B-24 Liberator vs Ki-43 Oscar by Edward M. Young

Author:Edward M. Young
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: B-24 Liberator vs Ki-43 Oscar: China and Burma 1943
ISBN: 9781780963945
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2012-02-12T16:00:00+00:00

NAKAKAZU OZAKI

Although JAAF records are incomplete, Nakakazu Ozaki was in all likelihood the most successful Hayabusa pilot flying against the B-24 Liberator in the CBI Theater. Like Conrad Necrason, Ozaki is representative of the young pre-war Japanese Army aviators who took on leadership positions in the midst of war and duly became highly successful fighter pilots.

The descendent of a Samurai family and the son of an Imperial Japanese Navy officer, Ozaki was born at the naval base at Sasebo in 1919. After completing middle school he joined the Tokyo Junior Military Academy – one of the routes to becoming an officer in the JAAF. From there he went to the Army Military Flying Academy, where he received flying training until he graduated in June 1940. Ozaki was then posted to the 33rd Sentai in Manchuria, where he flew the Nakajima Type 97 Fighter but saw no air combat. While with the 33rd he developed his skills as a marksman, regularly achieving the highest scores in gunnery practice. This skill would serve him well in combat.

In 1941 Ozaki returned to the army advanced flying school at Akeno, south of Nagoya, which taught formation flying, air tactics and air fighting using operational aircraft. He served as an instructor at Akeno until October 1942, when he was sent on a commander’s course. On completion of the course Ozaki was posted to the 25th Sentai in China, where he took command of the 2nd Chutai, operating between Hankow, Canton and Hanoi, in French Indo-China.

By then a 24-year old lieutenant, in appearance Ozaki seemed an unlikely candidate to become a successful fighter ace. His fellow pilots sometimes alluded to him as the “young lady” because of his gentle demeanor, but in combat he showed no lack of courage and quickly proved himself to be an excellent marksman. Indeed, Ozaki soon became known as “the B-24 killer” for his exceptional success against the 308th BG’s B-24s.

Ozaki learned what the Hayabusa pilots in the 50th and 64th Sentais had discovered fighting Liberators over Burma – to shoot down a B-24, a Ki-43 pilot had to hurl himself at the enemy, heedless of the risk, and press home the attack as close as possible. Ozaki excelled in close-in attacks from the front and the side. It was said that he would fly so close to the enemy bombers that he could hear the sound of their machine gun fire. Ozaki was given credit for the destruction of six B-24s, and he damaged 12 to 14 additional bombers. His achievement was recognized with the reward of an individual citation – not a common practice in the Japanese Army. The citation read, in part, “In attacks against large enemy aircraft his skill was perfect. Given the chance to attack, he charges at the enemy formation despite heavy return fire, attacking from close range.”

Ozaki’s last success against a B-24 came on December 24, 1943 when he claimed a bomber from a 308th BG formation that was targeting Tien Ho airfield near Canton.

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