Aces of the Rising Sun 1937–1945

by Henry Sakaida, Grant Race (Illustrator)

Very little has been published in English on the air arms of the Japanese Army and Navy, and the pilots who flew for them. Yet between 1937 and 1945, 150 JAAF and 21 Imperial Japanese Navy pilots achieved 'ace' status in eight years of near-constant warfare. This book relates the experiences of both air forces, revealing how the JAAF aces achieved their scores flying over terrain ranging from the Mongolian plains to the jungles of New Guinea, and how the IJN pilots drew on their experience of fighting over Manchuria, China and Mongolia to take on Allied forces in the Pacific

208 pages, Paperback

First published August 19, 2002

Reviews

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-researched book about Japanese WWII flying aces, a group that has been somewhat elusive, due to lack of written records. What surprised me is that some of the surviving veterans greatly exaggerated their number of kills. I thought they'd be humble about it. I also learned that the leader of a Pearl Harbor bomber squadron survived WWII and ended up being a pilot for JAL!