Kato Hayabusa Sentotai - War diary of 64th Sentai (Resurrected)

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RE: Kato Hayabusa Sentotai - War diary of 64th Sentai (Resurrected)

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64th Sentai war diary entry No.93
Date: March 10th, 1942 Tokyo time

Clear weather conditions were forecasted over the Soerabaya promising better results and so another mission was called on. This time both bomber units could scrape only 41 bombers together - the damage incurred on the previous days was telling. 64th again furnished a Staff flight and 2 Chutais for a total of 21 planes. But the strain of the continuous operations was felt here too - two Hayabusas were forced to return prematurely. Sky was clear over the target and the accuracy of the bombing was again high - as was enemy AA. One of the Type 97 Heavy bombers suffered direct hit right over the target and immediately burst to flames falling from formation. Just seconds later the plane exploded with a single white parachute blossoming after a while. No more parachutes were seen. Several more bombers were damaged by AA fire, but Hayabusas flying a little higher were not molested. Only occasional burst at their altitude signified the "long" shot against the bombers. Warrant Office Koga C. of the 2nd Chutai overturned his Hayabusa while landing in slight crosswind with fatal results.
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RE: Kato Hayabusa Sentotai - War diary of 64th Sentai (Resurrected)

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64th Sentai war diary entry No.94 and No.95
Date: March 11th and 12th, 1942 Tokyo time

Two days of rest were allowed to the pilots of the 64th Sentai with only a little CAP activity to relieve the pressure from the previous days with another major mission scheduled for the 13th. Everybody enjoyed this short break even given the lack of any entertainment, prevalent heat, humidity and insects... But so far only few malarial cases appeared as the men enjoyed good diet (mostly of captured enemy food added to their own rations) and operations on Java were speeding to a quick end.
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RE: Kato Hayabusa Sentotai - War diary of 64th Sentai (Resurrected)

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64th Sentai war diary entry No.96
Date: March 13th, 1942 Tokyo time

64th Sentai was called on to perform sweep over Soerabaya to clear any remaining opposition on this day. A full complement of 27 planes took off for a mission and all of them safely returned without mishap encountering no enemy in the overcast weather over target.
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RE: Kato Hayabusa Sentotai - War diary of 64th Sentai (Resurrected)

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64th Sentai war diary entry No.97
Date: March 14th, 1942 Tokyo time

As the operations on Java were finishing the 64th Sentai prepared for another move - this time to a new theatre of operations - Thailand and Burma. Day was spent packing and planning each stage of the route was a job in itself.
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RE: Kato Hayabusa Sentotai - War diary of 64th Sentai (Resurrected)

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64th Sentai war diary entry No.98 to No.101
Date: March 14th to 18th, 1942 Tokyo time

On this day the 64th Sentai said good bye to the island of Java and as the roar of their engines got weaker they turned north. Flying via Palembang, Singapore, Georgetown and Bangkok they reached Rahaeng Air Base on the 18th March. Of course such long flight was not without mishap - 1 Hayabusa was damaged landing in Palembang and another landing at Rahaeng, fortunately the damage to both planes was only light and pilots escaped without any harm.
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RE: Kato Hayabusa Sentotai - War diary of 64th Sentai (Resurrected)

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64th Sentai war diary entry No.102 to No. 105
Date: March 19th to 21st, 1942 Tokyo time

Remaining in a Rahaeng for a few days they waited for the ground crews to catch up and some required maintenance and overhaul was done on their planes. The refresh after the long flight was accepted as a spell before the storm, and so it was.
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RE: Kato Hayabusa Sentotai - War diary of 64th Sentai (Resurrected)

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64th Sentai war diary entry No.106
Date: March 22nd, 1942 Tokyo time

As the ground element caught up with the flying element new orders arrived for another move. This time to Chiang Mai - northern-most air base in Thailand. The move was for only about 140 miles so the ground element took to the train and arrived at the new station without delay. Frantic activity took place as soon the ground crews arrived so as to prepare maximum number of planes for tomorrow mission. 3 Hayabusas with pilots were left at Rahaeng to finish their engine changes overnight.
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RE: Kato Hayabusa Sentotai - War diary of 64th Sentai (Resurrected)

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64th Sentai war diary entry No.107
Date: March 23rd, 1942 Tokyo time

A maximum effort was called for on this day, so 64th Sentai dispatched 31 of their 32 Hayabusas "Otsu" while 3rd Chutai contributed 12 of their "Hei" Hayabusas. Thunderstorms along the route were hard to avoid and one Shotai got separated along the way. Mandalay, a city in middle Burma was the target, but no enemy was present in the air, so the Sentai circled the town and airfield several times in search for suitable target, but nothing was spotted in the air and jungles below hid everything below. Landing on not familiar airfield always bring some surprises - and this time in form of a small grassy hole next to the runway - just as W/O Chuzaburo P. touched down, right leg of his undercarriage found this surprise the hard way - his Hayabusa was totally wrecked, but pilot emerged from the wreckage with some minor bruises and large grin.
P.S.: I am sorry I could not make this more "graphic" with pictures... There is not a lot of suitable photos/pictures of Hayabusas either in the air, on the ground or crashed according to the story... As I also do not want to show you pictures of Ki-43-IIb as Ki-43-Ib or late war planes launched as a kamikaze ...
Also the game is more than a year after this date, so any pictures of maps would be pointless at this point. Altough I have the old saves around, I have hardly time to go through them to make something. Yesterday evening I went through turns 1-15. May 1942 and it took me about 2,5 hours to track the unit and its pilots...
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RE: Kato Hayabusa Sentotai - War diary of 64th Sentai (Resurrected)

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64th Sentai war diary entry No.108-109
Date: March 24th-March 26th, 1942 Tokyo time

A great loss encountered the 64th Sentai today as a special courier plane from the 3rd Hikó Shidan arrived, carrying several bags full of letters from home as well as a special messenger. While rejoicing the long-awaited mail from home was general, new orders brought in by the messenger meant farewells for several well respected members of the unit.

Lt.Col. Anma, Katsumi, the leader of the 2nd Chutai with two kills was among the first ordered to report back to Japan and departed on the same day by courier plane. His new orders assigned him to a Rikugun Kōkū Shikan Gakkō (Imperial Japanese Army Air Academy) for further staff training.
W/O Sasaki Iori, member of the 1st Chutai was ordered to report to Air Training and Instruction Department, and departed by train the following day.
W/O Anabuki, Satoshi, also member of the 1st Chutai was also ordered to report to Air Training and Instruction Department and left by train soon thereafter.
Lt.Col. Takeuchi, Shogo, the leader of the 1st Chutai with a single confirmed kill was to follow Lt.Col Anma a few day later.

The 1st Chutai was taken over by Major Hinoki Yohei and 2nd Lt. Bunkichi R. and Warrant Officers Hanazawa, D. and Chojiro O. sent from central replacement center joined the Chutai to fill up vacancies in the roster.
The 2nd Chutai was taken over by Major Miyabe Hideo, with the new arrival being W/O Gyuba M.
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RE: Kato Hayabusa Sentotai - War diary of 64th Sentai (Resurrected)

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64th Sentai war diary entry No.110
Date: March 27th, 1942 Tokyo time

A little shake-up of formations was necessary after the recent changes, but the unit absorbed the arrivals quickly after saying goodbye to the departing members. The newcomers were checked out, assigned their flight positions and leaders to follow.

On this day the Sentai was called on to perform a fighter sweep of the Meiktila area - number of enemy fighters were reported on the local airfield and the mission goal was to whittle their numbers down. The early take off took out the whole Sentai - first the main force of 31 Hayabusas of the Staff flight as well as 1st and 2nd Chutai followed in short time by the 3rd Chutai to support the main force.
The formations flew low between steep valleys of the Shan hills, to keep out of observation for most of the way. Climbing up to 20,000 ft just before target they managed to surprise the enemy. The enemy fighters were just taking off the local airfield in light rain, when they were bounced by the main force of the 64th Sentai from above. RAF sent up 16 Hurricanes and American Volunteer Group participated with 17 Warhawks. Caught up in disadvantageous position, they were immediately forced onto defensive. Some enemy pilots were shot down before they could have spot their enemies, and soon the combat swirled around the whole area.

As each new enemy element was trying to get height advantage, it was counteracted by the Katos skillful handling of his Sentai. While he himself failed to shot down any enemy plane, 4 pilots of Staff Shotai scored on that day:
2nd Lt. Kizuka J. claimed his 2nd victory - a P-40E Warhawk caught up in a slow climbing left turn, quickly disintegrated after a deadly burst.
2nd Lt. Fujimoto U. claimed his 1st victory - a RAF Hurricane I Trop shot down after a long stern chase.
2nd Lt. Ariyoshi R. claimed his 1st victory too - a P-40E Warhawk whose pilot was dead before he knew what hit him.
W/O Agawa B. claimed his 3rd victory - a Hurricane I Trop whose pilot was caught low and crashed his plane into some trees while trying to shake off his enemy.

1st Chutai claimed 5 kills too, after a brawl mostly with the "Flying Tigers":
W/O Miyazaki C. claimed his 1st victory - a P-40E Warhawk whose pilot took to the silk after his plane was riddled by several hundred bullet holes.
W/O Okamoto J. also claimed his 1st victory - a fighter, later identified as a Hurricane I Trop that passed through his sights in the middle of the melee. A quick burst from the machine cannons and the Hurricane entered a deadly spiral after his left wing broke.
2nd Lt. Chojiro D. claimed his 2nd victory - a P-40E Warhawk whose pilot tried a head on attack, but the Chojiro D. aimed flawlessly and the enemy plane was last seen falling down in deadly spiral.
2nd Lt. Daigo P. claimed his 1st victory - a P-40E Warhawk that took heavy damage and was last seen with heavy trail of smoke.
W/O Shibayama N. claimed his 3rd victory - a P-40E Warhawk, shot down in the initial pass on the climbing enemy formation, the pilot jumped out.

2nd Chutai filled some serious claims too, mixing it with the RAF mainly:
W/O Ohmori, Sokochi claimed his 2nd victory - a Hurricane I Trop caught up in the initial bounce, riddled by bullets last seen falling to the ground in a spin.
W/O Mitsumasa T. also claimed his 2nd victory on this day - a Hurricane I Trop, caught from behind, his tail full of holes, cockpit cover blown off, and left landing gear down was abandoned by his pilot.
W/O Uchida S. claimed 2 kills - a Hurricane I Trop with pilot down on his control yoke and cockpit full of blood crashed several miles from the Meiktila town proper, and a P-40E Warhawk taking off lately to the fight and striving to get some height was shot down at the edge of the airfield.
W/O Gushi B. claimed his 1st victory - a Hurricane I Trop with dead engine falling down and a white parachute nearby.
W/O Ishimori W. also claimed his 1st victory - a P-40E Warhawk just taking off and just foots off the runway, his landing gear still down, was sent back to the ground in a great fireball after short burst.

3rd Chutai arriving later, just as the main force was withdrawing engaged 4 Hurricanes - spread out and separated as they were, they were quickly dealt with:
2nd Lt. Tsukamoto B. claimed his 2nd victory - a Hurricane I Trop whose pilot quickly parachuted from his damaged plane after accurate burst.
2nd Lt. Takenaka B. claimed his 1st victory - a Hurricane I Trop that ended in a big fireball.

Remainder of the enemy planes either escaped the area or were damaged to some extent. The 64th Sentai gained this success with just few bullet holes in the fuselages and flaps damaged, but not a single plane was lost or pilot injured. Good planning, surprise and skilled coordination of elements by Lt.Col. Kato brought a shining victory to the 64th Sentai with 17 confirmed kills without loss.
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RE: Kato Hayabusa Sentotai - War diary of 64th Sentai (Resurrected)

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64th Sentai war diary entry No.111
Date: March 28th, 1942 Tokyo time

A little rest was in place after the yesterday mission and a little celebration thrown out on the evening of the previous day. Spirits were very high, and pilots eagerly talked about their fights with anybody who would listen. Ground crews were a little less happy with the task before them - to patch up the holes, change some parts, and prepare their machines for the next day's mission, but they took to the job with pride - it was their achievement that no plane abandoned, and no plane was lost due to their work.
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RE: Kato Hayabusa Sentotai - War diary of 64th Sentai (Resurrected)

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64th Sentai war diary entry No.112
Date: March 29th, 1942 Tokyo time

A repetition of the strike against Meiktila was on the order of the day, but this time a little later. As the enemy was on his toes after the previous mission, now it was timed so as to arrive just when the enemy planes would have landed after the early morning readiness.

64th Sentai sent again all the ready planes and none turned back - but they failed to find any enemy in the air, nor on the ground. RAF and AVG had evacuated the airfield. Just few abandoned and holed Hurricanes and Warhawks dotted the runway.
Edit:
Warrant Officer Agawa B. of the Staff Flight / 2nd Chutai departed on this day for assignment to Air Training and Instruction Department. His place was to be taken by 2nd Lt. Nakamura, Saburo scheduled to arrive in about a week.
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RE: Kato Hayabusa Sentotai - War diary of 64th Sentai (Resurrected)

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64th Sentai war diary entry No.113
Date: March 30th, 1942 Tokyo time

The mission for the fighters remained the same - to gain Air superiority over the battlefield, so a set of fighter sweeps were called on by the 3rd Hikó Shidan to drag enemy fighters to fight. 3rd Chutai was sent first to scout the general area first with the remainder of the Sentai arriving later to provide cover. 50th Sentai was also to participate with 30 of their Hayabusas.

As the 3rd Chutai took earlier, they arrived first with 12 Hayabusas, and encountered a formation of US fighters below and to the left - not seen before, but quickly identified as Airacobras. Not waiting for the rest of the Sentai, they engaged the enemy formation from above. In a quick melee both W/O Senda U. and W/O Iwashita V. claimed one Airacobra each, while the rest were driven off or damaged. Hayabusas of the W/O Mitsumasa O. and 2nd Lt. Takenaka B. sustained some damage by enemy fire, but both were able to return and land their damaged planes safely.
The main force of the 64th Sentai as well as 50th Sentai arrived late to participate, and as no new enemy was encountered, they returned to their bases empty-handed.

The new enemy:
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RE: Kato Hayabusa Sentotai - War diary of 64th Sentai (Resurrected)

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64th Sentai war diary entry No.114
Date: March 31th, 1942 Tokyo time

The same mission was flown on the following day in the hope of encountering more enemy wishing to fight - but as the weather turned to sour over the Burma the only thing 64th and 50th Sentais encountered were thunderstorms all around. It is almost miracle all pilots managed to get back to their base and none were lost.
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RE: Kato Hayabusa Sentotai - War diary of 64th Sentai (Resurrected)

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64th Sentai war diary entry No.115
Date: April 1st, 1942 Tokyo time

Weather cleared enough to allow operations on this day, and 64th Sentai was called on to repeat the sweep. 31 Hayabusas of the Staff, 1st and 2nd Chutai participated as well as 12 of the 3rd Chutai. No enemy was encountered in the air, but one Hayabusa of the 2nd Chutai was destroyed in a landing accident. Pilot, W/O Gyuba M., a recent replacement pilot, overshoot the runway, but escaped unhurt.
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RE: Kato Hayabusa Sentotai - War diary of 64th Sentai (Resurrected)

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64th Sentai war diary entry No.116
Date: April 2nd, 1942 Tokyo time

64th Sentai was sent forward to give some CAP coverage for forward Imperial troops near Tuongoo, Burma. Every available plane flew in the early morning to Tuongoo and was kept in the air continuously for the day with Chutais rotating for fueling, sandwich and cup of coffee or tea. The day took its toll in fatigue on both pilots and machines, and as the dawn arrived, everyone was happy to fly back to Chiang May for some well deserved rest.
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RE: Kato Hayabusa Sentotai - War diary of 64th Sentai (Resurrected)

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64th Sentai war diary entry No.117
Date: April 3rd, 1942 Tokyo time

Unbelievably the weary pilots were asked to fly on this day too, but not for CAP duty - a fighter sweep was called on instead. Target was Meiktila, a city deep in central Burma, but the enemy was not to play the game and failed to show up in heavy rain squalls all around. As the 64th Sentai was departing the area a friendly armada was encountered on its way to let some bombs over the Meiktila proper. Two formations of Type 99 Twin-engined light bombers covered by another two Sentais of Hayabusas filled the sky with over 100 planes in total. A magnificent sight for the departing pilots of the 64th. Fortunately all planes and pilots returned and landed safely in not so great flying weather.

Army Type 99 Twin-engined Light Bomber (Kawasaki Ki-48 "Lily"):
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RE: Kato Hayabusa Sentotai - War diary of 64th Sentai (Resurrected)

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64th Sentai war diary entry No.118
Date: April 4th, 1942 Tokyo time

A little respite settled on the 64th Sentai stationed at Chiang Mai, Thailand. After frantic activity of the past few days, the only duties of this day were the Dusk and Dawn CAP patrols with a flight in readiness on the ground. No enemy planes showed up, so everybody invited the little lull. Off course, there was a lot of work to be done, and ground crews worked all day to attend all the planes, doing several engine and propeller changes, checking systems, lubricating and cleaning guns, etc.
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RE: Kato Hayabusa Sentotai - War diary of 64th Sentai (Resurrected)

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64th Sentai war diary entry No.119-120
Date: April 5th to 6th, 1942 Tokyo time

Weather again turned from bad to worse and all flying was called off on these days as the runway had turned to a field of mud and low hanging clouds threw up a flood of rain on the poor souls down below. Some work was attempted under the cover of tarpaulins raised over the planes, but after several attempts, even this was unsuccessful and soon everybody turned in.
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RE: Kato Hayabusa Sentotai - War diary of 64th Sentai (Resurrected)

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64th Sentai war diary entry No.121
Date: April 7th, 1942 Tokyo time

Weather cleared enough and ground dried up enough to allow the 64th Sentai to participate in a fighter sweep to Meiktila. Sending all available planes again they met no enemies in the target area which was subject to another bombing raid by Type 99 Light Bombers. All planes and pilots returned safely.
Edit:
2nd Lt. Nakamura, Saburo arrived today and was assigned to Staff Flights 2nd Chutai.
Born in Shiga Prefecture during 1920, Nakamura graduated from Army Flying Military Academy in March 1941 with the 54th intake. He undertook fighter training at Akeno and was then posted to the 1St Sentai in Manchuria in July 1941. In November he moved to the 1st Field Reserve Group at Taichung, where he stayed until February 1942. He was posted to the 64th Sentai in April 1942…
Source: Japanese Army Fighter Aces, 1931-45 by: Hata, Izawa, Shores

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