointed out, are from THIS site.

photo #29

photo #30

photo #31

But from the photos above it seems that not many aircraft were on her deck, mainly four "big" ones. From the stern to the bow I can identify (ignoring the US types) a Nakajima G8N1 "Renzan" (Rita), a Tachikawa Ki-74 "Patsy", probably one more Tachikawa Ki-74 and a Tachikawa Ki-77.

"Broken Wings" has more photos of the Ki-74 and the Ki-77. On p. 109 is a photo of the Ki-77 at Oppama Base and on p. 130 there are two more photo of the Ki-74 being unloaded at Newark and delivered at the base.

There are more photos of the "Rita" in the San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives, showing the aircraft getting ready for shipment and after her arrival in the US.

photo #32

another version of the photo above with the noise removed

photo #33

photo #34

photo #35

photo #36

photo #37

photo #38

photo #39

Photos #38 & #39 were taken at Wright-Patterson AFB where the aircraft arrived for evaluation. After being tested it sat there for two years before it was scrapped.

IJAAF & IJNAF wrecked aircraft #34 - Saipan Pt.6

And now Group 4.

In the beginning there were only three Zeros in front of the hangar.

Zero14 was an A6M5 Model 52 with tail marking "61-120".

The tails of the other two Zeros (15 & 16) are not clear in the photos. But let's see the third video, of exceptional quality, from here.

From the beginning, we can see that the Zeros of Group 4 are now five.

A nice close up of the engine.

The Group 4 from a different angle.

The third Zero from the left is "61-120" and is under a camouflage net. Note the cowling cover of the second Zero from the left and the spinner. They are the same with the Zero in the photo below.

The tail marking is barely visible, but Zero15 is "8-28".

More photos of the Zeros of Group 4.

 

 

Unfortunately, we have found no more information about the rest of the Zeros in Group 4. At least for now.

There is one Zero found in a hangar that is not clear if it was brought out and was placed in a group. Tail marking is "61-125".

And ofcourse, there were Zeros that were too damaged to be of any use.

And some had various parts taken as souvenirs.

As mentioned in a previous post, the aircraft were placed on trailers...

 

...and were brought to Saipan harbor to be shipped to the U.S.A.

Above is Zero "8-36" of Group 3.

 

 

Zeros "61-131" and "8-03" of Group 3.

We discussed in older posts how various Japanese aircraft were transported to the U.S., in our 8-part series "Toraware no Nihonki", here. Some of these Saipan Zeros (13 Mitsubishi A6M Zeros, 1 Nakajima B5N "Kate" and 37 engines, according to Wikipedia) were ferried on board USS Copahee. The total of the Zeros we found in all groups is 18, which means five were left behind. The 1 "Kate" is without doubt "KEB-306" we saw in the previous post. Here's a list of all the Zeros we have identified in this series. 

From the "8" unit: "8-13" & "8-17" (Group 1), "8-07 & "8-34" (Group 2), "8-36" & "8-03" (Group 3), "8-28" (Group 4).

From the "61" unit: "61-197" & "61-180" (Group 2), "61-131" (Group 3), "61-120"(Group 4).

Total 11 out of 18 Zeros.

Let's see how these Zeros were placed on Copahee.

There are two without a tail marking. One more intact Zero on the top left, and another without an engine in the middle. I believe the one without an engine is Zero 10 of Group 2.

Here are the Zeros with their numbers.

There are four Zeros we could not place in the Groups.

"8-24", below is another photo. Note the lack of tail cone.

Another Zero is "61-121". There is also the Zero without a tail number and the one in the back of the photo with a "6" tail marking we can't read.

We know that "8-34" (Zero6) was also on Copahee as can be seen in the photo below and was placed in front of "8-24" and on the port side of "61-121".

Here's another photo of another group of Zeros carried by Copahee.

And their numbers.

We can't read with certainty the tail marking of the Zero on the top right.

So, from the total 13 Zeros on Copahee, we have identified 8 also spotted in the Groups, two that appear only on Copahee and one without a tail marking. Plus two we can't read their tail markings. 8+2+1+2=13. But actually if you look closer at the photos, you will notice there are 14 Zeros. Seven in the first Copahee photo plus "8-34" and six in the second photo. Where's "Kate"?...