An afternoon with Japanese ace Saburo Sakai
Corsair
I would have posted it to the group but since I didn't write it I thought I'd
just direct people to where it is: rec.aviation.military.naval
It is an interview with Sakai (highest scoring ace to survive the war) and is
a paraphrase of the conversation (as accurately as the writer could). It
covers such things as his opinion of the Zero, the Japanese leadership, the
Kamakazi, and his near-downing of the plane that carried future US president
Lynden Johnson.
Again, it can be found at:
rec.aviation.military.naval
Corsair
__________________________________________________________
Web CAG of The Unofficial "Jolly Rogers" Site
http://www-home.calumet.yorku.ca/mdonalds/www/home.htm
__________________________________________________________
CAG of the "VF-84 Jolly Rogers" Simulation Squadron
__________________________________________________________
99 "Knights of the Air"
in super high-tech jet fighters
- "99 Red Balloons"
__________________________________________________________
Corsair
Originally I gave the newsgroup that this post was located at, but I've
received a number of requests from people asking for it to be posted here.
Apparently there are many providers that don't carry
rec.aviation.military.naval which I wasn't aware of. Since I received so many
requests I decided to post it and apologise for the length. Unfortunately, my
file doesn't have the original poster of the article. Once again, my apologies
to all who find objection with this post.
And now:
An Afternoon with Saburo Sakai
On Sunday, August 11th, I had the unique pleasure of being
invited to the Tokyo home of Mr. Saburo Sakai, the great
Japanese WWII Zero ace. Over the course of three hours, he
and I discussed a number of topics, almost all related to his
exploits in the war, but to some broader issues as well. What
follows are some of the more interesting things he had to say.
Note: This is a very long post. You may want to save it and
read it off-line.
Sakai-san turns 80 this month, but is in excellent health,
physically and mentally. He speaks very energetically,
gesturing broadly all the time. He's the type of senior
citizen that everybody hopes they can one day be.
I will point out that I did not take notes nor use a tape
recorder during our conversation, and these "quotes" are
paraphrased by myself to the best of my memory. Please do not
repeat them or attribute them to Sakai-san in any published
forum. The conversation was entirely in Japanese, and in my
translations, I've attempted to choose language that best
represents the atmosphere of how Sakai-san himself was saying
it. The order is roughly the order that we discussed these
topics in.
For those of you not familiar with Sakai-san's
accomplishments, a few highlights: He's credited with 64
kills of U.S. planes during the war, the highest score of any
Japanese pilot to survive it (two Japanese pilots had better
scores, but died during the war). U.S. loss records
corroborate his claims. He knocked down at least one of every
type of plane the U.S. flew, including being credited with the
first downing of a U.S. bomber in WWII, a B-17E, three days
after the war started. He also narrowly missed shooting down
a B-26 that was carrying the future president, Lyndon Johnson.
In 1943, he was seriously wounded while attacking a formation
of Dauntlesses, taking a .50 cal. round to the head (the
bullet split the upper frame of the right eye of his flight
goggles -- he still has those goggles -- and bounced off his
skull, crushing the bone underneath). Covered with blood,
blind in one eye and barely conscious, he somehow managed to
fly his now canopy-less Zero 4-1/2 hours back to base and
land, to then endure surgery without anesthesia. He never
regained the vision of his right eye, but was back in the
cockpit a year later, and shot down four more planes before
the war ended.
(On the Zero)
During the war, I was convinced the Zero Model 21 was the best
fighter plane anywhere. It was always number one with me.
Then a few years ago, at Champlin, I had the chance to fly in
a Mustang and take the controls for a while. What an
incredible plane! It could do anything the Zero could, and
many things the Zero can't, like a high-speed, spiraling dive.
In the Zero, the stick would be too heavy to control the plane
at those speeds. The Mustang's number one with me now, and
I'm afraid the Zero's number two!
(On the Type 96 Carrier Fighter "Claude," which he also flew)
That was the most incredible fighter of its day, by far. When
the Zero was rolled out, we put two equal pilots in a Type 96
and a Zero and had them dogfight. The Type 96 won quite
quickly. Then we had them switch planes. The Type 96 won
again. Everybody thought the Zero was a failure at that
point. But they liked the Zero's range. If the Type 96 had
had the range of the Zero, we might have kept using that even
up to Pearl Harbor and beyond.
(On the key to a good fighter plane)
By far the most important thing for a good fighter plane is
its range. I can't tell you how much that affects you when
you're in the cockpit. When you know you've got plenty of
gas, it really lets you relax. Those poor Germans in their
Me109s! They could barely get to altitude and fight for a
couple of minutes before they had to start worrying about
their fuel supply. When you are worried about your gas, it
really affects what you do with your plane, even how you
fight. Think of how many German fighters ended up at the
bottom of the English Channel because they didn't have the gas
to get home. A plane that doesn't have the gas to fly is just
junk. If the Germans had had 1000 Zeros in 1940, I don't
think England would still exist today. Think about it: With
Zeros, they could have operated from airfields near Paris and
still hit any target anywhere in the British Isles, or
escorted bombers, and still have plenty of gas to get home. I
once flew a Zero for 12 hours continuous once in an experiment
to see just how far it could go. That plane's range was
incredible. That's part of what made the Mustang great, too.
(On the Zero's maneuverability)
Oh yes, the Zero was incredibly maneuverable, but not over
about 250 mph. Above that speed, the stick just gets too
heavy because the plane's control surfaces are so huge.
You've seen those films of kamikaze plunging straight down
into the water far from any U.S. ships, right? The kids in
those planes probably put their planes into a dive way too
early, and before they realized their mistake, they had too
much speed built up to pull out of their dive. They probably
died pulling desperately on the stick with all their strength.
When I coached those kids [kamikaze pilots], I'd tell them,
"If you've gotta die, you at least want to hit your target,
right? If so, then go in low, skimming the water. Don't dive
on your target. You lose control in a dive. You risk getting
picked off by a fighter, but you've got better chance of
hitting your target."
(On Kamikaze tactics and pilots)
A lot of Westerners looked at the kamikaze strategy with
complete shock, the idea of putting a kid in a plane and
telling him to kill himself by crashing into the enemy. But
even if you don't tell him to crash into something, putting a
kid with only about 20 hours flight time into a plane and
telling him to take on U.S. pilots in Hellcats and Corsairs is
just as much a suicidal tactic as being a kamikaze. We
figured that if they're going to die anyway, the kamikaze
attack will probably cause more damage to the enemy for the
same price in lives.
But let me tell you, all that stuff you read about "dying for
the emperor...Banzai!" that's all crap. There wasn't one
kamikaze pilot or soldier out there who was thinking anything
about the emperor when they were facing death. They were
thinking about their mother and their family, just like
anybody else. The reason those final letters home that they
wrote are so filled with emperor glorification stuff is
because they knew the censors would read them, and because
they simply wanted to try to make their parents proud.
(On seeing the enemy)
Great vision is absolutely essential for a fighter pilot.
Finding your enemy even a half-second sooner than he finds you
gives you a great advantage. I'd teach my pilots not to
tighten their lap belts too tight, because it prevents you
from swiveling your hips so that you can quickly look directly
behind yourself. The field of view in the Zero was great. I
don't know why those Grumman planes had those high backs that
prevented pilots from seeing behind them.
[Didn't losing the vision in one eye really hurt you in this
respect?]
Not really. By that time, I had learned to know where the
enemy was going to appear from, based on conditions. I never
had to sweep the sky, 360 degrees or anything to find them.
You just gain a sense of where they're going to come from, and
search that area most intensely. An instinct I guess. And
you don't really need depth perception, because you can gauge
distance by the apparent size of the enemy plane.
(On just missing Lyndon Johnson)
One day I jumped two B-26s and shot one down. I got a few
shots off at the other before I lost it in a cloud bank.
After the war, I learned from U.S. records of the incident
that the plane that got away had been carrying Lyndon Johnson!
Can you imagine how I might have changed history if I'd hit
the other plane first instead? A lot of Americans who know
that story have come up to me and said "Saburo, why didn't you
shoot the other plane down first? Then we could have stayed
out of the Vietnam War!"
(On the IJN's leadership)
Promotions in the Navy were based on what school you graduated
from and who you knew, it had nothing to do with merit. Some
guy could smash up 20 planes trying to learn how to fly, and
then not shoot down a damn thing and he'd be promoted faster
than me or any other successful pilot simply because he came
from the right school. Those were the kinds of idiots we had
leading us. How were we supposed to win the war with
leadership like that? Take that idiot [Minoru] Genda. He
could barely fly, but he jumped up and down about the Shiden-
kai ["George"], so everybody else pretended to like it, too.
That plane was a piece of crap, put together by a third-rate
firm [Kawanishi].
(On the atomic bomb)
Once, I was on a discussion panel with [Enola Gay pilot] Col.
Paul Tibbets in the U.S. and somebody asked me what I thought
about the A-bomb. I said "If Japan had had the bomb, and they
told me to fly the plane that carried it and bomb San
Francisco or something, I would have done it gladly. That's a
soldier's job. To follow orders and fight for his country."
I think Tibbets was a great hero for the U.S. To fly out
there with just two B-29s and no fighter escort, that takes a
lot of guts. At the time, nobody knew about the A-bomb; there
was no international treaty against its use, like there was
for chemical weapons. The U.S. even dropped leaflets warning
people in Hiroshima that a new weapon was going to be used.
That's just war.
(On the Rape of Nanjing)
There's no question that Japanese soldiers probably killed a
few thousand people there, but stories of 100,000 to 300,000
dead are complete fiction, made up by the Chinese for
propaganda purposes. And most of the "civilians" that got
killed were probably Chinese soldiers masquerading as non-
combatants by not wearing their uniforms. That IS against
international law. Why don't I think the stories are true?
First of all, there weren't even 300,000 people in Nanjing at
the time. Most of the city's population had fled when they
heard the Japanese were coming. Secondly, there were over 200
foreign journalists in the area, and you can't find any
mention of an atrocity like that in the papers of the day.
There's no way you could hide something that big, but the
stories about it didn't emerge until AFTER the war. And the
only photos from the supposed event that ever get published
are taken from a documentary about it and are fakes, staged
for the film.
(On "comfort women's" [sex slaves] demands for compensation)
Demanding compensation from a foreign government 50 years
after something happened? Come on. The statute of
limitations for murder is only 15 years. After the war, the
Japanese government signed agreements with Korea and other
nations settling war liability claims. These are binding,
international agreements made by the legal governments of
their nations. If certain victim's groups have a claim, they
have to address it to their own government, not to some
foreign government. You don't see A-bomb victims groups going
to Washington demanding that the U.S. government pay for their
suffering, do you? No, instead, the Japanese government pays
them an allowance. If the comfort women have a claim, it
should be with their own Korean or Philippine government.
They're just looking for cash now that Japan is a rich nation.
(On Okinawan's and other Japanese peace groups protests of
U.S. bases in Japan)
Those people are so stupid. Do they think that soldiers
actually want to start a war or something, even though they
would be the first ones killed? Do they think that if we get
rid of armies, that we can rid the world of war? Do they also
think that if we banish doctors, that we can rid the world of
disease? Why don't they understand that armed forces are like
an insurance policy for use in case of emergency. Who do they
think is going to protect them if someone were to actually
invade Japan? Article 9 of the Constitution [the part of the
Japanese Constitution that renounces war as a sovereign
right]? Do they think that if they staple copies of Article 9
onto boards and post them all around Japan's shores that a
foreign invader is going to turn around and go home if they
read it?
-End-
(Comments and opinions expressesd in this article do not necessarily
reflect those of the personna Corsair)
Cameron Lynch
Corsair wrote:
>
> Originally I gave the newsgroup that this post was located at, but I've
> received a number of requests from people asking for it to be posted here.
> Apparently there are many providers that don't carry
> rec.aviation.military.naval which I wasn't aware of. Since I received so many
> requests I decided to post it and apologise for the length. Unfortunately, my
> file doesn't have the original poster of the article. Once again, my apologies
> to all who find objection with this post.
Scott Hards was the original poster. It was also posted on
rec.aviation.military
Cameron Lynch
"Whip" II/JG 26
--
"Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition! Our chief weapon is
surprise-surprise and fear...fear and surprise...our two weapons are
fear and surprise-and ruthless efficiency...our three weapons are fear
and surprise and ruthless efficiency and an almost fanatical devotion to
the Pope...our four...no...Amongst our weapons-amongst our weaponry-are
such elements as fear, surprise....I'll come in again."
- Monty Python's Flying Circus (Episode 15, September 22 1970)
_____________________________________________________________________________
Copyright (C) 1996. Cameron Lynch. All rights reserved.
CHAN Lancelot the Jedi
I have some questions. How can you find him? And also, why don't you
give him a computer, a good stick, rudder pedals, a throttle, an INET
account and a visa to let him fly WB with all of us? We would be glad
to be shot down by an actual ace of WWII. Comon, Kill us! We are
waiting to be the next victim!
dmds
Zeno303
>dmds wrote:
(snip)
>We would be glad to be shot down by an actual ace of WWII. Comon, Kill
us! >We are waiting to be the next victim!
>dmds
What do you mean by "we" Jedi? Thought you just resigned (with much
fanfare) from WB. ; {]
zeno
"Live free or die!"
CHAN Lancelot the Jedi
zen...@aol.com (Zeno303) wrote:
>What do you mean by "we" Jedi? Thought you just resigned (with much
>fanfare) from WB. ; {]
Here is the reason why I'm still flying around.
1. I found the DOS FE avoided every warping reasons I have encountered
in WIN95 FE.
2. 1.09 have some surprises to us. Killer told me personally and I
would like to keep the secret and leave the surprise to you all. :)
3. Killer is going to redo the connection next month. And my
connection is not that bad at this time.
4. I have shot Killer down!
5. I have scolded Killer for 1 hour in WB arena. He was happy to be
scolded by me since I was flying 1 more hour. I think so, at least.
dmds DARK JEDI
dunk...@utdallas.edu
Corsair (mdon...@calumet.yorku.ca) wrote:
A great little article! I'll be sure to save it; BTW, Sakai's original
Zero! book has been reprinted in by Bantam I believe in a new sleek black
cover--still in paperback too.
> In 1943, he was seriously wounded while attacking a formation
> of Dauntlesses, taking a .50 cal. round to the head (the
One small comment; this actually took place in 1942, on 7 August.
--
Alan Dunkin (dunk...@utdallas.edu) Warbirds (Black Sheep squadron): -avd
Executive Editor News/Strategy, Online Gaming Review (http://www.ogr.com)
Contributing Writer, Dallas Morning News
"This isn't rocket science, this is brain surgery!" -- The Simpsons
Kaj Laaksonen
>I have some questions. How can you find him? And also, why don't you
>give him a computer, a good stick, rudder pedals, a throttle, an INET
>to be shot down by an actual ace of WWII. Comon, Kill us! We are
>waiting to be the next victim!
Yeah right.
Do you seriously think that a man of his age would be interested?
Besides, I somehow think he might not be too keen on the idea anyway.
Anyway, I thought you quit WB so why would you care?
-Kaizu-
John Killer Macqueen
ka...@pelit.fi (Kaj Laaksonen) wrote:
>Yeah right.
>-Kaizu-
Yeah I do. Can't say why though <g>
John MacQueen
kil...@www.icigames.com
VP Operations Interactive Creations Inc.
LEO1
dunk...@utdallas.edu writes:
>Corsair (mdon...@calumet.yorku.ca) wrote:
>> In 1943, he was seriously wounded while attacking a formation
>> of Dauntlesses, taking a .50 cal. round to the head (the
>One small comment; this actually took place in 1942, on 7 August.
Well, good for him. :) If he didn't have to take a year off, maybe he
wouldn't be lucky enough to survive and make impolite comments about
Nanjing and "comfort women", considering the deteriorating odds for the
Japanese side. Interesting fella...does anyone know what he did after the
war? Any handshakes with Mr. Johnson? <bg>
nerf
Kaj Laaksonen
Killer wrote:
>Yeah I do. Can't say why though <g>
Hot damn, that sounds ominous. Shouldn't been so quick on trigger then
<g>.
-Kaizu-
Kaj Laaksonen
>there was a Zero pilot playing AW for a while - ya never know. :-)
My utmost repsect and admiration to someone who has been there such a
long time ago and is still interested in something AW or WB. Quite
amazing.
-Kaizu- (and his big mouth)
FREE
You know Killer...Mr. Cavannah at Cavannah Flight Museum is in contact with
several former WWII and Post WWII (KoreanConflict) Fighter Pilots, in the DFW
area...I talked with most on the 4th of July.
just thinkin' out loud...
FREE
In article <4ve1pb$o...@herald.concentric.net>, kil...@www.icigames.com says...
>
>ka...@pelit.fi (Kaj Laaksonen) wrote:
>
>>>I have some questions. How can you find him? And also, why don't you
>>>give him a computer, a good stick, rudder pedals, a throttle, an INET
>>>account and a visa to let him fly WB with all of us? We would be glad
>>>to be shot down by an actual ace of WWII. Comon, Kill us! We are
>>>waiting to be the next victim!
>
>>Yeah right.
>
>>Do you seriously think that a man of his age would be interested?
>>Besides, I somehow think he might not be too keen on the idea anyway.
>
>>Anyway, I thought you quit WB so why would you care?
>
>>-Kaizu-
>
>
>Yeah I do. Can't say why though <g>
COOPER
ka...@pelit.fi (Kaj Laaksonen) writes:
>Do you seriously think that a man of his age would be interested?
>Besides, I somehow think he might not be too keen on the idea anyway.
there was a Zero pilot playing AW for a while - ya never know. :-)
-moggy
--
gary cooper (not the dead one)
mailto:mo...@kesmai.com
Kesmai Corp. Air Warrior/Harpoon Product Support
http://www.cris.com/~cooper
Tony Lovell
In article <4ve1pb$o...@herald.concentric.net> kil...@www.icigames.com
>ka...@pelit.fi (Kaj Laaksonen) wrote:
>
>>>I have some questions. How can you find him? And also, why don't you
>>>give him a computer, a good stick, rudder pedals, a throttle, an INET
>>>account and a visa to let him fly WB with all of us? We would be glad
>>>to be shot down by an actual ace of WWII. Comon, Kill us! We are
>>>waiting to be the next victim!
>
>>Yeah right.
>
>>Besides, I somehow think he might not be too keen on the idea anyway.
>
>
>>-Kaizu-
>
>
>Yeah I do. Can't say why though <g>
>John MacQueen
>kil...@www.icigames.com
>VP Operations Interactive Creations Inc.
Nor can I say why I'm asking you to forward him an invitation to join the
Dweebs of Death. We understand the spirit of Bushido better than anyone.
Or was that Bullshido?
tone
COOPER
ka...@pelit.fi (Kaj Laaksonen) writes:
>My utmost repsect and admiration to someone who has been there such a
>long time ago and is still interested in something AW or WB. Quite
>amazing.
I believe the gentleman, I don't know his name (wasn't Sakai) worked
for Fujitsu (who published our Japanese version). His statement
was "A Zero pilot created this game." :>
Rickenbacker
In article <4vhv53$1...@gnus.wildfire.com>, to...@wildfire.com says...
>Nor can I say why I'm asking you to forward him an invitation to join the
>Dweebs of Death. We understand the spirit of Bushido better than anyone.
>Or was that Bullshido?
to clean my keyboard...
--
Mats Nylund
WB: Rickenbacker (-ri-), CW2, ~RK^
Email: op...@mbox300.swipnet.se
Homepage: http://home1.swipnet.se/~w-11503/index.htm
Seppo Luny Sipilä
>A great little article! I'll be sure to save it; BTW, Sakai's original
>Zero! book has been reprinted in by Bantam I believe in a new sleek black
>cover--still in paperback too.
>> In 1943, he was seriously wounded while attacking a formation
>> of Dauntlesses, taking a .50 cal. round to the head (the
>One small comment; this actually took place in 1942, on 7 August.
And as I remember it, it was a formation of TBF's (a type he had never
encountered before) that he mistook for Wildcats from behind. I don't
think he would have made that mistake had it been Dauntlesses.
Luny
John Parodi
Corsair, thanks very much for posting that.
Just wanted to mention that one of the best air combat books I've ever
read was about Saburo Sakai. If my memory does not fail me it was "Samurai!"
by no other than Martin Caidin (who wrote "Marooned," "The Last Dogfight,"
and numerous other works about military aviation).
JP
dunk...@utdallas.edu
Seppo "Luny" Sipilä (Seppo....@hut.fi) wrote:
> And as I remember it, it was a formation of TBF's (a type he had never
> encountered before) that he mistook for Wildcats from behind. I don't
> think he would have made that mistake had it been Dauntlesses.
They were Dauntlesses (source, The First Team and the Guadalcanal
Campaign, Naval Institute Press).
Seppo Sipilä
dunk...@utdallas.edu wrote:
>Seppo "Luny" Sipilä (Seppo....@hut.fi) wrote:
>> And as I remember it, it was a formation of TBF's (a type he had never
>> encountered before) that he mistook for Wildcats from behind. I don't
>> think he would have made that mistake had it been Dauntlesses.
>They were Dauntlesses (source, The First Team and the Guadalcanal
>Campaign, Naval Institute Press).
Strange, I could have sworn that in his memoirs ("Samurai") it was stated
that they were TBFs. No big deal...
Luny
Michael Oberly
Le...@cris.com (LEO1) wrote:
>dunk...@utdallas.edu writes:
>>Corsair (mdon...@calumet.yorku.ca) wrote:
>>> In 1943, he was seriously wounded while attacking a formation
>>> of Dauntlesses, taking a .50 cal. round to the head (the
>>One small comment; this actually took place in 1942, on 7 August.
>Well, good for him. :) If he didn't have to take a year off, maybe he
>wouldn't be lucky enough to survive and make impolite comments about
>Nanjing and "comfort women", considering the deteriorating odds for the
>Japanese side. Interesting fella...does anyone know what he did after the
>war? Any handshakes with Mr. Johnson? <bg>
>nerf
He started his own business(in printing) after the war,as he was more
or less banned from any public position in post war Japan.I think the
reason he may come off as "impolite" is that he is a no bullshit
type;if asked a question he will give his honest response,rather than
a politically correct one.You should pick up his book "Samurai",first
published in '57,recently reissued,I believe.Really great read from
the Japanese side from the early years in China,Philipines,to the
central pacific.
Regards,
Mike
CHAN Lancelot the Jedi
Seppo....@hut.fi (Seppo Sipilä) wrote:
>Strange, I could have sworn that in his memoirs ("Samurai") it was stated
>that they were TBFs. No big deal...
>Luny
YEA, TBF TBF TBF!!!
dmds
Fencer
lanc...@glink.net.hk (CHAN Lancelot the Jedi) wrote:
>Seppo....@hut.fi (Seppo Sipilä) wrote:
>>Strange, I could have sworn that in his memoirs ("Samurai") it was stated
>>that they were TBFs. No big deal...
Yup... i just got to that chapter over the weekend and it says he
THOUGHT they were Hellcats because he had never seen an Avenger
before. By the time he was close enough to make a positive ID on the
formation's six, it was too late to safely evaid the defensive fire of
eight .50. So he opened up with his guns and hoped for the best...
He smoked two of the TBFs, but there was no confirmation that they
actually crashed.
CJ Martin
In article <4vib9c$4...@herald.concentric.net>, Coo...@cris.com (COOPER) wrote:
>ka...@pelit.fi (Kaj Laaksonen) writes:
>
>>My utmost repsect and admiration to someone who has been there such a
>>long time ago and is still interested in something AW or WB. Quite
>>amazing.
>
>I believe the gentleman, I don't know his name (wasn't Sakai) worked
>for Fujitsu (who published our Japanese version). His statement
>was "A Zero pilot created this game." :>
>
>-moggy
Uh-oh...better hope Nazi boy doesn't read that...
<g,d,& r>
CJ
Tony Lovell
In article <4vt20c$b...@utdallas.edu> dunk...@utdallas.edu writes:
>Seppo "Luny" Sipil (Seppo....@hut.fi) wrote:
>> And as I remember it, it was a formation of TBF's (a type he had never
>> encountered before) that he mistook for Wildcats from behind. I don't
>> think he would have made that mistake had it been Dauntlesses.
>
>They were Dauntlesses (source, The First Team and the Guadalcanal
>Campaign, Naval Institute Press).
Maybe so, but that would also make the bullet int he head a .30 cal, and
not a .50. (Dauntlesses had 2x30cal, TBF had 1x50cal for tailguns,
assuming this was tailgun-inflicted).
tone
PS: I was wrong once back in gradeschool. :)
Keiichiro Ogata
In article <4vdrfl$8...@herald.concentric.net>, COOPER wrote:
>ka...@pelit.fi (Kaj Laaksonen) writes:
>
>>Do you seriously think that a man of his age would be interested?
>>Besides, I somehow think he might not be too keen on the idea anyway.
>
>there was a Zero pilot playing AW for a while - ya never know. :-)
Really? Who was he?
-xin
Hwei Yin
In article <4vu554$l...@nntp.hut.fi>, Seppo....@hut.fi (Seppo Sipilä) writes:
|>>They were Dauntlesses (source, The First Team and the Guadalcanal
|>>Campaign, Naval Institute Press).
|>
|>Strange, I could have sworn that in his memoirs ("Samurai") it was stated
|>that they were TBFs. No big deal...
|>
In the most recent release of "Samurai" contains errata that clears up the
problem, and references a book that goes through and relates all the stories
in "Samurai" to related Allied records. If nothing else, it's a testament to
the fog of war...
It took a long time to figure out what happened that day since the US Navy
did not record any TBF losses that day, and the Japanese were pretty sure
that the planes were TBFs, not the Dauntlesses they turned out to be. Sakai
actually met the pilots who wounded him, and it was apparently a very
emotional experience.
Hwei Yin
Dan Mitchel wrote:
>Perchance do you know the publication information, as I would like to=20
>order it, but don't want to get the wrong version.
Unfortunately, the title of the thing slips my mind just now, but it was
a large (8.5/11) paperback flimsy that was pretty much a collection of
articles and documents of all incidents the guy could dig up from Allied
records that correlate to events in "Samurai". I don't think it's
published widely (if at all), and I got a copy through interlibrary loan
from the US Air Force Academy. The reference to the exact title is in the
introduction to a hardcover re-release that I got my hands on a few years
ago. Lots of interesting stuff: some stuff Sakai reported turns out to be
seriously exaggerated, there are a few incidents of wrong plane types, and
some bizarre numbers.
As for other key points of the book, I recall the following:
That great Wildcat pilot Sakai sparred with over Guadalcanal was someone
named Sutherland. I guess he died later in the war, and was pretty badly
shot up in the dogfight. Recall that Sutherland was dogfighting several
Zekes before Sakai jumped in: Sutherland was unaware of the transistion
to a one-on-one with Sakai, and thought he was dogfighting a herd of Zeros
the entire time.
In his epic solo against the 15 green Hellcats, it turns out that Sakai was
only dogfighting about 4 or 5 newbies that thought they could turn with
a Zero. The rest of the pilots knew better than to engage in such a mess,
and stayed out of the fray (probably shaking their heads the whole time).
>I saw Mr Sakai at the RENO air races a few years ago, he was a gracious=20
>gentleman, and took time as he could do talk to veterans as they came up=20
>to have the book autographed.=20
I'd probably fumble for words and not say anything. That's what happens
everytime I see a VIP. Sounds like quite an experience, though...
Hwei