山下小四郎
山下小四郎
Lieutenant Junior Grade Imperial Japanese NavyWar record
Born in 1910; 1927.8 entered the Sasebo Naval Barracks (as an engine-room rating) → 1931.5 the 17th pilot trainee class, Kasumigaura Naval Air Group → 〔Omura Naval Air Group〕 / Akagi / 〔Yokosuka Naval Air Group〕 / Kanoya Naval Air Group → the China Incident broke out while he was serving in Ryūjō → 1937.9.21 first victories in the attack on Canton → instructor, Suzuka Naval Air Group → 1940.5 (aged 35) attached to the 〔12th Naval Air Group〕, moved up to Hankou → 1940.9.13 the attack on Chongqing with Zeros (27 shot down, a great success; five of them by him alone) → 3.14 the following year, the attack on Chengdu (three shot down); in a single year he shot down more than ten and became top-scoring ace of the 〔12th Naval Air Group〕 → moved to training the next generation as an instructor at the Kasumigaura, Tainan and Tsuiki Naval Air Groups → 1944.1 attached to Fighter Squadron 204 of the 〔201st Naval Air Group〕, moved up to Palau in the inner South Seas → killed in action on 1944.3.30 in the air battle against a mass raid by US carrier aircraft (aged 39; his first combat of the Pacific War).
His skill was such that he once performed the stunt of looping at just 100 meters above Shiraichi Station
- Unit
- 大村空・赤城・鹿屋空→竜驤→12空
- Victories
- 1年間で10機以上(太平洋戦争では初陣で戦死、総数の明記なし)sources differ
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.227
As written in the book. The birth year (1910) and the ages given do not agree within the book itself.
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