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太田敏夫

Flight Warrant Officer Imperial Japanese Navy

War record

Born to a farming family in Nagasaki Prefecture; 1935 enlisted as a seaman at the Sasebo Naval Barracks → 1939.9 completed the 46th Pilot Trainee Course and became a fighter pilot → via the Omura and Yatabe Naval Air Groups he was posted in 1941.6 to the 12th Naval Air Group (moved up to Hankou; no chance of air combat) → 1941.10 transferred to the Tainan Naval Air Group, fighting through the Philippines and the Netherlands East Indies → his first victory came on 8 December, the opening day of the war, in the attack on Luzon → 1942.1.29 fought B-17s over Balikpapan and was hit and wounded → 1942.4 moved up to Rabaul as a member of 笹井's squadron, competing in scores with 坂井, 西沢 and others → from August he took part in the daily attacks on Guadalcanal → missing after shooting down one enemy aircraft in the air combat of 1942.10.21; officially declared killed

On one occasion, pursued a B-17 single-handedly for over an hour above Lae and shot it down

Unit: 12空→台南空（笹井中隊）
Victories: 34 (official credit)sources differ

No fragment for this person is in the Archive yet.

What is still not known

Photograph: none yet. Unless a person was reported on during the war, almost no portrait survives that is free to use ⚪️
Afterwards: how he lived after the war is not written in this source.

This card is made only of facts copied from one book 🟡 index. It is not a biography. An empty field means the book does not say. Nothing has been filled in by guesswork.

Source: Japanese Naval Fighter Units, p.178

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