After the first six months we were completely automated in I was selected, there were three ways to get in: Officers graduating If any man cried out he was given more "discipline". He was promoted to sub-lieutenant () one year later, just before the war ended. Despite facing superior enemy aircraft, Sakai demonstrated his skill and experience by eluding the attacks and returning to his airfield unscathed. Graduating at the top of his class in flight school, where he fell in love with the . terrified faces, he was moved to mercy. "We started our day at 0200 We took off and reached 19,000 feet when I saw a Sakai flew missions the next day during heavy weather. So I perfectly understand why the Americans bombed Nagasaki and Hiroshima.". [6], Sakai was amazed at the Wildcat's ruggedness:[7], " 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. Joining the Japanese Navy at age 16, he was one of 70 students accepted into flight training of out 1,500 applicants. Whether they produced battlefield images of the dead or daguerreotype portraits of common soldiers, []. uncle that worked for the Ministry of Communications who offered to We received the news of the attack on Pearl Harbor Incidentally, he was a real gentleman and I came to greatly like and admire him. Though he described the combat in detail, Sakai was not among the five pilots credited with the victory. Unfortunately, his school was not as impressed Sabur Sakai was born on August 25, 1916, in Saga, Japan, into a family of samurai ancestry whose ancestors had taken part in the Japanese invasions of Korea but who were forced to make a living as farmers following haihan-chiken in 1871. contained significant errors, some apparently originated by coauthor Caidin. Sakai, who sent a daughter to college in Texas to "learn about democracy," made more than two dozen trips to the U.S. over the years, meeting many of the pilots he formerly tried to kill. for the slightest perceived infractions. Subscribe today! A ship. when I was sixteen. and we had twenty-seven fighters on this sweep, and this was when crashed in the ocean. Two Wildcats jumped on the commander's plane. The Japanese high command had instructed fighter patrols to down all enemy aircraft encountered, whether they were armed or not. On 31 May 1933, at the age of 16, Sakai enlisted in the Imperial Japanese Navy as a Sailor Fourth Class (Seaman Recruit) () at the Sasebo Naval Base. 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. Please pass on our regards and inform them, that we will have a warm reception ready for them, next time they fly over our airfield". The squadron commander was furious and reprimanded the three pilots for their stupidity, but the Tainan Kokutai's three leading aces felt Nishizawa's aerial choreography of the "Danse Macabre" had been worth it. In August of 1942, Sakai was shot in the face by a 7.62 mm (0.3 in) bullet that entered the right side of his skull and passed through his brain. Saburo Sakai was a Japanese fighter pilot who fought in China and the Pacific theater during WWII. On 7 August, word arrived that U.S. Marines had landed that morning on Guadalcanal. Sabur Sakai was born on 25 August 1916 in Saga Prefecture, Japan. This was On the third day of the battle, he shot down a B-17 Flying Fortress flown by Captain Colin P. Kelly. for training, and seventy had been selected that year. C-47 at low altitude over dense jungle. Peer In November 1943, Sakai was promoted to the rank of flying warrant officer (). had breakfast. Early in 1942, Sakai was transferred to Tarakan Island in Borneo and fought in the Dutch East Indies. In the ensuing air battle, Sakai broke formation, flamed an I-16 and was nearly downed himself. the best great ships. We stayed with our planes waiting, and Sabur Sakai described their reaction to the Thach Weave when they encountered Guadalcanal Wildcats using it:[5]. Sakai was the Imperial Navy's fourth-ranking ace and Japan's second leading fighter pilot to survive the war, surpassed only by Tetsuz Iwamoto. I turned the 20mm cannon switch to the 'off' position and closed in. Lt Saburo Sakai served as a combat pilot with the Japanese Armed forces from 1934 to 1945 becoming the leading aviation ace in the Pacific during World War Two. As the Japanese squadron approached Guadalcanal, a group of eight American Wildcats took off from the U.S.S. I saw that it was a civilian aircraft - a DC-4. ward off an attack. and signaled him to go ahead. "The closer you get to the emperor, the fuzzier everything gets. in the world at that time; this class of battleship would only be When Japan attacked the Western Allies in 1941, Sakai participated in the attack on the Philippines as a member of the Tainan Air Group. The fact that Sakai never made a combat launch from an aircraft carrier in no way detracts from his significance as a naval aviator and Japans third-ranking fighter ace. a high-flying chase that has become legendary, Sakai eluded every The Zero rolled over and headed upside down toward the sea. There he collapsed from a heart attack and died at 84. This furnished the absolute minimum of power and speed, and we hung on the fringe of losing engine power at any time and stalling.. Never the At once the Grumman snapped away in a roll to the right, clawed around in a tight turn, and ended up in a climb straight at my own plane. Please tell Saburo that I read his book twice, he said. Japan Center for Asian Historical Record, Yokosuka Air Group action report Reference code C13120487500. Speaking through an interpreter, he sketched a flight deck with notations of 17 meters (about 56 feet) wide with six arresting wires. patrol on that day. With his plane in such condition, no wonder the pilot was unable to continue fighting! History / Summary Recruits were severely beaten with rattan sticks Sakai also decried the kamikaze program as brutally wasteful of young lives. This brought With his wingmen and fellow aces, he went from success to success, once even looping in formation over an Allied airfield. In the summer of 1938, Sakai was assigned to the 12th Kokutai (air group), flying Mitsubishi A5M fighters from Formosa (now Taiwan). adopt him and provide for a better education. He was one of the highest ranking Japanese pilots to survive the war and underwent an incredible battle for survival during the conflict. The airfield soon became the focus of months of fighting in the Battle of Guadalcanal, as it enabled U.S. airpower to hinder the Japanese attempts at resupplying their troops. Sakai briefly flew next to Southerland, able to describe his features. 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 "This ship had sixteen-inch guns, the largest He shot down in flames two of the TBF Avengers and these two victories (61st and 62nd) were verified by the other three Zero pilots but during this day, no TBF Avengers were reported lost. The Japanese used no landing signal officers other than a sailor stationed aft with a red flag in the event of a waveoff. Then I was sent to Formosa (Taiwan) Lahore, Pakistan 0092 (42) 37304691 info@sadiqindustries.com. Saburo Sakai flew one of those Zeros. Sakai shot down a Soviet built DB-3 bomber in October 1939. He visited the U.S. and met many of his former adversaries, including Harold "Lew" John, the tail-gunner who had wounded him. I had just arrived with them from Sky Harbor Airport when warbird owner Bill Hane rolled out his P-51D, Ho Hun! Saburo Sakai was born August 26th 1916 in the farming village of Nishiyoka in the Saga prefecture on Kyushu island, Japan. Additional reading: Sunburst: The Rise of Japanese Naval Air Power, by Mark Pattie; and Zero!, by Jiro Horikoshi and Masatake Okumiya. She was flying in a Dutch military Promoted to Petty Officer Second Class () in 1938, he first took part in aerial combat flying the Mitsubishi A5M in the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1938-1939 and was wounded. old. from the Naval Academy at Eta Jima, petty officers from the fleet, most of all, never losing a wingman in over 200 missions. where we had a base at Kaohsiung. It read "Thank you for the wonderful display of aerobatics by three of your pilots. Robert C. Shaw. With a delegation of the Zero Fighter Pilots Association, Sakai attended the 1970 meeting of the American Fighter Aces Association in San Diego. He was one of just three pilots from his pre-war unit who had survived. trouble. ", Not long after he downed Southerland, Sakai was attacked by a lone SBD Dauntless dive bomber flown by Lt. Dudley Adams of Scouting Squadron 71 (VS-71) from USSWasp. I was one of During the Borneo Campaign, Sakai achieved 13 more victories before he was grounded by illness. fights with larger boys. In a seven-year combat carrier, he credited with at least 28 aerials victories and shooting down or severly damaging well over 60 Allied aircraft, despite later in the war flying a plane that was . The kills were seemingly verified by the three Zero pilots following him, but no Avengers were reported lost that day. On June 24 1944, he approached 15 planes that he thought He is survived by all three. To my surprise, the Grumman's rudder and tail were torn to shreds, looking like an old torn piece of rag. I was a young boy (probably around 10 or So I thought I shouldn't kill them. The squadron commander was furious and reprimanded the three pilots for their stupidity, but the Tainan Kktai's three leading aces felt that Nishizawa's aerial choreography of the Danse Macabre had been worth it.[13]. writings described the cruel reality of war and combat. He received successive promotions to Sailor First Class (Leading Seaman) () and to Petty Officer Third Class (). Subscribe to receive our weekly newsletter with top stories from master historians. less, Sakai shot down 3 SBDs before being hit in the Nishizawa visited Sakai while he was recuperating in the Yokosuka hospital in Japan. the first B-17 shot down during the war.". Consequently, Sakai confided late in life that he never received any U.S. royalties. Never before had I seen an enemy plane move so quickly or gracefully before, and every second his guns were moving closer to the belly of my fighter. At age 11, his father died, leaving his mother alone to raise seven children. The wingtips fold for stowage aboard an aircraft carrier. In A Zero which had taken that many bullets would have been a ball of fire by now. shame to the family and his uncle was very disappointed. [22], Likewise, although Japan had been defeated in the Second World War with great loss of life, Sakai serenely accepted that outcome: "Had I been ordered to bomb Seattle or Los Angeles in order to end the war, I wouldn't have hesitated. Sabur Sakai describes his experiences as a naval recruit:[1]. His squadron mate Hiroyoshi Nishizawa drove him, as quickly but as gently as possible, to the surgeon. 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. The Zero rolled inverted and descended towards the sea. He received successive promotions to Sailor First Class (Leading Seaman) () and to Petty Officer Third Class (). He $0.00. It has a retractable tail wheel and an enclosed cockpit directly over the wing. In this semi-autobiography, Sakai gives a different picture than the common stereotype about the Japanese during WWII. IJN pilot training was the most rigorous in the world at the time. closer I saw that it was full of passengers. This page was last edited on 1 March 2023, at 07:55. The entire village was proud of me. the base, so we attacked and allowed the others to continue on. He spotted a blonde woman and a young child through the window, along with other passengers. were some who were sadistic, there was a method in all of this madness. one on August 17, 1945. When the war with the United States began, Sakai participated in the attack on the Philippines as a member of the Tainan Air Group. This was my first combat against Americans, "I remember sometimes I caught a B-17 that was flown by Captain Colin P. Kelly. He came from a family descended from a long line of Samurai, Japan's Newspapermen from Holland came to ancient warrior class. He passed the entrance exam for flight school on the third try. [28] However, according to the aerial combat report, his mission was to escort bombers to and from their targets, and in the afternoon of 24 June, Sakai joined the attack on the US task force. The next day, at the end of an attack on Port Moresby that involved 18 Zeros,[4] the trio performed three tight loops in close formation over the allied air base. History is who we are and why we are the way we are.. of his basic training. He would not be shaken. Only a handful of fellow Zero pilots attended the funeral at Sagami Memorial Park in Kanagawa, as many veterans resented Sakais public statements. Upon completion of harsh recruit training, he reported aboard the battleship Kirishima. He made lieutenant (junior grade) a year later, just before the war ended. This I believed that we should fight In early 1937, he applied for and was accepted into a pilot training school. 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. Setting up a 6 oclock low approach, thinking the airplanes were fighters, Sakai had just tripped his triggers when the sky exploded. Introduction Sub-Lieutenant Sabur Sakai ( , Sakai Sabur, 25 August 1916 to 22 September 2000) was a Japanese naval aviator and flying ace ("Gekitsui-O", ) of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. [27], Sakai said that he had been ordered to lead a kamikaze mission on 5 July but that he failed to find the US task force. Promoted to Petty Officer Second Class () in 1938, Sakai took part in aerial combat flying the Mitsubishi A5M at the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 19381939 and was wounded in action. is chicagoland speedway being torn down; is iperms down When Southerland bailed out of his riddled, smoking Wildcat, the Japanese ace felt a rare emotiongratitude that a skillful enemy had survived. Although in agony from his injuries (he had a serious head wound[13] from a bullet that had passed through his skull and the right side of his brain, leaving the entire left side of his body paralyzed, and was left blind in one eye,[14]) (The wound is described elsewhere as having destroyed the metal frame of his googles, and "creased" his skull, meaning a glancing blow that breaks the skin and makes furrow in, or even cracks the skull, but does not actually penetrate it.) After his discharge from the hospital in January 1943, Sakai spent a year in training new fighter pilots. accurate and heavy. I thought this very odd it had never happened before and closed the distance between the two airplanes until I could almost reach out and touch the Grumman. After returning from the Philippines, he flew in the East Indies and New Guinea, fighting Dutch, Australian and American aircraft. almost 600 miles back to Rabaul. Sakai, who did not know Southerland's guns had jammed[citation needed], recalled the duel in his autobiography: They were soon engaged in a skillfully maneuvered dogfight. He lost the sight. That was a group of eight SBD Dauntlesses from Enterprise, led by Lieutenant Carl Horenberger of Bombing Squadron 6 (VB-6). very strict; the men chosen in 1937 when I was selected were a different Sakai's Tainan Kokutai became known for destroying the most enemy planes in the history of Japanese military aviation. The rear gunners claimed that the Zero as a kill when it dove away in distress in return for two planes damaged (one seriously).[21]. The C-47 erupted Sakai managed to shoot down one Hellcat, then escaped the umbrella of enemy aircraft by flying into a cloud. Adams scored a near miss, sending a bullet through Sakai's canopy, but Sakai quickly gained the upper hand and succeeded in downing Adams.
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