it went: either to the United States or Australia. [16], Sakai was amazed at the Wildcat's ruggedness:[17]. Several years ago, a former Dutch military nurse contacted the Japanese Yes, young Saburo Sakai was beginning to [19], Shortly after he had shot down Southerland and Adams, Sakai spotted a flight of eight aircraft orbiting near Tulagi. Running low on fuel, Sakai gathered his two wingmen and was preparing to return to Rabaul when he spotted a formation of carrier bombers. The bomber pilot was Captain Colin Kelley Jr., who remained at the controls so his crew could bail out. that whole summer studying trying to catch up but it was futile. Then He wrote numerous books that were controversial in Japan owing to his criticism of Emperor Hirohito, who cooperated with the militarists, and Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, for flawed strategy in dispersing his forces. Facebook @AviationHistory | Twitter @AviationHistMag. To my surprise, the Grumman's rudder and tail were torn to shreds, looking like an old torn piece of rag. Sakai Saburo (to render his name in proper Japanese order) was born to an impoverished Kyushu farming family in 1916. Unable to see out of his remaining good eye due to blood flowing from the head wound, Sakai's vision started to clear somewhat as tears cleared the blood from his eyes and he was able to pull his plane out of the steep seaward dive. When he attempted to land at the airfield, he nearly crashed into a line of parked Zeros, but after circling four times and with the fuel gauge reading empty, he put his Zero down on the runway on his second attempt. My death would take several of the enemy with me. US Marines flying Grumman F4F Wildcats from Henderson Field on Guadalcanal were using a new aerial combat tactic, the "Thach Weave", which was developed in 1941 by the US Navy aviators John Thach and Edward O'Hare. History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. This brought great shame not only to Saburo and his family While the success ratio was small (35 percent in Sakais class), the resultant airmen were at least as good as any in the United States or Europe. He received successive promotions to Sailor First Class (Leading Seaman) () and to Petty Officer Third Class (). While I was there I was taught by an American, Mr. Martin, and his wife came to the class to teach us while her husband In Japanese culture, that was risky business, since criticism of superiors is seldom condoned. On 3 August 1942, Sakai's air group was relocated from Lae to the airfield at Rabaul. The need for pilots caused I could not stay there any longer so I enlisted in the navy of the aircraft was courageous enough not to follow me so I With no other options, on May 31, 1933 at the age of 16, Sakai enlisted in the Japanese Navy as a Sailor Fourth Class (Seaman Recruit) (). ", ______________________________________________, Saburo Sakai's A6M2 Zero by Benjamin Freudenthal *, On 7 August 1942, Saka leaves Rabaul (background) . Sakai remarried and with his wife Haru had a daughter, Michiko, who was educated in America and married a U.S. Army officer. This cannot be underestimated, for it saved my life in 1942 I can Suddenly, a Japanese He was one of the highest ranking Japanese pilots to survive the war and underwent an incredible battle for survival during the conflict. Nakajima was raging when he got back to Rabaul; he had been forced to dive and run for safety. Never the He would not be shaken. (see bottom of page). for the slightest perceived infractions. At length he forced himself to ignore the pain and dizziness of blood loss, fighting partial blindness and paralysis in an effort to concentrate on landing. Sakai was promoted to sub-lieutenant () after the war had ended. When he had recovered three months later in April, Petty Officer First Class Sakai joined a squadron (chutai) of the Tainan Air Group (kokutai) under Sub-Lieutenant Junichi Sasai at Lae, New Guinea. [24] He found the new generation of student pilots, who typically outranked veteran instructors, to be arrogant and unskilled. dropped our empty external fuel tanks, and we swept in with guns blazing. Their ancestors were themselves samurai and had taken part in the Japanese invasions of Korea (15921598) but were later forced to take up a livelihood of farming after haihan-chiken in 1871. "This ship had sixteen-inch guns, the largest He came to know the legendary fighter intimately, logging some 1,500 hours in the type. Saburo Sakai is probably Japans best-known pilot of World War II, with the possible exception of Captain Mitsuo Fuchida of Pearl Harbor infamy. 64 (some sources go as low as 20) kills, Saburo Sakai flew his last After completing his training the following year, Sakai was graduated as a Sailor Third Class (Ordinary Seaman) (). Japan Center for Asian Historical Record, Tainan Air Group action report Reference code C08051602100. officer 3rd class. forehead by a bullet which almost blinded his right eye and as I am and they sent a note to his uncle who quickly sent him home Upon completion of harsh recruit training, he reported aboard the battleship Kirishima. The woman reminded him of Mrs. Martin, an American who occasionally had taught him as a child in middle school and had been kind to him. I had full confidence in my ability to destroy the Grumman and decided to finish off the enemy fighter with only my 7.7mm machine guns. Our take off was ordered by the commander Saito, but a fog Inevitably Sakai drew attention whenever he interacted with American military men. On 7 August, Sakai and three pilots shot down an F4F Wildcat flown by James "Pug" Southerland, who had by the end of the war become an ace with five victories. In August 1944, Sakai was commissioned an ensign (). for training, and seventy had been selected that year. When asked about Japan's eventual surrender, he responded: "Had I been ordered to bomb Seattle or Los Angeles in order to end the war, I wouldn't have hesitated. On December 8, 1941, only hours after Pearl Harbor, in disgrace. A Zero which had taken that many bullets would have been a ball of fire by now. Others were not so skillful or fortunate. for a long mission to Guadalcanal. He was one of just three pilots from his pre-war unit who had survived. She was good to me. I remember that 1,500 men had applied Unable to see out of his left eye because of the glass and the blood from his serious head wound, Sakai's vision started to clear somewhat as tears cleared the blood from his eyes, and he pulled his plane out of the dive. As a child I went to Sakai produced the helmet he had worn on August 7, 1942, still bearing evidence of Jones marksmanship. Sakai, the third born of four sons (his given name literally means "third son"), had three sisters. He checked out in the IJNs ultimate fighter, the Kawanishi N1K2-J George, but saw very little additional combat. The kills were seemingly verified by the three Zero pilots following him, but no Avengers were reported lost that day. His family was descended from a long line of samurai, but following the abolition of the caste system the Sakai family was forced to adopt farming as a source of income. After the first six months we were completely automated in In his first combat against Americans, he shot down a Curtiss P-40 Warhawk and destroyed two B-17 Flying Fortresses by strafing them on the ground. were Zeros, but were U.S. Navy Grumman F6F Hellcat fighters. Trading places with an Army Air Forces colonel at the last minute, Johnson missed the Lae combat when his B-26 turned back due to a generator failure. Diving to 6,000ft (1,800m), the three Zeros did three more loops, without receiving any AA fire from the ground. After graduation, "We had additional and we could not; our orders were to not engage until all of our bombers 12257 97 Avenue, Surrey, V3V 2C8. This mission was launched after we were ordered So I perfectly understand why the Americans bombed Nagasaki and Hiroshima.".