244th Air Regiment (Hiko Sentai)

War record

20 Jul 1941, formed as the 144th Sentai at the Air Academy at Toyooka, Saitama; capital air defence from Chofu→15 Apr 1942, renamed the 244th (on 18 Apr it chased the B-25s of the Doolittle raid)→Jul 1943, re-equipped with the Type 3 fighter "Hien"→Nov 1944, as B-29 raids on Tokyo began from the Marianas, it formed a dedicated ramming flight→28 Nov 1944, Captain Teruhiko Kobayashi took over — the youngest Sentai commander in the Army fighter arm, who himself rammed a B-29 and parachuted back alive→18 ramming attacks by Apr 1945, seven men killed — the most of any homeland-defence unit; several rammers survived repeatedly→15 Apr 1945, a night interception: 16 shot down, 8 damaged→May 1945, a citation crediting 84 kills (73 of them B-29s) and 94 damaged (92 B-29s)→to Chiran with the new Type 5 fighter, escorting special-attack sorties→3 Jun, fought F4Us over Chiran for seven kills→25 Jul, ambushed an F6F formation over Yokaichi and downed twelve of them→war's end

That twelve-kill fight of 25 July was flown under a grounding order, in the name of "combat training." The commander was first sharply rebuked for defying orders — until word came of the Emperor's own commendation, and everything reversed. Thereafter, the book notes, a staff officer sat watch at unit headquarters until the day the war ended.