Kenji Yanagiya - The Six Escort Fighter Pilots After The Incident

The Six Escort Fighter Pilots After The Incident

Yanagiya and his fellow pilots were not accused nor criticized. Yanagiya was promoted to Petty Officer 2nd Class on May 1 as scheduled previously. The 204th Air Group commander and his staff officers knew that it was hard to save two Type 1 Land based attackers spotless from 16 Allied fighters engaging with only 6 escort fighters. They six pilots, however, thought themselves responsible for the incident so seriously that they charged themselves to shoot down as many Allied airplanes as possible.

On June 7, 1943, the 204th Air Group at Buin base planned an operation to bomb Allied Russell Islands airfield with 81 fighters. Twelve Zeros, armed with firebombs beneath each wing, in 3 sets of “Lotte” formations approached at an altitude of 8000 m, while other Zero groups escorted. The reinforced 50 Allied fighters adopted new formation tactics with 10 fighters in 1 group each. A furious battle resulted between the Zeros and the 50 Allied fighters. Over the airfield, Yanagiya's group dived from 8,000 m (26,000 ft) to 6,000 m (20,000 ft), released their firebombs then pulled up.

Yanagiya was caught in the tail position by two F4Fs and received bursts of gunfire. The majority of his right hand had been shot off and lost with the top of the control stick with only his little finger remaining attached to his wrist. His right leg had been shot and was bleeding. He thereafter controlled the plane with his left hand and flew back to IJN Munda airstrip at New Georgia Island. During the return flight, with his right leather boot filling with blood from his leg wound and near fainting from the blood loss, he repeatedly shouted in a loud voice to keep himself awake in the cockpit. He was unable to operate levers on the starboard side of the cockpit to unload flaps or landing gears yet he managed to safely make a slide landing into the airstrip. Imperial Japanese Marine soldiers took him out of the cockpit and a doctor operated immediately, cutting the remainder of his right hand off at the wrist.

Chief Petty Officer Yoshimi Hidaka, Petty Officer 1st Class Yasushi Okazaki, both died in the action. Petty Officer 2nd Class Kameji Yamane was missing in the action. Petty Officer 2nd Class Kenji Yanagiya lost his right hand and hospitalized. These four pilots all flew Zero fighters armed heavy bombs beneath each wing on the mission that day. They couldn't fight with all their strength. The Zeros of the 204th Air Group claimed 13 Allied aircraft shot down that day.

On June 16, a Japanese scout aircraft found big group of Allied transports off shore Lunga point, Guadalcanal. The 204th Air Group at Buin base all attacked in full power. The 204th Air Group fighter squadron leader Lieutenant Zenjiro Miyano died in the action. Lieutenant (JG) Morisaki died in the action.

On July 1, the remained 204th Air Group stroke the Allied anchorage at Rendova Island. Chief Petty Officer Toyomitsu Tsujinoue was on the duty to escort dive-bombers and missing in the action.

Young Flyer 1st Class Shoichi Sugita, kept fighting wildly and survived the Battle of Solomon Islands, 1943, but he was killed in action at his age of 20 in April 1945. In August 1943, he was shot down in flames and bailed out. He was seriously injured and returned homeland Japan alive. In March 1944, Petty Officer 2nd Class Sugita came back as a member of the 263rd Air Group at Guam Island. But the units were seriously damaged by the three days of sorties in June, the 263rd Air Group members were merged with the 201st Air Group (2nd generation) in Philippine, which was reorganized as the first Kamikaze Corps by the 1st Air Fleet (2nd generation) Commander in Chief, Vice Admiral Takijiro Onishi. Many younger aviators had been ordered the Kamikaze sorties daily, Sugita finally threatened his commander of the 201st Air Group, Captain Sakae Yamamoto with his gun to get the order of Kamikaze sortie for him first. He was ordered to come back Japan, again. In January 1945, Petty Officer 1st Class Sugita joined the 301st fighting squadron of the 343rd Air Group. He was finally shot down and killed in action while he flew in Shidenkai (Allied codename George) taking off Kanoya airfield, Kyūshū, Japan in April 1945.

Five out of six fighter pilots died and one injured.

Captain Ushie Sugimoto died in action on June 12, 1945 in Philippine. Sugimoto was the commander in chief at the 26th Air Flotilla, then. He stayed with his ground members and mechanics of the air units to fight as infantry left without support. His flock was reportedly holding a position somewhere in the Mount Pinatubo, Philippine, while all chief officers and most commissioned officers of the 1st Air Fleet's air units had already withdrawn to Taiwan. The 26th Air Flotilla was under the command of the 1st Air Fleet, but the units lost all aircraft in the order of Kamikaze sorties by January 1945.

Back on October 25, 1944, Vice Admiral Onishi had called all commanders of his Air Flotillas to a mid-night meeting, at IJN Clark Air Base in Philippine. The Commander in Chief of the 1st Air Fleet, Vice Admiral Onishi, had conferred with his high-ranking officials for ideas on how to repel the Allied forces from Philippine with tangible way, but there had been few ideas. Onishi had then decided to expand his operation plan "Kamikaze" to all his air units, and had warned them if there were any officers who opposed "Kamikaze" attacks should be executed.

The Japanese were prohibited the surrender by their Military code. Few survivors testified that Captain Sugimoto died from starvation, and his last words were, "Eat my flesh and blood, you must survive."

Yanagiya survived the war alive. He thought the result of the Yamamoto mission was his shame, not the thing to be proud of. He kept silent until a non-fiction writer, Akira Yoshimura could touch his heart and interviewed 30 years later in mid-1970s.

Yanagiya died on Feb. 29, 2008, at his age of 88.