Wings Over Sakishima
by Fredio Samples
Privately published, 2010, 157 pages
The title Wings over Sakishima accurately summarizes the book's
contents, which describe day after day and week after week of aerial bombing and
strafing by Allied aircraft from April to June 1945 during the Battle of
Okinawa. The Sakishima Islands (Guntō) lie about halfway between Okinawa and
Formosa. The Japanese Navy and Army used several airfields on two islands,
Miyakojima and Ishigakijima, for attacks against the Allied fleet. These came
under heavy Allied bombardment for several weeks. Despite the bombing throughout the
day, the Japanese repaired the runways during the night so that by the morning
they could be operational. This self-published book primarily consists of
excerpts from official accounts of American attacks on the two islands along
with a few personal accounts from veterans who fought at Sakishima.
Fredio Samples begins the book with the story of how he became interested in
what happened at the Sakishima Islands during WWII after he had a strange
nightmare while stationed as a U.S. Air Force radarman on Miyakojima in 1964. He
then provides a few pages of background information related to the period prior
to the Allied invasion of Okinawa on April 1, 1945. The next part takes up about
half the book and provides details on daily operations by the Allies against the
Sakishima Islands from April 1 to June 24, 1945. The attacks were primarily made
on Miyakojima's three airfields (Hirara, Nobara (called Nobaru by Japanese), and
Sukama) and Ishigakijima's two airfields (Ishigaki and Miyara). Some of these
airfields had more than one runway. This book section makes for quite difficult
reading due to the sheer number of details presented page after page. The
following is an example describing operations at Sakishima Islands that took
place on May 11, 1945 (only first half included below) (p. 74).
USS SUWANEE sent 8 Hellcats and 8 Avengers to strike NOBARA
Airfields on MIYAKO JIMA. Expended were 19-500# G.P. and 74-100# General
Purpose bombs against runways and installations and 103-5 inch rockets were
fired against AA positions. Hellcats and Avengers totaling 14 planes flew
TCAP [Tactical Combat Air Patrol], LCAP [Local Combat Air Patrol], LASP
[Local Anti-Submarine Patrol] and photo coverage. CHENANGO'S planes
struck ISHIGAKI and MIYARA Airfield runways. One "Kate" and a twin
engine airplane were damaged at the ISHIGAKI Airfield and fires were started
in the dispersal areas. Twenty six 500# bombs, 140-100# bombs and 124
rockets were expended. CAP [Combat Air Patrol] and ASP [Anti-Submarine
Patrol] was handled by 22 planes. The USS SANTEE launched two photo
planes, sixteen Hellcats and 15 Avengers for strikes against MIYAKO JIMA
airfields. Runways were cratered and dispersals were damaged. One single
engine plane was destroyed and 4 more were damaged on the ground. Expended
on these strikes were 150-100# bombs, 8-500# bombs and 70-H.E. [High
Explosive] rockets.
Twenty of SANTEE'S planes were assigned Local CAP and ASP duty.
The last chapter, the book's best, includes stories of nine men who fought
at the Sakishima Islands and survived until the end of the war. The veterans
wrote most of these stories included in this chapter with the best one being five
pages by Lieutenant Junior Grade Max Denman, a Hellcat fighter pilot from Air
Group 40 aboard USS Suwannee (CVE-27). He flew a bombing mission over
Nobaru Airfield on Miyakojima on May 28, 1945. This riveting account tells of
his parachuting out of his Hellcat after being hit by anti-aircraft fire and his
harrowing captivity as a POW through the end of the war. The book has quite a
few historical photos, two maps showing the location of the Sakishima Islands
between Okinawa and Taiwan, and maps along with aerial photographs of the five
airfields that were bombed with the exception of Miyara Airfield on
Ishigakijima. The book also has two handmade posters, one which is also on the
bottom half of the cover, that summarize the various groups, aircraft, and ships
involved in the battle at Sakishima around a map of the islands. An appendix
lists the names and other information of 48 pilots and crewmen who were shot
down or who went down due to aircraft mechanical problems at Sakishima between
April 1 and June 23, 1945, with many of them losing their lives.
The history Wings over Sakishima lacks a couple of key ingredients.
First, Japanese strategy and battle operations barely get mentioned with almost
the entire focus of the book being on actions taken by the Allied side. Second,
little information is provided about the activities of the British Pacific Fleet
in support of the Allied attack of the islands at Sakishima. The author does
mention the British Fleet's involvement in general terms and briefly describes
hits by kamikaze aircraft on the British aircraft carriers Formidable
(May 4 and 9, 1945), Illustrious (April 6), Indefatigable (April
1), Indomitable (May 4), and Victorious (April 1 and May 9).
However, whereas the activities of bombers and fighters from air groups
operating off U.S. carriers get described in great detail, the operations of
British aircraft only get summary mention even though they made a significant
contribution to the Allied operations at Miyakojima and Ishigakijima. The lack
of details probably comes from Samples' not having access to British official
battle records.
The back cover states that the five airfields on Miyakojima and Ishigakijima
were used as Japanese launching points for their Formosa-based Special Attack
Forces known as kamikazes, and during the Battle of Okinawa these kamikaze
aircraft made their final flight from these two islands. However, the book
provides no information on specific flights flown from these two islands. For
example, no mention is made of the Kamikaze Special Attack Corps 3rd Ryūko
Squadron that made sorties from Miyakojima in late July 1945 and sank the destroyer
Callaghan (DD-792) (see web page on
3rd Ryuko Squadron Monument). Among those men in the Japanese Navy who died
in aerial suicide attacks, 23 made sorties from Ishigakijima and 7 came from
Miyakojima [1]. The most significant kamikaze strike described in the book was
against the escort carrier Sangamon (CVE- 26), which saw much action at
Sakishima until the ship got hit by a Nick twin-engine fighter during the
evening of May 4, 1945, when returning to Sakishima after being resupplied at
Kerama Rettō. Casualties from the kamikaze crash were 46 killed and 116 wounded,
and the heavily damaged Sangamon never returned to battle. On June 7,
1945, escort carrier Natoma Bay (CVE-62) got hit by a Zero fighter
carrying a bomb. One officer was killed, and four men were wounded in the
attack. The book does not provide any information on possibly where these
kamikaze attackers came from for Sangamon, Natoma Bay, or other
ships hit by kamikaze aircraft such as the five British Fleet aircraft carriers.
The book Wings over Sakishima relates stories and provides information
not found in other published books on WWII. However, it makes for difficult
reading with overwhelming official details provided on Allied operations.
Paragraphs run very long, often more than a page, which also makes the text
difficult to read.
Damage to Sangamon's hangar deck
from kamikaze hit on May 4, 1945
Note
1. These numbers come from an exhibit at Kanoya Air Base Museum that lists the sortie air bases of those men in the
Japanese Navy who died as
part of the Kamikaze Special Attack Corps.
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