Anabuki Satoru

Anabuki Satoru, late 1944

Anabuki Satoshi ( Japanese 穴 吹 智 ; born December 5, 1921 in Yamada (today: Ayagawa ), Ayauta County , Kagawa Prefecture ; † June 2005 ) was a Japanese fighter pilot during World War II . With 51 aerial victories, 30 of which have been confirmed, Anabuki was the most enemy kills pilot in the Japanese Army Air Force .

Anabuki, offspring of a farming family, began his pilot career in a program to prepare for flight training for young people. In 1938 he started at the Tokyo Aviation School. After further training stations in Kumagaya and Tachiarai , he was stationed in March 1941 with the 50th Air Regiment on Formosa , later in Mingaladon and Rangoon . At the beginning of the war he had the rank of corporal.

In January 1944, Anabuki is said to have shot down five American planes, including three bombers, in one operation in Burma . The story was cannibalized by Japanese propaganda and is still one of the most famous anecdotes about aerial battles in the Pacific War. Nowadays, this event is controversial as a possible hoax .

As of February 1944, Anabuki was taken out of the line of fire as a propaganda hero and withdrawn to Akeno to train new pilots. From October 1944 until the end of the war he was again obliged to defend his home. Between 1941 and 1945 Anabuki completed a total of 173 missions.

From the beginning of the 1950s he served in the ground self-defense forces . He was used as a helicopter pilot. In 1971 he was retired as a lieutenant colonel. He then worked for Japan Airlines until 1984 .

literature

• Henry Sakaida: Japanese Army Air Force Aces 1937-45 (= Osprey Aircraft of the Aces. 13). Osprey Aerospace, London 1997, ISBN 1-85532-529-2 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ kōkūtai sōtenroku: Daitōa o kaketa arawashitachi no kiseki queried at http://www.worldcat.org
2. ↑ Diego Zampini, Anabuki Satoru's deed over Rangoon ( accessed March 24, 2011)
3. ↑ Richard L. Dunn, ERROR OFT REPEATED - THE ANABUKI HOAX , 2003 ( accessed March 24, 2011)

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . Thus Anabuki is the family name, Satoru the first name.