Sadamu Komachi

Sadamu Komachi
Komachi aboard the carrier Shōkaku in early 1942.
Born (1920-04-18)18 April 1920
Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan
Died 15 July 2012(2012-07-15) (aged 92)
Allegiance Empire of Japan
Service/branch Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJN)
Rank Warrant Officer
Unit Shōkaku
Ōmura Air Group
204th Air Group
253rd Air Group
Yokosuka Air Group
Battles/wars World War II:
Attack on Pearl Harbor
Indian Ocean raid
Battle of the Coral Sea
Battle of the Eastern Solomons
Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands
Solomon Islands Campaign
Operation Hailstone
Battle of the Philippine Sea

Sadamu Komachi (小町 定, Komachi Sadamu, 18 April 1920 – 15 July 2012) was an ace fighter pilot in the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during World War II. Participating in many of the Pacific War battles and campaigns as a member of several units, Komachi was officially credited with destroying 18 enemy aircraft. He was badly burned during the Battle of the Philippine Sea, when his fighter was shot down near Guam by American carrier fighters. Nevertheless, Komachi survived the war.

Komachi participated in the last Air engagement of World War II 18 August 1945, when he attacked two B-32 Dominators on a photo-reconnaissance mission over Tokyo. One bomber received damage and suffered one crew fatality, but both aircraft returned to Yontan Airfield, Okinawa.[1]

In 1992 Komachi attended a symposium at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida about the Battle of the Coral Sea, as a guest panelist.

Komachi died of natural causes on 15 July 2012. He was 92.[2]

References

  1. ↑ "The Last to Die | Military Aviation | Air & Space Magazine". Airspacemag.com. Retrieved 2012-07-18.
  2. ↑ 訃報 [Obituary]. Sankei Shimbun (in Japanese). July 18, 2012. 社会面 [society and local news].
Sources
  • Hata, Ikuhiko; Yasuho Izawa (1989) [1975]. Japanese Naval Aces and Fighter Units in World War II. Translated by Don Cyril Gorham. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-315-6.
  • Sakaida, Henry (2002). Aces of the Rising Sun, 1937–1945. Great Britain: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-84176-618-6.


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