ISBN 1-902304-89-6
340 pages

Introduction; Glossary of Japanese Terminology; photos; maps; diagrams; tables; Index

   The Japanese editions of the Army Air Force Fighter Units and Navy Air Force Fighter Units books by Ikuhiko Hata and Yasuho Izawa were published in Tokyo in the 1970s, and the revised edition of the latter was translated into English and published by Naval Institute Press in 1989 as Japanese Naval Aces and Fighter Units in World War II. While that translated edition has stood as the definitive English-language book on the Japanese Navy Air Force (rivaled, perhaps, for the 1909-1941 timeframe by Mark Peattie's Sunburst), there has been no comparable volume on the Japanese Army Air Force, because Hata and Izawa's other volume was never translated into English. Fortunately, Grub Street has translated and published the companion volume. Thanks in part to additional work by Christopher Shores, the new book not only complements the original, it also improves on the Navy Air Force volume. No student of the Japanese air forces or the war in the Pacific should miss this book.
   The first volume opened with fourteen pages covering the major types of fighter aircraft flown by the Japanese Navy, devoted over two hundred pages to unit histories, and then offered over one hundred pages of biographies of Navy fighter aces, concluding with a series of detailed appendices. The new volume is quite similar, opening with a very thoughtful Introduction by Shores. However, the new book eschews the section on aircraft data, instead presenting an excellent one hundred page synopsis of JAAF fighter operations from 1919 until 1945. While not nearly as detailed as the pair of Bloody Shambles volumes (note that Izawa and Shores also comprise two-thirds of the authors of those two books), just this part of the new title qualifies as the single best English-language source for this kind of information from the Japanese perspective. This material is also thoroughly illustrated with photos of aircraft, pilots, airbases, etc.
   Here's a sample from the very end of the historical survey:

   With most of the larger cities in ruins, the bombers turned their attentions to smaller targets during the remaining 20 days of June. The 53rd Sentai was also awarded a citation on 9 July, recording 168 B-29s destroyed or damaged, the number actually brought down being estimated at 60. The 70th Sentai had been able to gain some successes during the nights of April and May when the B-29s had operated at a level which the unit's Ki 44s could reach, receiving a citation on 10 August indicating that claims had been made for 120 destroyed and damaged over the Kanto area.
   The 4th Sentai had suffered severe losses to its Ki 45kais during the daylight interceptions on 17 April, 3rd. 7th and 10 May, and thereafter operated mainly against the minelaying aircraft over the Kanmon Strait by night. During the night of 10 July the unit claimed six destroyed and seven damaged but lost 2nd Lt Sadamitsu Kimura.
   In June the Army fighter units were ordered to conserve their strength for the anticipated invasion of the home islands. Small raids or raids by overwhelming numbers were not to be intercepted. For this reason no attempt was made to intercept the B-29s which dropped the first atomic weapons on Hiroshima on 6 August and on Nagasaki on 9th. There were a few exceptions however, and on 9 July the 56th Sentai intercepted P-51s, losing three aircraft during what proved to be this unit's last combat. The Sentai had claimed 11 B-29s destroyed for the loss of 24 pilots and nine ground crew during the period of the bombing.
   On 25 July 18 Ki 100s of the 244th Sentai were led by their commanding officer to claim 12 F6Fs shot down for two losses in this unit's last engagement. During the night of 1 August Capt Haruo Kawamura of the 18th Sentai, who had claimed three B-29s destroyed and five damaged to date, rammed another and escaped by parachute.
   Ki 84s of the 47th Sentai were 'bounced' while taking off from Ozuki on 28 July; six pilots were killed and two others baled out. However, on 14 August eight of this unit's aircraft led by 1st Lt Shozo Oishi, surprised six P-51s over Bungo Strait, claiming five of them for the loss of two. They had fought the final combat in the air for the JAAF's fighter force; next day Japan surrendered.

   Following the historical survey of the JAAF, Section Two includes over eighty pages of unit histories. These range in length from less than a page to several pages. Each entry comprises a paragraph of text; a list of the aircraft types flown by the unit, with dates; bases from which the unit operated, with dates; battle honors; and commanding officers, with dates; and black and white aircraft sketches showing color schemes and markings. Although it might seem like a minor gripe, this section could have been much handier to use if the unit headings had been designed to stand out from the data so that it would be easier to thumb through and find a specific unit.
   Here's one of the shorter unit histories:

248th HIKO SENTAI

The unit formed with two chutais in August 1942 around a nucleus provided by the 4th Sentai; it was expanded to three chutais in the following December. It was disbanded in July 1944.

Aircraft
Ki 27: August 1942-July 1943
Ki 43-11: July 1943-April 1944

Bases
Ashiya: August 1942 - October 1943
Gan-no-su: detached. August 1942 - October 1943
Wewak, New Guinea: October 1943 - April 1944
Hollandia, New Guinea: February - April 1944

Battle Honours
New Guinea: November 1943 - April 1944; shot down and damaged 97 for the loss of 24 pilots in combat; majority of men then lost during the retreat, 22 April 1944-end of war

Commanding Officers
Maj Yasuo Makino: August 1942 - October 1943
Maj Shin-ichi Muraoka: October 1943 - January 1944+
Maj Takebuai Kuroda: January - July 1944

1st chutai leaders
Capt Saburo Sakaya: August 1942 -July 1943-
Capt Yutaka Kozuki: July 1943 - June 1944

2nd chutai leaders
Capt Nobuo Tokunaga: August 1942 - February 1943+
Lt Nobuyoshi Totsuka: March 1943 - January 1944+
Lt Kaneji Ikakura: February - April 1944+

3rd chutai leaders
Lt Hideo Ohta: December 1942 - November 1943+
Capt Shigeo Kojima: November 1943 - January 1944+
Lt Takenori Kawamura: February - July 1944+

   Section Three presents biographical sketches of JAAF aces. These average about half a page in length and include at least one photo of the pilot, amounting in sum to almost a hundred pages.
   Here's what a typical biography looks like:

IWASE, Koichi
Warrant Officer

   Born in Yamanashi Prefecture in 1917, Iwase joined the Army after graduating from Kofu Middle School, entering the Kumagaya Flying School and graduating with the 67th NCO Cadet intake in February 1938. Posted to the 1st chutai, 11th Sentai, in May 1938, he was injured in a landing accident just before the Nomonhan Incident erupted, remaining in Harbin during May 1939. He rejoined the unit the following month, first operating over Tamsagbulag on 27 June as wingman of Wt Off Hiromichi Shinohara. During this mission he fired off all his ammunition to no avail, receiving in return at least ten bullet holes in his own aircraft. Gradually he became accustomed to the techniques of aerial combat, and by the end of the Incident had claimed ten destroyed and three probables. On 25 July, having claimed one victory, he saw Sgt Maj Shintaro Kashima baling out and landed alongside him. However. Sgt Maj Bunji Yoshiyama had already picked Kashima up, but Iwase's efforts were not to be in vain. He then saw Shinohara had landed in Soviet-held territory, although Sgt Maj Yutaka Aoyagi had landed to rescue him; however the latter's aircraft had been hit by fire from a tank. Iwase therefore came down beside Shinohara's stricken Ki 27, taking off again with both men in the rear fuselage, Aoyagi having been wounded. This rescue became well-known, and Iwase was awarded a citation by the commander of the 2nd Flying Division. After taking part in further operations over China, he returned to Japan in late 1940 to become an instructor at Tachiarai Flying School. However, he fell ill, and after recovery spent the years of the Pacific War as a transport pilot, being based at Gifu airfield by 1945.

   The book concludes with several shorter sections:

• Numerical Listing of the Aces (8 or more victories)
• Birthplaces of the Aces of the JAAF by Prefecture
• Major Air Combats involving Fighter Units of the JAAF
• Casualty List of JAAF Pilots
• Map Section
• Airfield Names of JAFU

   Of these, the section on "Major Air Combats" is especially interesting, listing in tabular fashion place and type of operation, date of operation, numbers and types of JAAF aircraft involved, JAAF claims (victories, probables, damaged), JAAF losses, and the enemy's records (lost, damaged, claimed) for the same engagement. Roughly two hundred major engagements from September 1937 through May 1945 are charted in this manner.
   Japanese Army Air Force Fighter Units and Their Aces has been a long time coming, but it was worth the wait. Highly recommended and quite possible one of the top books of the year.
   Can we ever expect similar works on Japanese bomber units?
   Available from online booksellers, local bookshops, or directly from Grub Street.
   Thanks to Grub Street for providing this review copy.