阿部健市
阿部健市
Senior Flight Petty Officer Imperial Japanese NavyWar record
Born in a fishing village in Oita Prefecture; graduated from the 9th Otsu-class Yokaren in 1941.10, just before the outbreak of war with the United States → at first trained as a dive-bomber pilot at the Usa Naval Air Group → retrained on fighters, completing extended training at the Omura Naval Air Group in 1942.2 → posted to the fighter unit attached to the headquarters of the 22nd Air Flotilla and sent to the southern front (no chance of air combat) → 1942.4 transferred to the fighter unit of the Kanoya Naval Air Group (later the 253rd Naval Air Group) → 1942.9 moved up to Rabaul → first combat in the attack on Guadalcanal on 1942.9.29, sharing 4 victories with his section leader, PO1c 大倉積 → fought through the air battles over the Solomons and eastern New Guinea, building up his score → 1943.4.1 shot down 2 F6Fs in combat over the Russell Islands (his last victories) → 1943.5.6 wounded with a fracture and sent back to Japan; he did not fly again before the war ended
- Unit
- 22航戦司付→鹿屋空(253空)
- Victories
- 確実5・不確実5・共同5機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 ⚪️
- The man himself: where he was can be traced, but what he was like cannot be told from this source.
- 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.238
As written in the book. Other sources date the F6F's combat debut to the latter half of 1943.
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