Knowledge Quiz for Warbird wiz
09-05-2018, 04:34 PM
Senior Member
My Feedback: (3)
Not Klink, Sparky; but here's a bonus clue to reward your participation. Thanks; Ernie P.
We all know German pilot Adolph Galland wrote a famous book “The First and the Last”. This question is about another pilot; one who can also claim to be The First and the Last.
What warbird aircrew member do I describe?
1. This pilot flew more than 100 combat missions.
2. His first combat mission was well before the larger war in which he fought.
We all know German pilot Adolph Galland wrote a famous book “The First and the Last”. This question is about another pilot; one who can also claim to be The First and the Last.
What warbird aircrew member do I describe?
1. This pilot flew more than 100 combat missions.
2. His first combat mission was well before the larger war in which he fought.
09-05-2018, 07:05 PM
Senior Member
My Feedback: (3)
An excellent, though incorrect, guess, Top_Gunn. And here's a bonus clue to reward your efforts. Thanks; Ernie P.
We all know German pilot Adolph Galland wrote a famous book “The First and the Last”. This question is about another pilot; one who can also claim to be The First and the Last.
What warbird aircrew member do I describe?
1. This pilot flew more than 100 combat missions.
2. His first combat mission was well before the larger war in which he fought.
3. He was there on the first day.
We all know German pilot Adolph Galland wrote a famous book “The First and the Last”. This question is about another pilot; one who can also claim to be The First and the Last.
What warbird aircrew member do I describe?
1. This pilot flew more than 100 combat missions.
2. His first combat mission was well before the larger war in which he fought.
3. He was there on the first day.
09-06-2018, 02:11 AM
Senior Member
My Feedback: (3)
Morning clue. Thanks; Ernie P.
We all know German pilot Adolph Galland wrote a famous book “The First and the Last”. This question is about another pilot; one who can also claim to be The First and the Last.
What warbird aircrew member do I describe?
1. This pilot flew more than 100 combat missions.
2. His first combat mission was well before the larger war in which he fought.
3. He was there on the first day.
4. And he was there on the last day.
We all know German pilot Adolph Galland wrote a famous book “The First and the Last”. This question is about another pilot; one who can also claim to be The First and the Last.
What warbird aircrew member do I describe?
1. This pilot flew more than 100 combat missions.
2. His first combat mission was well before the larger war in which he fought.
3. He was there on the first day.
4. And he was there on the last day.
09-06-2018, 11:26 AM
Senior Member
My Feedback: (3)
Same clues (or similar) and a different answer. That's why I wanted to post two questions in a short period of time. And yes, there is a third question in line; although I may not post it. Afternoon clue. Thanks; Ernie P.
We all know German pilot Adolph Galland wrote a famous book “The First and the Last”. This question is about another pilot; one who can also claim to be The First and the Last.
What warbird aircrew member do I describe?
1. This pilot flew more than 100 combat missions.
2. His first combat mission was well before the larger war in which he fought.
3. He was there on the first day.
4. And he was there on the last day.
5. And he was there on a critical day in between.
We all know German pilot Adolph Galland wrote a famous book “The First and the Last”. This question is about another pilot; one who can also claim to be The First and the Last.
What warbird aircrew member do I describe?
1. This pilot flew more than 100 combat missions.
2. His first combat mission was well before the larger war in which he fought.
3. He was there on the first day.
4. And he was there on the last day.
5. And he was there on a critical day in between.
09-06-2018, 06:01 PM
Senior Member
My Feedback: (3)
And an evening clue. Thanks; Ernie P.
We all know German pilot Adolph Galland wrote a famous book “The First and the Last”. This question is about another pilot; one who can also claim to be The First and the Last.
What warbird aircrew member do I describe?
1. This pilot flew more than 100 combat missions.
2. His first combat mission was well before the larger war in which he fought.
3. He was there on the first day.
4. And he was there on the last day.
5. And he was there on a critical day in between.
6. When the larger war began, he already had more than ten years’ experience in aerial combat.
We all know German pilot Adolph Galland wrote a famous book “The First and the Last”. This question is about another pilot; one who can also claim to be The First and the Last.
What warbird aircrew member do I describe?
1. This pilot flew more than 100 combat missions.
2. His first combat mission was well before the larger war in which he fought.
3. He was there on the first day.
4. And he was there on the last day.
5. And he was there on a critical day in between.
6. When the larger war began, he already had more than ten years’ experience in aerial combat.
09-07-2018, 02:26 AM
Senior Member
My Feedback: (3)
Morning clue. Thanks; Ernie P.
We all know German pilot Adolph Galland wrote a famous book “The First and the Last”. This question is about another pilot; one who can also claim to be The First and the Last.
What warbird aircrew member do I describe?
1. This pilot flew more than 100 combat missions.
2. His first combat mission was well before the larger war in which he fought.
3. He was there on the first day.
4. And he was there on the last day.
5. And he was there on a critical day in between.
6. When the larger war began, he already had more than ten years’ experience in aerial combat.
7. Much of his early experience was in bombing.
We all know German pilot Adolph Galland wrote a famous book “The First and the Last”. This question is about another pilot; one who can also claim to be The First and the Last.
What warbird aircrew member do I describe?
1. This pilot flew more than 100 combat missions.
2. His first combat mission was well before the larger war in which he fought.
3. He was there on the first day.
4. And he was there on the last day.
5. And he was there on a critical day in between.
6. When the larger war began, he already had more than ten years’ experience in aerial combat.
7. Much of his early experience was in bombing.
09-07-2018, 12:30 PM
Senior Member
My Feedback: (3)
Evening clue. Thanks; Ernie P.
We all know German pilot Adolph Galland wrote a famous book “The First and the Last”. This question is about another pilot; one who can also claim to be The First and the Last.
What warbird aircrew member do I describe?
1. This pilot flew more than 100 combat missions.
2. His first combat mission was well before the larger war in which he fought.
3. He was there on the first day.
4. And he was there on the last day.
5. And he was there on a critical day in between.
6. When the larger war began, he already had more than ten years’ experience in aerial combat.
7. Much of his early experience was in bombing.
8. In fact, he was an instructor in bombing techniques for a while.
We all know German pilot Adolph Galland wrote a famous book “The First and the Last”. This question is about another pilot; one who can also claim to be The First and the Last.
What warbird aircrew member do I describe?
1. This pilot flew more than 100 combat missions.
2. His first combat mission was well before the larger war in which he fought.
3. He was there on the first day.
4. And he was there on the last day.
5. And he was there on a critical day in between.
6. When the larger war began, he already had more than ten years’ experience in aerial combat.
7. Much of his early experience was in bombing.
8. In fact, he was an instructor in bombing techniques for a while.
09-07-2018, 01:34 PM
Senior Member
My Feedback: (3)
Not Doolittle, although that was a good guess. And I'll award a bonus clue to reward your efforts. Thanks; Ernie P.
We all know German pilot Adolph Galland wrote a famous book “The First and the Last”. This question is about another pilot; one who can also claim to be The First and the Last.
What warbird aircrew member do I describe?
1. This pilot flew more than 100 combat missions.
2. His first combat mission was well before the larger war in which he fought.
3. He was there on the first day.
4. And he was there on the last day.
5. And he was there on a critical day in between.
6. When the larger war began, he already had more than ten years’ experience in aerial combat.
7. Much of his early experience was in bombing.
8. In fact, he was an instructor in bombing techniques for a while.
9. Both aircraft carriers and battleships played a large part in his career.
We all know German pilot Adolph Galland wrote a famous book “The First and the Last”. This question is about another pilot; one who can also claim to be The First and the Last.
What warbird aircrew member do I describe?
1. This pilot flew more than 100 combat missions.
2. His first combat mission was well before the larger war in which he fought.
3. He was there on the first day.
4. And he was there on the last day.
5. And he was there on a critical day in between.
6. When the larger war began, he already had more than ten years’ experience in aerial combat.
7. Much of his early experience was in bombing.
8. In fact, he was an instructor in bombing techniques for a while.
9. Both aircraft carriers and battleships played a large part in his career.
09-07-2018, 08:14 PM
Senior Member
My Feedback: (3)
Quite possibly indeed, Top_Gunn. You nailed it! Congratulations and you are now up. Fuchida led the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor; was present at the pivotal battle of Midway; and was present on the Missouri when the peace treaty was signed. From the first to the last, he was there. You have the lead, Sir. Take it away. Thanks; Ernie P.
We all know German pilot Adolph Galland wrote a famous book “The First and the Last”. This question is about another pilot; one who can also claim to be The First and the Last.
What warbird aircrew member do I describe?
1. This pilot flew more than 100 combat missions.
2. His first combat mission was well before the larger war in which he fought.
3. He was there on the first day.
4. And he was there on the last day.
5. And he was there on a critical day in between.
6. When the larger war began, he already had more than ten years’ experience in aerial combat.
7. Much of his early experience was in bombing.
8. In fact, he was an instructor in bombing techniques for a while.
9. Both aircraft carriers and battleships played a large part in his career.
10. He was present, and played a key part, in the greatest victory of his service.
11. And he was present at its greatest defeat.
12. He was unable to fly in that losing battle, as he was recuperating from surgery.
13. He was further injured in that battle; and never returned to flying status.
14. He spent the remainder of the war as a staff officer.
15. He led the attacks which began the larger war.
16. Three
Answer: Lieutenant Commander Mitsuo Fuchida
Mitsuo Fuchida (淵田美津雄 Fuchida Mitsuo, 3 December 1902 – 30 May 1976) was a Japanese captain in the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service and a bomber aviator in the Japanese navy before and during World War II. He is perhaps best known for leading the first wave of air attacks on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. Working under the overall fleet commander, Vice Admiral Chūichi Nagumo, Fuchida was responsible for the coordination of the entire aerial attack. After the war ended, Fuchida became a Christian evangelist and traveled through the United States and Europe to tell his story. He settled permanently in the United States but never became a U.S. citizen. Mitsuo Fuchida was born in what is now part of Katsuragi, Nara Prefecture, Japan to Yazo and Shika Fuchida on 3 December 1902. He entered the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy at Etajima, Hiroshima, in 1921, where he befriended classmate Minoru Genda and discovered an interest in flying. He graduated as a midshipman on 24 July 1924, and was promoted to ensign on 1 December 1925 and to sub-lieutenant on 1 December 1927. He was promoted to lieutenant on 1 December 1930. Specializing in horizontal bombing, Fuchida was made an instructor in that technique in 1936. He gained combat experience during the Second Sino-Japanese War, when he was assigned to the aircraft carrier Kaga in 1929 and then to the Sasebo Air Group, He was promoted to lieutenant commander on 1 December 1936 and was accepted into the Naval Staff College. Fuchida joined the aircraft carrier Akagi in 1939 as the commander of the air group. Fuchida was made commander in October 1941.
Pearl Harbor
On Sunday, 7 December 1941, a Japanese force under the command of Vice Admiral Chūichi Nagumo—consisting of six carriers with 423 aircraft—was ready to attack the United States base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. At 06:00, the first wave of 183 dive bombers, torpedo bombers, horizontal bombers and fighters took off from carriers 250 mi (400 km) north of Oahu and headed for the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor. At 07:40 Hawaiian Standard Time, Mitsuo Fuchida, who by this time had achieved the rank of commander, arrived with the first attack wave on Oahu's north shore near Kahuku Point. The first attack wave then banked west and flew along the northwest coast. Fuchida ordered "Tenkai" (Take attack position), and upon seeing no U.S. activity at Pearl Harbor, Fuchida slid back the canopy of his Nakajima B5N2 torpedo bomber, tailcode AI-301, and fired a single dark blue flare known as a "black dragon", the signal to attack. Passing Waimea Bay at 07:49, Fuchida instructed his radio operator, Petty Officer 1st Class Norinobu Mizuki, to send the coded signal "To, To, To" (totsugekiseyo—"to charge") to the other aircraft. Fuchida, thinking Lt Cmdr Shigeru Itaya's Zeroes had missed the signal, fired a second flare. Lt Cmdr Kakuichi Takahashi, overall leader of the first wave dive bombers, saw both flares and misunderstood the signal. Thinking the dive bombers were to attack, he led his dive bombers into immediate attack position. Lt Cmdr Shigeharu Murata, overall leader of the torpedo bombers, observed both flares and saw Takahashi's planes gliding into attack formation. He knew there was a misunderstanding which could not be rectified, so he led his torpedo bombers into attack positions. At this point, Cmdr Fuchida's pilot, Lieutenant Mitsuo Matsuzaki, guided their bomber along with the remaining horizontal bombers in a formation sweep around Keana Point and headed down the western coast of Oahu.
At 07:53, Fuchida ordered Mizuki to send the code words "Tora! Tora! Tora!" [a] back to the carrier Akagi, the flagship of 1st Air Fleet. The message meant that complete surprise had been achieved.[8] Due to favorable atmospheric conditions, the transmission of the "Tora! Tora! Tora!" code words from the moderately powered transmitter were heard over a ship's radio in Japan by Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, the wartime naval commander, and his staff, who were sitting up through the night awaiting word on the attack.[9] As the first wave returned to the carriers, Fuchida remained over the target to assess damage and observe the second-wave attack. He returned to his carrier only after the second wave had completed its mission. With great pride, he announced that the U.S. battleship fleet had been destroyed. Fuchida inspected his craft and found 21 large flak holes: the main control wires were barely holding together. The successful attack made Fuchida a national hero who was granted a personal audience with Emperor Hirohito.
On 4 June 1942, while onboard Akagi, Fuchida was wounded at the Battle of Midway. Unable to fly while recovering from an emergency shipboard appendectomy a few days before the battle, he was on the ship's bridge during the morning attacks by U.S. aircraft. After Akagi was hit, a chain reaction from burning fuel and live bombs began the destruction of the ship. When flames blocked the exit from the bridge, the officers evacuated down a rope, and as Fuchida slid down, an explosion threw him to the deck and broke both his ankles.
Postwar activities
After the war, Fuchida was called on to testify at the trials of some of the Japanese military for Japanese war crimes. This infuriated him as he believed this was little more than "victors' justice". In the spring of 1947, convinced that the Americans had treated the Japanese the same way and determined to bring that evidence to the next trial, Fuchida went to Uraga Harbor near Yokosuka to meet a group of returning Japanese prisoners of war. He was surprised to find his former flight engineer, Kazuo Kanegasaki, who all had believed had died in the Battle of Midway. When questioned, Kanegasaki told Fuchida that they were not tortured or abused, much to Fuchida's surprise, and then went on to tell him of a young lady, Peggy Covell, who served them with the deepest love and respect, but whose parents, missionaries, had been killed by Japanese soldiers on the island of Panay in the Philippines. For Fuchida, this was inexplicable, as in the Bushido code revenge was not only permitted, it was "a responsibility" for an offended party to carry out revenge to restore honor. The murderer of one's parents would be a sworn enemy for life. He became almost obsessed trying to understand why anyone would treat their enemies with love and forgiveness. In the fall of 1948, Fuchida was passing by the bronze statue of Hachikō at the Shibuya Station when he was handed a pamphlet about the life of Jacob DeShazer, a member of the Doolittle Raid who was captured by the Japanese after his B-25 bomber ran out of fuel over occupied China. In the pamphlet, "I Was a Prisoner of Japan"[12] DeShazer, a former U.S. Army Air Forces staff sergeant and bombardier, told his story of imprisonment, torture and his account of an "awakening to God."[13] This experience increased Fuchida's curiosity of the Christian faith. In September 1949, after reading the Bible for himself, he became a Christian. In May 1950, Fuchida and DeShazer met for the first time.[14] Fuchida created the Captain Fuchida Evangelistical Association based in Seattle, Washington and spoke full-time of his conversion to the Christian faith in presentations titled "From Pearl Harbor To Calvary". In 1951, Fuchida, along with a colleague, published an account of the Battle of Midway from the Japanese side. In 1952, he toured the United States as a member of the Worldwide Christian Missionary Army of Sky Pilots. Fuchida remained dedicated to a similar initiative as the group for the remainder of his life. In February 1954, Reader's Digest published Fuchida's story of the attack on Pearl Harbor.[15] Fuchida also wrote and co-wrote books, including From Pearl Harbor to Golgotha, a.k.a. From Pearl Harbor to Calvary, and a 1955 expansion of his 1951 book Midway, a.k.a. Midway: The Battle that Doomed Japan, the Japanese Navy's Story. His autobiography, titled "Shinjuwan Kogeki no Sotaicho no Kaiso", was published in Japan in 2007. This was translated into English by Douglas Shinsato and Tadanori Urabe and published in 2011 under the title, "For That One Day: The Memoirs of Mitsuo Fuchida, Commander of the Attack on Pearl Harbor". Fuchida's story is also recounted in God's Samurai: Lead Pilot at Pearl Harbor by Donald Goldstein, Katherine V. Dillon and Gordon W. Prange. According to Fuchida's son, his father had a green card allowing permanent residence in the U.S. but he never obtained U.S. citizenship. This is contrary to the assertions of several authors. Fuchida died of complications caused by diabetes in Kashiwara, near Osaka on 30 May 1976 at the age of 73. Fuchida was the author of three books, one on the Battle of Midway, one a memoir, and one on his conversion to Christianity. · Midway: The Battle that Doomed Japan, the Japanese Navy's Story was coauthored with Masatake Okumiya. In a section entitled "Five Fateful Minutes", Fuchida (as translated) writes "Five minutes! Who would have believed that the tide of battle would shift in that brief interval of time? ... We had been caught flatfooted in the most vulnerable condition possible—decks loaded with planes armed and fueled for attack."[Later scholarship (Parshall et al.) dispute Fuchida's description. · For That One Day: The Memoirs of Mitsuo Fuchida, the Commander of the Attack on Pearl Harbor was his memoir. In it, Fuchida makes a claim that has not been corroborated by others: "In my role as Staff of General Navy Headquarters, I was assigned miscellaneous tasks to help the Japanese side's preparations. Since I was not an official attaché, I was watching the signing ceremony from the upper deck along with the crews of the USS Missouri."
· From Pearl Harbor to Calvary, originally published as From Pearl Harbor to Golgotha, is the story of Fuchida's Christian conversion.
We all know German pilot Adolph Galland wrote a famous book “The First and the Last”. This question is about another pilot; one who can also claim to be The First and the Last.
What warbird aircrew member do I describe?
1. This pilot flew more than 100 combat missions.
2. His first combat mission was well before the larger war in which he fought.
3. He was there on the first day.
4. And he was there on the last day.
5. And he was there on a critical day in between.
6. When the larger war began, he already had more than ten years’ experience in aerial combat.
7. Much of his early experience was in bombing.
8. In fact, he was an instructor in bombing techniques for a while.
9. Both aircraft carriers and battleships played a large part in his career.
10. He was present, and played a key part, in the greatest victory of his service.
11. And he was present at its greatest defeat.
12. He was unable to fly in that losing battle, as he was recuperating from surgery.
13. He was further injured in that battle; and never returned to flying status.
14. He spent the remainder of the war as a staff officer.
15. He led the attacks which began the larger war.
16. Three
Answer: Lieutenant Commander Mitsuo Fuchida
Mitsuo Fuchida (淵田美津雄 Fuchida Mitsuo, 3 December 1902 – 30 May 1976) was a Japanese captain in the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service and a bomber aviator in the Japanese navy before and during World War II. He is perhaps best known for leading the first wave of air attacks on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. Working under the overall fleet commander, Vice Admiral Chūichi Nagumo, Fuchida was responsible for the coordination of the entire aerial attack. After the war ended, Fuchida became a Christian evangelist and traveled through the United States and Europe to tell his story. He settled permanently in the United States but never became a U.S. citizen.
Early life
Pearl Harbor
On Sunday, 7 December 1941, a Japanese force under the command of Vice Admiral Chūichi Nagumo—consisting of six carriers with 423 aircraft—was ready to attack the United States base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. At 06:00, the first wave of 183 dive bombers, torpedo bombers, horizontal bombers and fighters took off from carriers 250 mi (400 km) north of Oahu and headed for the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor. At 07:40 Hawaiian Standard Time, Mitsuo Fuchida, who by this time had achieved the rank of commander, arrived with the first attack wave on Oahu's north shore near Kahuku Point. The first attack wave then banked west and flew along the northwest coast. Fuchida ordered "Tenkai" (Take attack position), and upon seeing no U.S. activity at Pearl Harbor, Fuchida slid back the canopy of his Nakajima B5N2 torpedo bomber, tailcode AI-301, and fired a single dark blue flare known as a "black dragon", the signal to attack. Passing Waimea Bay at 07:49, Fuchida instructed his radio operator, Petty Officer 1st Class Norinobu Mizuki, to send the coded signal "To, To, To" (totsugekiseyo—"to charge") to the other aircraft. Fuchida, thinking Lt Cmdr Shigeru Itaya's Zeroes had missed the signal, fired a second flare. Lt Cmdr Kakuichi Takahashi, overall leader of the first wave dive bombers, saw both flares and misunderstood the signal. Thinking the dive bombers were to attack, he led his dive bombers into immediate attack position. Lt Cmdr Shigeharu Murata, overall leader of the torpedo bombers, observed both flares and saw Takahashi's planes gliding into attack formation. He knew there was a misunderstanding which could not be rectified, so he led his torpedo bombers into attack positions. At this point, Cmdr Fuchida's pilot, Lieutenant Mitsuo Matsuzaki, guided their bomber along with the remaining horizontal bombers in a formation sweep around Keana Point and headed down the western coast of Oahu.
At 07:53, Fuchida ordered Mizuki to send the code words "Tora! Tora! Tora!" [a] back to the carrier Akagi, the flagship of 1st Air Fleet. The message meant that complete surprise had been achieved.[8] Due to favorable atmospheric conditions, the transmission of the "Tora! Tora! Tora!" code words from the moderately powered transmitter were heard over a ship's radio in Japan by Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, the wartime naval commander, and his staff, who were sitting up through the night awaiting word on the attack.[9] As the first wave returned to the carriers, Fuchida remained over the target to assess damage and observe the second-wave attack. He returned to his carrier only after the second wave had completed its mission. With great pride, he announced that the U.S. battleship fleet had been destroyed. Fuchida inspected his craft and found 21 large flak holes: the main control wires were barely holding together. The successful attack made Fuchida a national hero who was granted a personal audience with Emperor Hirohito.
Other actions
On 19 February 1942, Fuchida led the first of two waves of 188 aircraft in a devastating air raid on Darwin, Australia. On 5 April, he led another series of air attacks by carrier-based Japanese aircraft against Royal Navy bases in Ceylon, which was the headquarters of the British Eastern Fleet, in what Winston Churchill described as "the most dangerous moment" of World War II.On 4 June 1942, while onboard Akagi, Fuchida was wounded at the Battle of Midway. Unable to fly while recovering from an emergency shipboard appendectomy a few days before the battle, he was on the ship's bridge during the morning attacks by U.S. aircraft. After Akagi was hit, a chain reaction from burning fuel and live bombs began the destruction of the ship. When flames blocked the exit from the bridge, the officers evacuated down a rope, and as Fuchida slid down, an explosion threw him to the deck and broke both his ankles.
Staff officer
After spending several months recuperating, Fuchida spent the rest of the war in Japan as a staff officer. In October 1944, he was promoted to captain. The day before the first atom bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, he was in that city to attend a week-long military conference with Japanese army officers. Fuchida received a long-distance phone call from Navy Headquarters asking him to return to Tokyo. The day after the bombing, he returned to Hiroshima with a party sent to assess the damage. All members of Fuchida's party later died of radiation poisoning, but Fuchida exhibited no symptoms. Fuchida's military career ended with his demobilization in November 1945.Postwar activities
After the war, Fuchida was called on to testify at the trials of some of the Japanese military for Japanese war crimes. This infuriated him as he believed this was little more than "victors' justice". In the spring of 1947, convinced that the Americans had treated the Japanese the same way and determined to bring that evidence to the next trial, Fuchida went to Uraga Harbor near Yokosuka to meet a group of returning Japanese prisoners of war. He was surprised to find his former flight engineer, Kazuo Kanegasaki, who all had believed had died in the Battle of Midway. When questioned, Kanegasaki told Fuchida that they were not tortured or abused, much to Fuchida's surprise, and then went on to tell him of a young lady, Peggy Covell, who served them with the deepest love and respect, but whose parents, missionaries, had been killed by Japanese soldiers on the island of Panay in the Philippines. For Fuchida, this was inexplicable, as in the Bushido code revenge was not only permitted, it was "a responsibility" for an offended party to carry out revenge to restore honor. The murderer of one's parents would be a sworn enemy for life. He became almost obsessed trying to understand why anyone would treat their enemies with love and forgiveness. In the fall of 1948, Fuchida was passing by the bronze statue of Hachikō at the Shibuya Station when he was handed a pamphlet about the life of Jacob DeShazer, a member of the Doolittle Raid who was captured by the Japanese after his B-25 bomber ran out of fuel over occupied China. In the pamphlet, "I Was a Prisoner of Japan"[12] DeShazer, a former U.S. Army Air Forces staff sergeant and bombardier, told his story of imprisonment, torture and his account of an "awakening to God."[13] This experience increased Fuchida's curiosity of the Christian faith. In September 1949, after reading the Bible for himself, he became a Christian. In May 1950, Fuchida and DeShazer met for the first time.[14] Fuchida created the Captain Fuchida Evangelistical Association based in Seattle, Washington and spoke full-time of his conversion to the Christian faith in presentations titled "From Pearl Harbor To Calvary". In 1951, Fuchida, along with a colleague, published an account of the Battle of Midway from the Japanese side. In 1952, he toured the United States as a member of the Worldwide Christian Missionary Army of Sky Pilots. Fuchida remained dedicated to a similar initiative as the group for the remainder of his life. In February 1954, Reader's Digest published Fuchida's story of the attack on Pearl Harbor.[15] Fuchida also wrote and co-wrote books, including From Pearl Harbor to Golgotha, a.k.a. From Pearl Harbor to Calvary, and a 1955 expansion of his 1951 book Midway, a.k.a. Midway: The Battle that Doomed Japan, the Japanese Navy's Story. His autobiography, titled "Shinjuwan Kogeki no Sotaicho no Kaiso", was published in Japan in 2007. This was translated into English by Douglas Shinsato and Tadanori Urabe and published in 2011 under the title, "For That One Day: The Memoirs of Mitsuo Fuchida, Commander of the Attack on Pearl Harbor". Fuchida's story is also recounted in God's Samurai: Lead Pilot at Pearl Harbor by Donald Goldstein, Katherine V. Dillon and Gordon W. Prange. According to Fuchida's son, his father had a green card allowing permanent residence in the U.S. but he never obtained U.S. citizenship. This is contrary to the assertions of several authors. Fuchida died of complications caused by diabetes in Kashiwara, near Osaka on 30 May 1976 at the age of 73.
Published works
· From Pearl Harbor to Calvary, originally published as From Pearl Harbor to Golgotha, is the story of Fuchida's Christian conversion.
09-07-2018, 11:44 PM
Actually, Fuchida was a self serving fraud that wanted to be known as "THE SOURCE" for information on the Kido Butai. His book on Midway was actually discredited and called a work of fiction back in the early 1970s by JAPANESE military scholars. When in became known that most of the information in his book was based on a rough draft of a document known as "The Nagumo Report", the official Battle of Midway after action report authored by the staff of Vice Admiral Nagumo, and that some facts were "doctored" to make his superiors look bad and Fuchida look better than he actually was, the book was quickly removed from public access. Fuchida's changes made Nagumo look like a coward at Pearl Harbor for not launching a third wave against the badly battered US forces and facilities still there, a defeated sulking loser that hid in his cabin on the light cruiser Nagara after losing three carriers at Midway that had turned tactical command of Kido Butai over to a subordinate, Rear Admiral Yamaguchi, instead of a man that was, in truth, standing on the Nagara's bridge looking for ways to catch the American carrier forces by surprise and force a surface fight, something that American Rear Admirals Fletcher and Spruance both worked hard(and successfully) to avoid. The most obvious evidence against Fuchida was that his "Fateful Five Minutes" story was totally destroyed by a piece of evidence found by the team of researchers working with Jonathan Parshall in researching his book "Shattered Sword". The air operations logs for all four Japanese carriers survived the battle(as well as the war) and showed how fighters that were on combat air patrol had landed on several of the Japanese carriers less the 30 minutes before being hit by Dauntless dive bombers. Had Fuchida's story been correct, this would not have been possible as planes spotted and warming up for launch would have been on the rear half of the flight deck, rendering landing operations impossible. It was also discovered that it would have taken at least 45 minutes to spot and warm up the planes, not less than 30(in one case roughly 10 minutes) as would have been required to make Fuchida's story plausible. Unfortunately, Fuchida's book was used by many AMERICAN history scholars as the basis of their books on Midway. Even today, school history books all across the US still "parrot" Fuchida's fictional story of how Kido Butai met it's demise, up to and including how the carrier Hiryu survived the attack due to it's lucky positioning several miles to the north east of the other three carriers due to avoiding earlier US attacks. Even this was found to be false as Hiryu was actually attacked by the USS Yorktown's Torpedo 3 during the bombing of the Akagi, Kaga and Soryu. The reason Hiryu survived is that the air group Commander from the USS Hornet totally missed the Japanese fleet with his two dive bomber squadrons and that Admiral Fletcher held back the Yorktown's Scouting 5, just in case another carrier showed up. Had Scouting 5 been allowed to join the attack and hit the Hiryu at the same time the others were hit, the Yorktown would probably have survived the battle and given the US Navy another badly needed flight deck a few months later in the Solomon Islands, a theater of operations that cost the US the carriers Wasp and Hornet, torpedo damage to the Saratoga and bomb damage to the Enterprise.
Last edited by Hydro Junkie; 09-08-2018 at 12:00 AM.
09-08-2018, 04:40 AM
My Feedback: (6)
The combination of "ten years' combat experience" and carriers was the key to this one. Figured it had to be a Japanese pilot.
This one should go pretty quickly. I hope.
Looking for the name of a pilot.
1. An ace.
2. Not a spectacularly high-scoring ace, but he is one of a small number of pilots to have achieved a particular kind of success during the one war he fought in.
This one should go pretty quickly. I hope.
Looking for the name of a pilot.
1. An ace.
2. Not a spectacularly high-scoring ace, but he is one of a small number of pilots to have achieved a particular kind of success during the one war he fought in.
09-08-2018, 05:53 AM
Senior Member
My Feedback: (3)
Actually, Fuchida was a self serving fraud that wanted to be known as "THE SOURCE" for information on the Kido Butai. His book on Midway was actually discredited and called a work of fiction back in the early 1970s by JAPANESE military scholars. When in became known that most of the information in his book was based on a rough draft of a document known as "The Nagumo Report", the official Battle of Midway after action report authored by the staff of Vice Admiral Nagumo, and that some facts were "doctored" to make his superiors look bad and Fuchida look better than he actually was, the book was quickly removed from public access. Fuchida's changes made Nagumo look like a coward at Pearl Harbor for not launching a third wave against the badly battered US forces and facilities still there, a defeated sulking loser that hid in his cabin on the light cruiser Nagara after losing three carriers at Midway that had turned tactical command of Kido Butai over to a subordinate, Rear Admiral Yamaguchi, instead of a man that was, in truth, standing on the Nagara's bridge looking for ways to catch the American carrier forces by surprise and force a surface fight, something that American Rear Admirals Fletcher and Spruance both worked hard(and successfully) to avoid. The most obvious evidence against Fuchida was that his "Fateful Five Minutes" story was totally destroyed by a piece of evidence found by the team of researchers working with Jonathan Parshall in researching his book "Shattered Sword". The air operations logs for all four Japanese carriers survived the battle(as well as the war) and showed how fighters that were on combat air patrol had landed on several of the Japanese carriers less the 30 minutes before being hit by Dauntless dive bombers. Had Fuchida's story been correct, this would not have been possible as planes spotted and warming up for launch would have been on the rear half of the flight deck, rendering landing operations impossible. It was also discovered that it would have taken at least 45 minutes to spot and warm up the planes, not less than 30(in one case roughly 10 minutes) as would have been required to make Fuchida's story plausible. Unfortunately, Fuchida's book was used by many AMERICAN history scholars as the basis of their books on Midway. Even today, school history books all across the US still "parrot" Fuchida's fictional story of how Kido Butai met it's demise, up to and including how the carrier Hiryu survived the attack due to it's lucky positioning several miles to the north east of the other three carriers due to avoiding earlier US attacks. Even this was found to be false as Hiryu was actually attacked by the USS Yorktown's Torpedo 3 during the bombing of the Akagi, Kaga and Soryu. The reason Hiryu survived is that the air group Commander from the USS Hornet totally missed the Japanese fleet with his two dive bomber squadrons and that Admiral Fletcher held back the Yorktown's Scouting 5, just in case another carrier showed up. Had Scouting 5 been allowed to join the attack and hit the Hiryu at the same time the others were hit, the Yorktown would probably have survived the battle and given the US Navy another badly needed flight deck a few months later in the Solomon Islands, a theater of operations that cost the US the carriers Wasp and Hornet, torpedo damage to the Saratoga and bomb damage to the Enterprise.
09-08-2018, 06:41 PM
Ernie, I don't have a problem with that approach. It tends to stick with what we have all been taught over the years without making waves that don't really need to be made. I personally have no issue with calling out someone that was trying to twist things to benefit that person, in this case, Fuchida .
Sparky, the issue with Fuchida is he was, as stated by Parshall, a man with an agenda. Aiding him was the fact that he was at Pearl Harbor and Midway, though he wasn't in the "Inner Circle" of Nagumo's staff. He was just the air group commander of the fleet flagship and on the outside looking in. His story was, unfortunately, quickly grabbed by western scholars and taken as fact, without doing any checking of the other sources of information that were then available as well as other sources of written documentation that still are available that were used by Parshall. His story was then included into just about every book written about Midway, including the books "Miracle at Midway" and "Incredible Victory". Both told the story from the US perspective but still used Fuchida's doctored version as part of the story about how the Japanese ships were sunk. What wasn't said in either Fuchida's or the other two books is that the US aviators DID NOT sink any of the Japanese carriers destroyed at Midway. They left them burned out hulks that were later sunk by torpedoes fired by their escorting destroyers.
Sparky, the issue with Fuchida is he was, as stated by Parshall, a man with an agenda. Aiding him was the fact that he was at Pearl Harbor and Midway, though he wasn't in the "Inner Circle" of Nagumo's staff. He was just the air group commander of the fleet flagship and on the outside looking in. His story was, unfortunately, quickly grabbed by western scholars and taken as fact, without doing any checking of the other sources of information that were then available as well as other sources of written documentation that still are available that were used by Parshall. His story was then included into just about every book written about Midway, including the books "Miracle at Midway" and "Incredible Victory". Both told the story from the US perspective but still used Fuchida's doctored version as part of the story about how the Japanese ships were sunk. What wasn't said in either Fuchida's or the other two books is that the US aviators DID NOT sink any of the Japanese carriers destroyed at Midway. They left them burned out hulks that were later sunk by torpedoes fired by their escorting destroyers.
09-08-2018, 08:35 PM
Senior Member
My Feedback: (3)
Ernie, I don't have a problem with that approach. It tends to stick with what we have all been taught over the years without making waves that don't really need to be made. I personally have no issue with calling out someone that was trying to twist things to benefit that person, in this case, Fuchida .
Sparky, the issue with Fuchida is he was, as stated by Parshall, a man with an agenda. Aiding him was the fact that he was at Pearl Harbor and Midway, though he wasn't in the "Inner Circle" of Nagumo's staff. He was just the air group commander of the fleet flagship and on the outside looking in. His story was, unfortunately, quickly grabbed by western scholars and taken as fact, without doing any checking of the other sources of information that were then available as well as other sources of written documentation that still are available that were used by Parshall. His story was then included into just about every book written about Midway, including the books "Miracle at Midway" and "Incredible Victory". Both told the story from the US perspective but still used Fuchida's doctored version as part of the story about how the Japanese ships were sunk. What wasn't said in either Fuchida's or the other two books is that the US aviators DID NOT sink any of the Japanese carriers destroyed at Midway. They left them burned out hulks that were later sunk by torpedoes fired by their escorting destroyers.
Sparky, the issue with Fuchida is he was, as stated by Parshall, a man with an agenda. Aiding him was the fact that he was at Pearl Harbor and Midway, though he wasn't in the "Inner Circle" of Nagumo's staff. He was just the air group commander of the fleet flagship and on the outside looking in. His story was, unfortunately, quickly grabbed by western scholars and taken as fact, without doing any checking of the other sources of information that were then available as well as other sources of written documentation that still are available that were used by Parshall. His story was then included into just about every book written about Midway, including the books "Miracle at Midway" and "Incredible Victory". Both told the story from the US perspective but still used Fuchida's doctored version as part of the story about how the Japanese ships were sunk. What wasn't said in either Fuchida's or the other two books is that the US aviators DID NOT sink any of the Japanese carriers destroyed at Midway. They left them burned out hulks that were later sunk by torpedoes fired by their escorting destroyers.
09-09-2018, 02:24 AM
Now that is an interesting point, Hydro Junkie; although it is perhaps a distinction without a difference. Sort of like the German claim that the Bismarck wasn't actually sunk by the British, but rather scuttled by her crew. Either way, she was finished; just as were the Japanese carriers. But you do make an interesting point; and you are correct. Interesting that Fuchida ended his days as an evangelist of sorts; though perhaps one not too closely allied to the truth. Thanks for adding to our collective knowledge. Thanks; Ernie P.
For the German Kreigsmarine, blowing up the Spee and scuttling the Bismarck were acts of national pride. The fact that the British didn't sink them showed to the world, at least in the eyes of the German people, the superiority of the German warships. This was verified when the Bismarck was found, and surveyed, to be the truth. The torpedo bulkheads inside the Bismarck's hull were found to be intact, proving that the British weren't able to sink her. The fact that the Spee's destruction was witnessed by thousands of people, the British couldn't claim they sank her either.
For the Japanese, the loss of four carriers was something that had to be hidden, at all costs, from the Japanese people. In fact, the cover up went up to the top in that it was sanctioned by the Emperor. To keep the crew's survivors from talking after returning to Japan, the injured were placed in restricted wards in the hospitals until they were fit to go back to duty. None of the survivors were allowed to see family. They were all sent, when cleared to return to duty, back to the fleet's forward units where, sadly, most would be killed in combat. The fleet commander and staff were given another carrier force until relieved a year later. Vice Admiral Nagumo would end up committing suicide on Saipan in 1944, rather than be captured by the Americans as the last of the island's defenders were "defeated". To cover up the fact that the carriers were scuttled, the orders sent by the Nagara were "removed" from the ship's communication records and log book as well as those of the destroyers who were tasked with actually firing the torpedoes that sank them, with the exception of the Hiryu, which was ordered sunk by Rear Admiral Yamaguchi just before ordering the ship abandoned. There was no radio message sent as it was a verbal order relayed by an officer to the commanding officer of one of it's escorting destroyers. Unlike the other carriers, however, the Hiryu took several hours to sink rather than minutes. Something else that is noteworthy is that only one carrier commander survived the Battle of Midway. The captain of the Akagi was actually ordered to leave his ship due to the fact it was going to be scuttled. The captains of the Hiryu and Soryu both went down with their ships, along with Admiral Yamaguchi. The command staff of the Kaga was the exception to the rule of going down with the ship voluntarily in that it was wiped out by a bomb that landed on top the the island, killing everyone on the bridge instantly
Last edited by Hydro Junkie; 09-09-2018 at 02:32 AM.
09-09-2018, 05:06 AM
My Feedback: (6)
Today's clue:
Looking for the name of a pilot.
1. An ace.
2. Not a spectacularly high-scoring ace, but he is one of a small number of pilots to have achieved a particular kind of success during the one war he fought in.
3. He is remembered today not for his score, not primarily for the kind of success mentioned in clue no. 2, but mostly for what he did on one particular flight.
Looking for the name of a pilot.
1. An ace.
2. Not a spectacularly high-scoring ace, but he is one of a small number of pilots to have achieved a particular kind of success during the one war he fought in.
3. He is remembered today not for his score, not primarily for the kind of success mentioned in clue no. 2, but mostly for what he did on one particular flight.
09-09-2018, 08:35 AM
Senior Member
My Feedback: (3)
But there is a very large difference between the the destruction of the Bismarck and, for that matter, the Graf Spee when compared to the four carriers the Japanese lost at Midway.
For the German Kreigsmarine, blowing up the Spee and scuttling the Bismarck were acts of national pride. The fact that the British didn't sink them showed to the world, at least in the eyes of the German people, the superiority of the German warships. This was verified when the Bismarck was found, and surveyed, to be the truth. The torpedo bulkheads inside the Bismarck's hull were found to be intact, proving that the British weren't able to sink her. The fact that the Spee's destruction was witnessed by thousands of people, the British couldn't claim they sank her either.
For the Japanese, the loss of four carriers was something that had to be hidden, at all costs, from the Japanese people. In fact, the cover up went up to the top in that it was sanctioned by the Emperor. To keep the crew's survivors from talking after returning to Japan, the injured were placed in restricted wards in the hospitals until they were fit to go back to duty. None of the survivors were allowed to see family. They were all sent, when cleared to return to duty, back to the fleet's forward units where, sadly, most would be killed in combat. The fleet commander and staff were given another carrier force until relieved a year later. Vice Admiral Nagumo would end up committing suicide on Saipan in 1944, rather than be captured by the Americans as the last of the island's defenders were "defeated". To cover up the fact that the carriers were scuttled, the orders sent by the Nagara were "removed" from the ship's communication records and log book as well as those of the destroyers who were tasked with actually firing the torpedoes that sank them, with the exception of the Hiryu, which was ordered sunk by Rear Admiral Yamaguchi just before ordering the ship abandoned. There was no radio message sent as it was a verbal order relayed by an officer to the commanding officer of one of it's escorting destroyers. Unlike the other carriers, however, the Hiryu took several hours to sink rather than minutes. Something else that is noteworthy is that only one carrier commander survived the Battle of Midway. The captain of the Akagi was actually ordered to leave his ship due to the fact it was going to be scuttled. The captains of the Hiryu and Soryu both went down with their ships, along with Admiral Yamaguchi. The command staff of the Kaga was the exception to the rule of going down with the ship voluntarily in that it was wiped out by a bomb that landed on top the the island, killing everyone on the bridge instantly
For the German Kreigsmarine, blowing up the Spee and scuttling the Bismarck were acts of national pride. The fact that the British didn't sink them showed to the world, at least in the eyes of the German people, the superiority of the German warships. This was verified when the Bismarck was found, and surveyed, to be the truth. The torpedo bulkheads inside the Bismarck's hull were found to be intact, proving that the British weren't able to sink her. The fact that the Spee's destruction was witnessed by thousands of people, the British couldn't claim they sank her either.
For the Japanese, the loss of four carriers was something that had to be hidden, at all costs, from the Japanese people. In fact, the cover up went up to the top in that it was sanctioned by the Emperor. To keep the crew's survivors from talking after returning to Japan, the injured were placed in restricted wards in the hospitals until they were fit to go back to duty. None of the survivors were allowed to see family. They were all sent, when cleared to return to duty, back to the fleet's forward units where, sadly, most would be killed in combat. The fleet commander and staff were given another carrier force until relieved a year later. Vice Admiral Nagumo would end up committing suicide on Saipan in 1944, rather than be captured by the Americans as the last of the island's defenders were "defeated". To cover up the fact that the carriers were scuttled, the orders sent by the Nagara were "removed" from the ship's communication records and log book as well as those of the destroyers who were tasked with actually firing the torpedoes that sank them, with the exception of the Hiryu, which was ordered sunk by Rear Admiral Yamaguchi just before ordering the ship abandoned. There was no radio message sent as it was a verbal order relayed by an officer to the commanding officer of one of it's escorting destroyers. Unlike the other carriers, however, the Hiryu took several hours to sink rather than minutes. Something else that is noteworthy is that only one carrier commander survived the Battle of Midway. The captain of the Akagi was actually ordered to leave his ship due to the fact it was going to be scuttled. The captains of the Hiryu and Soryu both went down with their ships, along with Admiral Yamaguchi. The command staff of the Kaga was the exception to the rule of going down with the ship voluntarily in that it was wiped out by a bomb that landed on top the the island, killing everyone on the bridge instantly
09-09-2018, 08:40 AM
Senior Member
My Feedback: (3)
Today's clue:
Looking for the name of a pilot.
1. An ace.
2. Not a spectacularly high-scoring ace, but he is one of a small number of pilots to have achieved a particular kind of success during the one war he fought in.
3. He is remembered today not for his score, not primarily for the kind of success mentioned in clue no. 2, but mostly for what he did on one particular flight.
Looking for the name of a pilot.
1. An ace.
2. Not a spectacularly high-scoring ace, but he is one of a small number of pilots to have achieved a particular kind of success during the one war he fought in.
3. He is remembered today not for his score, not primarily for the kind of success mentioned in clue no. 2, but mostly for what he did on one particular flight.
Captain John Lightfoot Trollope MC* (30 May 1897 – 21 October 1958) was a British First World Warflying ace, credited with eighteen aerial victories, including seven on one day, the first British pilot to do so.