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Toshiyuki Nagahama
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Drop Training: Hard-to-use Spear, Observed Reality (Tōka kunren: Tsukaigatai
yari, mieta genjitsu)
Researched and written by Shūji Fukano and Fusako Kadota
Pages 109-111 of Tokkō kono chi yori: Kagoshima shutsugeki no kiroku
(Special attacks from this land: Record of Kagoshima sorties)
Minaminippon Shinbunsha, 2016, 438 pages
Kashima City and Kamisu City are located on the eastern edge of Ibaraki
Prefecture. Kōnoike Naval Air Base was in this place where now a heavy industrial
and chemical complex stretches out. From November 1944 there was a training base
located here for the specialized special (suicide) attack unit Jinrai Butai
(Thunder Gods Corps). They continued to send special attack personnel to Kanoya
Air Base, which was on the frontline of aerial special attacks toward Okinawa.
Many squadron members saw for the first time at Kōnoike the ōka
weapon designed specifically for special attacks where the military declared
that just one could sink a large warship. "It was small and strange-looking with
no propeller nor landing gear." The opinion of former Corps member Tokuji Naitō
(91 years old, resident of Tsuzuki Ward in Yokohama City) is shared by many
other former Corps members. They say that voices of disappointment were raised
regarding "crashing into a ship with this," which had such a simple structure.
The ōka, which could fly only about 60 km on its own power, was
carried into battle suspended below a Type 1 Attack Bomber (Allied code name of
Betty). After being dropped,
it accelerated with an explosive rocket and glided until it reached the attack
target. Drop training to check these steps was organized one time for each squadron
member. When training was completed satisfactorily, a pilot was recognized as
being at "Proficiency Level A" capable of operations in all situations.
The orange-colored ōka used for training had its bomb and rocket
removed and instead had attached a sled for landing. It was lighter than the
actual weapon, which weighed two tons.
In May 1945, former Corps member Akinori Asano (86 years old, resident of
Kanagawa Ward in Yokohama City) took part in the drop training while wearing new underwear.
He says, "I was not ashamed of my time to die."
When he moved to the ōka trainer from the Type 1 Attack Bomber at
3,000 meters, he froze from fear due to the force of the wind that was blowing.
When the trainer was released from the mother plane, it fell naturally about
300 meters. Asano recounts, "My body floated up, and my head hit the windshield.
The dust from the pilot's seat bed rose up with a violent force." I was taken
aback, but when the blue skies opened up, the ōka responded readily to
movements in the control stick. "I was profoundly impressed by its excellent
maneuverability. If the mother plane dropped it in a good place, I thought that
somehow it could be successful."
Monument at location of Kōnoike
Naval Air Base,
which was training base
for Jinrai Butai (Thunder Gods Corps)
On the other hand, the ones who carried the ōka were not as
optimistic as those who were carried.
Toshiyuki Nagahama (87 years old, resident of Nobeoka City), who was a Type 1
Attack Bomber copilot, cannot forget the time when the trainer was loaded and
flew for the first time. He says, "There was no climbing power due the trainer's
weight, and no speed could be produced. Also, there was uncertainty as to
whether the actual ōka would fly properly with its heavier weight."
Lieutenant Commander Gorō Nonaka, Type 1 Attack Bomber squadron leader,
certainly realized the difficulties of ōka attacks as training
continued. It is reported that he said, "This spear is hard to use."
On March 21, 1945, under command of Lieutenant Commander Gorō Nonaka, the
1st Ōka Attack Squadron made a sortie from Kanoya Base, and all 18 Type 1
Attack Bombers were shot down by American fighters before they could reach their
destination. Nagahama heard that news and thought, "When I make a sortie, I
almost certainly will not be able to return alive." He prepared himself for the
worst.
Akinori Asano
Related Web Pages
Translated by Bill Gordon
September 2024
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