半田亘理

War record

1928 entered the Navy → 1933.3 completed the 19th pilot trainee course → carriers and battleships, the 〔Omura〕 and 〔Yokosuka Naval Air Groups〕 → 1937.8 the outbreak of the China Incident (Shanghai front; a 26-year-old Aviation Petty Officer 1st Class) → 9.7 combat with seven Curtiss Hawks over Lake Tai (one shot down, his first) → 9.20 the raid on Nanjing (three shot down) → 1938.6 transferred to the 〔15th Naval Air Group〕 (the Nanchang air battles; six shot down by the time he returned home in November) → 1940.11 promoted Flight Warrant Officer and discharged → recalled the same day → 1942.2 transferred to the Tainan Naval Air Group (fought through the Netherlands East Indies, Rabaul and New Guinea) → at the end of that year his tuberculosis worsened and he was sent home; after six years of illness he died of his war-related illness in 1948.