IJA Secret Intelligence Team at Chofu

[Shinpachi]

Article No.57

Guiding the Special Attackers(1 of 2)
=====================================
Author: Mr. Teruo Miyoshi


　　　　
Order had come from the base commander,

"Naval aircrafts will carry out a special attack sortie(=suicide attack sortie) being based on the operation plan that our team creates. Create details about the guiding route and the sortie period for them by the end of tomorrow.
Seven members - Chief of Communication Room, Second Lieutenant, Sergeant-major T(my Sergeant-major), Sergeant N, Communication Sergeant, a veteran of translation and Corporal M(me) - are to participate in the plan.
Recall and make use of our earlier attack experience on Iwo-jima which had taken advantage well. Work it out so carefully and do not overlook any tiny matters. That's all."


Our responsibility was so heavy.
Beside deciding the guiding route, we had to create such tactics as it would bring the maximum war-result without failure and with the least risk. We had no sufficient time. The seven gathered to discuss immediately.


Chief of Communication Room started saying,

"According to the information from our headquarters, target is a large task force including two or three aircraft-carriers.
It will be extremely hard for us to obtain a good result if we take a head-on attack. Success of the surprise attack on the Iwo-jima last time relied much on the factor that we could foresee the U.S.military's activities time to time precisely.
Therefore, this time also, we need to know their activities well and to make such plan that they will never foresee. "


Translation soldier said,

"By analyzing their communications time to time, we can easily know when the carrier-based aircrafts, whatever aircraft type they may be, are exercising the touch-and-go even when they are out of sortie. Before landing on the aircraft-carrier, the aircraft is always told by the carrier her location using the coordinates value. Catching the value, we can grasp their location on the map easily."


Sergeant-major's turn,

"Present location of the U.S.military task-force is estimated 138degrees east longitude, 27degrees north latitude which is equal to the U.S.coordinates value --- (about 300 miles west of Chichijima island). This is the shortest attack course to both Kanto(around Tokyo) and Kansai(around Osaka) areas. Exact location can be grasped each time by the value which Translation Soldier will capture. The touch-and-go exercises may be taken place in the night because it's more difficult for a pilot to land than the daytime. In order to intercept their communications during exercise, we need to detect the waves by the two-staffs-in-position system all through the night.

It will be easier for us to guide the Navy special attackers if we hand them our duplicated chart maps which our team has originally made and is to be newly plotted the latest coordinates value of the U.S.military then.

However, I guess that the U.S.military who have had a bitter experience on Iwo-jima the other day will be increasing the reconnaissance aircrafts and reinforcing sea-air deployment over the network to strict surveillance. Therefore, if we should encounter any U.S.fighters on the way, as our special attackers are heavily loaded with the bombs, there will be no possibilities for us to win and to reach the target. I believe all success of this operation depends on the flight course to the target"


It was my turn,

"In the last attack on Iwo-jima, we flew down to the south along the line of 150degrees east longitude where their alert level was expected relatively low. This time, they will be expecting our next attack, if comes, from the west and focusing on around the 140degrees east longitude. Our strategy for the U.S.military had better be the same route as the last time again, that is, heading south first. They are believed to be located 30degrees north latitude with the coordinates value --- now.

When we reach their east line, we will fly further 30miles to the south, then change direction 45degrees to the west(meaning the north-west on the map) and again change direction 45degrees to the north(meaning the north) at the point of 30miles south of the target and keep flying at ultra-low-altitude directly to the target.

As we are to fly in the reverse airspace to which they do not pay attention so much, I believe the success possibility is high.

Even if we were found by their exercising aircraft, we can oppose to its air-combat as such aircraft will be equipped with the minimum bullets.

Expecting effective war-results, we had better carry out this operation after almost all the aircrafts on the carrier have left for escourting B29s or air-raids on our mianland. They will lose their home to be back after their mission.

I think the key point of this operation is to grasp their communications promptly and to estimate each position of enemy planes from the passage of time accurately. Also, we need to consider where to refuel our guide aircraft after the operation."


Outline.

Being based on the above discussion and itemizing the sortie route we suggest with reasons and the sortie period which was thought most effective etc,, Chief of Communication Room and Sergeant-major T offerred the base commander our opinion.

Next day, the base commander gathered us and told,

"Results of Operation Meeting held with the Navy staff at our headquarters are as follows.

1. Operation to be taken place resolutely being based on the plan that our team has formulated.
2. The attackers are nine carrier-borne bomber "Suisei"s(*D4Y4 Judy).
3. Sortie base is "Kisarazu".
4. The sortie period is to be determined by the Navy finally being based on the report that our team intercepts the U.S.military communications.

That's all and I have received a warm word from Commander Lee to be added here - 'It was hardships for your team to formulate a plan for only one day. I was afraid of it being a never-ending discussion but my worry was nothing. I am so glad as to pick up several members who joined the plan for the headquarters. Tell my gratitude to your soldiers. It was really hardships.'"


The plan had been decided now and it had become our major subject whether the operation could get success as well as the blueprint we had drawn.


/End of Article No.57


Story to be continued to No.58.

[Aaron Brooks Wolters]

I have been down for over a week now trying to get my new computer up and running. Windows Vista is a disaster. I want Windows XP back. Sorry Shinpachi, had to get that off my chest. More great history, keep up the good work.

[Shinpachi]

Thank you Aaron for your friendly post.

My father's generation would never foresee this kind of friendly and openly communications with the Americans and other pre-allied peoples after sixty three years.

Even I myself hesitated posting first.
Thank you for your acceptance and generousity again.

PC sometimes brings unexpected hardships!
My PC had also been infected by an spyware and I was oblidged to reinstall the 'XP' this evening. Two hours wasted.

Now everything is OK. I will continue translation.
Please look forward to next!

[Wayne Little]

Good stuff Shinpachi, keep it coming....

[Wayne Little]

Originally Posted by Shinpachi

Hi Wayne!
I'm recently busy about searching the captured F6Fs too.

Here are an illustration and a photo
WINGS PALETTE - Grumman F6F Hellcat - Japan

Hope you enjoy

This Hellcat (Yo-801) in its damaged condition was photographed in Sept 1945 at Yokosuka air base in Kanagawa Prefecture.

It was an F6F-5 , Bu.No. 71441 White 29 from VF-44 aboard the USS Langley an Independence class Light Carrier.(CVL-27)

The pilot was Lt.(jg) Charles Valentine August, the aircraft suffered an engine failure and crash landed at Kobi, Taiwan on Jan.4th. 1945 during an attack on Japanese positions.

[Shinpachi]

Thank you Wayne for your detailed information about the captured F6F-5.
You know anything

In my impression, the two Grummans IJA captured were buried somewhere in Kinugawa of Tochigi Prefecture. I have ever been to Kinugawa when I was a child as it was famous for hot springs. Mountains area with few residents. Searching the Grummans may become my lifework

[Shinpachi]

Article No.58

Guiding the Special Attackers(2 of 2)
============================
Author: Mr. Teruo Miyoshi


Next day, for more study and discussion on the Army-Navy tie-up tactics, two Navy officers came to visit our team.


Navy Captain greeted first,

"In attacking on the Iwo-jima on the other day, having our bombers guided by your Army's aircraft appropriately, we Navy was able to have big war-results.

This time we need to catch a specific point on the vast expanse of the Pacific but the plus/minus amplitude captured by our radar survey is so large that it is hard for us to specify the location precisely.

As you may know, the special attackers are requested to load the maximum bombs. Thereore, their fuel-bullets loads are kept the required-minimum inevitably. Accordingly, they are often unable to carry out the mission by the U.S. fighter's interception or out-of-fuel 10 or 20miles short to the target in spite of their finding the target well.

Provided a guide aircraft of your team leads us to the location of the U.S. task force not being found by the U.S. aircrats and accurately as well, I believe it is possible for us to completely fulfill the original mission."


The base commander replied,

"I am interpretting this special attack as an unavoidable extreme one on tactics for myself, while there still remains unconvinced. Under the present circumstances we are outnumbered by the enemy, no other tactics may be thinkable but I personally do not necessarily agree with such elevated tactics in the fight head-on.

However, I would like to show my respects for your subordinates' resolution to face to the jaws of death in high spirits. I find no way but pray your mission being resulted in a complete success."


Navy Captain said,

"Thank you very much. We will do our best so that we can meet your expectations."


We began discussion about the following points in details - concentration point soon after the sortie, altitude and cruising speed, radio fequency, blockade of radio transmission on the way and how to read our team's map which was showing the coordinates etc.


About the concentration point, we decided our junction above offshore the Boso Peninsula around the time when we confirmed the carrier-based aircrafts left the carriers and reached the west of Aogashima of Izu Islands on the 33degrees north latitude.


Therefore, we had to capture the communications that were exchanged between the U.S. fleet and the aircrafts accurately and never fail to take a good opportunity.


If their carriers had been sunk or flight deck was greatly damaged, when the aircrafts was back home to the carriers after the completion of air-raid, their landing was impossible. In order to adopt the "kill two birds with one stone" tactics, grasping the passage of time firmly was our top priority.


Early next morning when it was still dim, we heard a big voice of a translation soldier,
"U.S.planes are just about to take off."
Information was immediately transferred to the headquarters through the base commander. We also prepared for takeoff and waited for the time went by. Our sortie must be done after all U.S. aircrafts left the carriers. We were waiting for it and the passage of time was felt extremely slow.


Encouraged by all soldiers of the base "Ganbare(meaning 'Do the best')", we flew toward the junction to meet the Navy planes.
All what we could do was only to carry out the operation according to the original plan and obey the fate.
While I was wondering "How are they special attackers feeling now, grasping their control stick", our plane had reached the junction. Nine "Suisei"s were waiting for us in three formations.


Sergeant-major told them on radio,
"My plane guides you. Follow me 30miles behind according to the planned course as the coordinates show."

"Understood."
Reliable voice of the leader responded.

Flying parallel with the hindmost aircraft of the formation, I saluted to the pilot. He returned his salute to me with a smile and it had shaken my soul unexpectedly. Saluting one plane by one plane for a farewell, I wondered why such promising young men around twenty years old got to be dead in a hurry. I couldn't find answer.


Liquid-cooled "Atsuta" engine was originally mounted on the carrier-borne bomber "Suisei" but it was often out of order. Therefore, the Navy requested a maker to modify "Suisei" for the air-cooled engine and adopted it as Type 33. As a result, performance had got slightly lower but utilization got improved so much that the necessary quantity of aircrafts to carry out military operations could be supplied. As a series mounted with air-cooled engine, type 43 was also manufactured. This model had no rear seat and one 800Kg bomb was loadable in the bomb bay. Abandoned the homing direction radio device and the rear turning gun turret for simplification, it was newly added bulletproof equipments to the cockpit. Therefore, Type 43 looked as if it had been designed for the purpose of special attack only.


Increasing altitude from the south of actual location of the U.S. task force, I observed a large task force through the binoculars. One Essex-class and two Yorktown-class aircraft-carriers with the cruisers for escorting and the destroyers. They were totally ten vessels at least. If they were serious about a sudden raid on the Japanese mainland now, what kind of rusults should we expect.


I contacted with the leader of the special attackers on radio,
"The coordinates value ---. We found the enemy task force. We will observe at high altitude. You may rush."


"Grateful for your guide. I wish your safe homing." replied the leader.


Adjusting our transportable radio device which was assembled by our base soldier of technology to our Navy's frequency(A3 radio phone) and also using the shortwave for the communication with our base, I reported the scale of the U.S. task force and the rush by special attackers was just about to begin. Our Naval base would be catching them too.


The leader ordered at last,
"Target. Three aircraft-carriers. All follow me."


All attackers rushed in forming a line of tandem at ultra-low-altitude.
It had to be a line to make the target smaller for the anti-aircraft cannons.


The leader was rushing aiming at the bridge of a carrier. He was going to attack the controll center of the ship. Shot to fire on the engine, he kept flying straight and crashed the bridge. Immediately after the explosion, I heard on radio his final shout "Woooh!" then "Mom!" and the rest was silence.


Next attacker had penetrated through the flight deck. Bomb fuse was specially designed to explode after the break-through. Pillar of fire and black smoke blow out. It looked as if inferno.


"Attacker No.3. Name---. Now rush."
The third pilot rushed into the rear-side of a carrier. It would be an engine room.


I heard "Emperor Forever" too but the voice "Mom" was sticky to my head.
Listening to their voice which was coming in one after another, I reported every details of the ongoing war situation and results to the base.


All young pilots who just saluted me with a smile earlier had gone.
Tears streamed along my cheek and my hitting the telegraph key tended to pause. One of the nine attackers had been downed by a volley of Pom Pom cannons regretly but three aircraft-carriers were badly damaged or crippled after all. That was our war-results.


'War is a dog-eat-dog or kill-or-be-killed but, now that we have actually witnessed the special attack in front of us, we cannot help wondering who ordered this kind of tragic attack', 'Does the person who ordered this operation have such spirit of the special attack too?' Sergeant-major and I had exchanged conversation like this later.

I never wanted to witness such a cruel and merciless scene again from the bottom of my heart. Never.


/End of Article No.58

[comiso90]

Thankyou very much Shinpachi. I need to dedicate time to read all your posts... I'm a little behind.
I'd curious to know if there were anyway way to ID the sub that surfaced and to track down anyone who remembers the same incident..

Your work is very much appreciated!

[Shinpachi]

Hi comiso90!
I'm so glad you are interested in my posts.
Thank you very much.

Yes, I want the IDs too because we can know more historical backgrounds with them.

I'm researching action records of Gato-class submarines as I've found several subs of the class were frequently acting near the Japanese mainland in 1944-1945.

I'm also tracing testimony of the local residents around Kashimanada of Ibaragi Prefecture.

image link: ttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/64/USS_Mingo%3B0826106.jpg

[timshatz]

Very good post. Good read.

[Wayne Little]

great work again Shinpachi, thanks....

[Shinpachi]

Thank you timshatz, Wayne for the warm comments.

I've also ever heard of the last word "Mom!" on a Kamikaze movie about fifty years ago when I was a little boy.

I thought it was impossible for a grownup man - a brave military man to say such a word as if he had been a little boy.

I now, over fifity, believe twenty years old was still a boy!

Next story will be "Attack on Iwo-jima(precisely 'Attacking on the U.S. military airfields of Iwo-jima')".
It's a further longer story ranging three articles (Tears for me )

Please look forward!

[Wayne Little]

looking forward to more....

[Shinpachi]

Thank you Wayne for your encouragement, always.

To save my translation time and make it quicker, I am not a man who always goes straight alone and I have been testing many translation tools such as - Google, Yahoo, Alta-Vista, IBM's and our local's excite, Infoseek, @nifty, OCN etc. as many as I'm bored enough.

There is no satisfactory one at all.

Checking our very local sites recently however, I'm beginning to find some SANE tools! Check the translation results in comparison the attached image shows. You could know what the sentenses mean in a few boxes naturally.

Original Japanese sentenses meant - As a result, more bombs were loadable(to B29s) and, from the beginning of April 1945, long-range P51 fighters were beginning to be deployed on Iwo-jima as an escort fighter.


Let's hope in the future

image site:
10???????????????????

[Wayne Little]

Well that's an eye opener....I have tried the net to translate some japanese stuff and, for the most part was confusing to read but you could get only a general meaning.

Your example simply confirms this...