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Last days in Burma:
the great Lashio Turkey Shoot

Following Jimmy Doolittle's B-25 raid on the Japanese homeland on April 9, 1942, the JAAF beefed up its home defense formations, with the result that the 47th Independent Chutai was called back to Japan. Similarly, JAAF squadrons in China were moved about as part of an effort to roll back the line of airfields that Chennault and the Chinese had established within striking distance of Japan. The squadrons in Burma were also repositioned as a result of the new realities there.

By the beginning of April, the motorized 56th Division on the Japanese right flank was in position to threaten Lashio, the last Allied stronghold in Burma. The plan was to prepare its entry by the use of parachute troops, which were being trained at Pnhom Penh in Cambodia. On April 12, they landed at Rangoon and were attached to the 5th Hikodan at Mingaladon airport. Their orders were to land and capture Lashion on April 29--the Emperor Hirohito's birthday. The drop would consist of 440 jumpers in 40 license-built Lockheed transports, built by Kawasaki and designated "Type LO." The unit's heavy gear would be dropped by 9 Sally bombers serving as cargo planes.

In the center, the 55th Division advanced north along the Sittang River into Pynima with the help of the 50th Sentai fighters and 8th Sentai medium bombers in close cooperation. By April 20 the front had moved far enough that the the 64th Sentai Hayabusas and the 98th Sentai heavy bombers were able to take up residence at Toungoo airfield, the former AVG base on the Sittang River, moving there from their previous bases in Thailand.

And on the left flank the 33rd Division captured Magwe airfield on April 17 and the Yennanyuang oilfields on April 20. That enabled the 77th Sentai fighters and the 31st Sentai light bombers to take up new quarters at Magwe, recently evacuated by the Allied air squadrons. Also at Magwe was the 70th Independent Chutai, probably a ground-cooperation squadron. The plan for cleaning the Allies out of Burma was "all on schedule," wrote a Japanese historian.

Except for occasional skirmishes with the enemy air force, most JAAF activity during these two weeks focussed on supporting the ground forces as they finished the conquest of central Burma. While of great interest to the men involved, I'm skipping these battles since they didn't involve air-to-air combat with the AVG--which, for its part, was also concentrating on carrying out ground-support missions for the Chinese army. The Japanese records do confirm that the AVG shot down a handful of reconnaissance and ground cooperation aircraft during this period, but there are no details because there were no witnesses.

The "Emperor's Birthday" shoot-out

[This activity set the stage for what the AVG believed was one of its greatest victories over the Japanese in Burma. Later, Chennault would write that the battle represented a JAAF effort to achieve a big Emperor's Birthday victory for Hirohito. That it took place a day before the actual date, he explained as a Japanese effort to achieve surprise. Forseeing exactly this, he wrote, he positioned his squadrons to meet them at Lashio. According to the AVG tally, 13 "Zeroes" were shot down in a wide-ranging combat, with no losses to the Tomahawks and Kittyhawks engaged.]

Seen from the Japanese viewpoint, April 28 was indeed a defeat, but it was far from the rout shown in the AVG records. The escorting Hayabusas were at 3,000 meters when they sighted 12 P-40s catching up to them from approximately 1,000 meters behind and an estimated 2,400 meters above. [In fact, there were 10 Tomahawks and 4 P-40E Kittyhawks at various atltitudes. The first to engage was Tex Hill's of Kittyhaws; Hill reported that he spotted the Japanese formation below him and on the reciprocal course. As he led his element down to attack the bombers, he saw six "Zeros" drop their auxiliary fuel tanks and turn to meet him.

As the Japanese reported the engagement, the four trailing Hayabusas immediately began to spiral up to meet the attackers, while the Ki-21 "Sallys" began their bombing run. [Among the Allied aircraft on the ground that day was a Douglas C-47 piloted by Colonel Robert Scott, who later commanded the 23rd Fighter Group that succeeded the AVG in China.] This was the sentai's 3rd Chutai under the command of Captain KUROE Yasuhiko (shown at left), formerly of the 47th Independent Chutai. He had stayed in Burma when his squadron was ordered home, and he was replacing Captain ANMA, killed at Loiwing on April 8. A veteran of air combat in China and in the Nomonhan border war with Russia, Kuroe would end the war as one of the JAAF's leading aces, credited with 30 victories; postwar, he would be a jet pilot and group commander in the Japan Self Defense Force, only to be killed in a fishing accident.

In the battle, the Hayabusa flown by Corporal HIRANO was apparently hit in one wing [Tex Hill and Lew Bishop both claimed in this encounter] with the result that the wing came off. According to his squadron mates, Hirano's plane was shot up by one P-40 and then collided with another; but there was no such collision, and almost certainly the plane was crippled by the same structural weakness that had caused Hayabusas to shed wings from the first day of the war. Hirano bailed out, landed safely, and eventually joined up with the advancing 56th Division ground troops.

Later, Capt. Kuroe and his remaining two pilots encountered a pair of P-40s, which feinted toward him and then turned away toward a lone Hayabusa. This was the plane flown by 1st Lt KATAOKA Masashi of the 3rd Chutai, who had broken flight discipline and left his squadron in search of enemy aircraft. He was shot down and killed. [The P-40s might have been flown by Parker Dupouy and Tom Haywood, or perhaps by Paul Greene and R.T. Smith. Both flights claimed a "Zero" in a situation just like this one. Kataoka was a graduate of the 53rd class of the Japanese Army Military Academy, where he learned to fly.

Back at Toungoo, Capt. Kuroe apologized to Colonel Kato for breaking formation to engage the fighters. "We knew you were battling the enemy," Kato replied, "but we did not come to help because the principle was to protect the bombers.... Forget those pilots. Work for the group."

Next day, the Emperor's Birthday jump into Lashio was foiled by bad weather. Of 100 aircraft that set out from Mingaladon and Toungoo, only 4 light bombers managed to reach Lashio, to support the 56th Division when it stormed into the city at noon.