Japanese Ace Info Needed...

[evangilder]

Wow! What an amazing story. I had heard about female aces in the Soviet AF, but had not heard any stories about them. The sad thing is that she probably could have beat those 8 pilots if one on one. Could you imagine having to fly 4 combat missions in one day?!

[lesofprimus]

On top of that, they usually rearmed and refueled their own aircraft, in -20 degree weather... Frostbite was common....

[the lancaster kicks ass]

Could you imagine having to fly 4 combat missions in one day?!

sometimes you had to fly 6 a day during the BoB..................

[ARS_Nishizawa]

Hi, Im new to this forum, so please forgive if anything I offer is redundant.
I too am engaged in a neverending search for info/sites/pictures of Japanese aces.
Please take a minute and click on the "What is ARS" page of our site as it will explain a bit more why a patriot American would get so engrossed in this subject.
In case a link to the site doesnt accompany my post, I'll post it here as well.

http://www.geocities.com/ars_squadron/ARSHomepage.html

Feel free to contact me by clicking on Nishizawa at the bottom of the homepage.

Thanks for your time. Phil

[Gemhorse]

I have had a look at what I've got, and I have Ryuji Nagatsuka's book, 'I was a Kamikaze'...[first published 1973 in G.B. by Abelard-Schuman Ltd.] My copy is a New English Library 1974 paperback., and it's a good read.

There is also an interesting article in 'Aeroplane' magazine, January 2004, about Sadamu Komachi. He was instrumental in forming the 'Zero-sen Tojoin Kai' [Zero Fighter Pilots' Association] in 1974 with other IJNAF veterans. This was disbanded in 2002, and in it's place they formed the 'Zero No Kai' [Zero Association] with a membership spanning all generations with an interest in the contribution to aviation made by the timeless Zero.

I don't have anything further, but a search on the Net may assist to find them, perhaps a good source of information....

[lesofprimus]

The kills I posted up above are generally considered correct... There are some slight differences, 1 or 2, but those are pretty accurate above....

[Gemhorse]

I was simply offering another source to assist in your research, I wasn't disputing the 'scoreboard'...

[lesofprimus]

OK, thanks...

[1539ram]

I just "discovered" Lidiya Litvjaková a few days ago and have been gathering information about her from various websites (information varies a bit from site to site).
Flying as wingman (wingwoman?) for her squadron leader, she shot down two German aircraft (Ju-88 & Me-109) on her first or second (probably 2nd) mission. She is also believed to be the first woman anywhere to shoot down an enemy aircraft. She is officially credited with 12 "kills" (possibly one of these was an observation balloon) + 3 shared - Ju88s, Me109s & Fw190s) but may have shot down as many as 20 or 22 German aircraft total. One of her kills was purportedly a high-ranking German ace, but I have yet to discover who that was. Prior to being shot down the final time, she was wounded once (reportedly refusing to be examined by doctors & resuming flying) and shot down twice behind German lines - walking to safety once and being picked up by another fighter pilot the other time. She flew a total of 168 missions. Reportedly, the Germans were scared of her and if the they sighted her would radio other pilots so that they could avoid her. She was finally shot down and killed in 1943 before her 22nd birthday. Her body was not found until 1979 under the wind of her Yak-1. In 1990 she was made "Hero of the Soviet Union" by Gorbachov (I think that is the highest decoration that could be awarded) and Boris Yeltsin declared her a "Hero of Russia". When she was shot down being chased by eight Me-109s she may have shot down two of them or it may have been the day before that she did so.
One site states that she was Jewish which, combined with her great combat skills, apparently infuriated the Germans. Two sites say that her father was executed as an "enemy of the state" while she was young.
Female flying regiments in the Soviet Union at that time were headed by Maria Raskova. At one time, before the war, I think, a plane was icing up and losing altitude in a mountainous area. Everything expendable had been dumped to reduce weight, but it was not quite enough. Maria calculated that the plane could make it to its destination with one less crew member's weight. She gave appropriate coordinates to other pilots and bailed out in Siberia in the dark. She was recued by hunters. The plane made it to its destination.
I am going to try to attach another photo of Lidiya (also know as "Lilya" for the white lilies painted on the sides of her aircraft).
Ron

[Crazy]

I read about her awhile back... quite an impressive story!

[cheddar cheese]

Wow sure is

[Gemhorse]

Yeah, there's a book about 'The Women Pilots of Russia' around that I've read as well.... there were very courageous....

[lesofprimus]

Ive posted a bunch of info on her and woman pilots before.... Good stuff, truely heroic.....

[plan_D]

Just as heroic as men. Nothing more special.