Air battle 25 December 1944 near Clark field
 

Good Morning

Does anybody have information on the Japanese air units that defended Clark field on 25 December 1944, where 3 P-38's of the 431st FS, 475th FG were lost resulting in 2 pilot MIA/KIA and 1 WIA later recovered and any known claims by Japanese pilots, it appears that Zeros were involved .

Any help appreciated
thx in advance

Re: Air battle 25 December 1944 near Clark field
 

Here's the website with the Japanese JNAF and JAAF experts:

https://www.j-aircraft.org/smf/

You might want to post your question there.

L. deZ.

Re: Air battle 25 December 1944 near Clark field
 

This snippet is from "Japanese Naval Fighter Aces" By Hata,Izawa and Shores.(p108)
[F]our day later (Dec 24,44) 25 IJN and 20 more from surviving IJAAF units undertook an interception over Clark where 8 victories were claimed...During two further interceptions next day, two veterans...of S308, 221 Kokutai were amongst those lost."

The 1st Sentai IJAAF also lost a pilot on Dec 25,1944.

Re: Air battle 25 December 1944 near Clark field
 

221 Kō was based at:
23 Oct 44 - Aug 45: Mabalacat/Luzon
This was a satellite of Clark located just off the north end. Mabalacat had two fighter strips: one 1500x300 and the other 1400x150. Angeles was a satellite complex of 4 or 5 fighter strips just to the southeast of Clark.
Construction of all 6 or 7 airstrips was completed in September 1944.


221 Kōkūtai

also as: Arashi Kōkūtai (“Storm” Air Group)


Formed 15 January 1944 at Kasanbara NAS/S Kyūshū with an allowance of 54 carrier fighters plus 18 more in reserve. Assigned to 62d Air Flotilla.

History
Feb - Jun 44: training at Kasanbara - by the end of June the Kōkūtai had a total of 38 Mitsubishi A6M Type 0 carrier fighters (Zero or ZEKE) on strength.
15 Jun 44: reassigned from 62d Air Flotilla to 2d Air Fleet.
10 Jul 44: expanded, reorganized into four tactical components: Fighter Hikōtai S-308 at Kasanbara NAS with an allowance of 48 carrier fighters, Fighter Hikōtai S-312 and S-313 at Kasanbara NAS each with 48 carrier fighters and Fighter Hikōtai S-407 at Kagoshima NAS/S Kyūshū likewise with 48 carrier fighters.
Aug 44: Hikōtai 312 with 51 Zeros moved temporarily to Shinchiku (Hsin-chu)/NW Formosa for air defense and convoy escort.
12-14 Oct 44: S-312 flew intercept and escort for land attack planes and carrier bombers during the massive strike on Formosa by Task Force 38's 17 carriers and claimed 23 victories for a loss of 17. Meanwhile, the main body of the group moved from Kyūshū to Shinchiku and Taichū (T’ai-chung)/NW Formosa from 14 to 18 October with 70 Zeros.
23 Oct 44: 60 Zeros transferred from Formosa to Angeles airfield on Luzon in the Philippines and the next day commenced attacks on the Allied beachhead on Leyte and the invasion shipping offshore. Operating from various bases around the Philippines, the group was quickly chewed up in the intense fighting over the next month.
Dec 44: Fighter Hikōtai S-303, S-304, S-315 and S-317 assigned to the group, but it is not thought that these had very many planes on strength or in a serviceable state.
20 Dec 44: Hikōtai S-308 transferred to Angeles with 20 Zeros, probably coming from Japan or Formosa and not previously committed in the Philippines.
26 Dec 44: group decimated following 12 days of furious air action against Allied landings on Mindoro Is., just south of Luzon, on 15 December.
8 Jan 45: reassigned to 1st Air Fleet this date and the group commander and all surviving pilots were ordered evacuated to Formosa while the remaining ground servicing and maintenance personnel were reorganized on 17 January (officially on 5 February) under 26th Air Flotilla as naval infantry and were deployed in the hills west of the Mabalacat-Clark air base complex, holding out against U.S. infantry until 6 April. Other personnel of the former group fought on as part of the Japanese Army in the mountains of Luzon to the end of the war. The Kōkūtai was never officially deactivated or disbanded prior to the end of hostilities.


Commander:
Lt.Cdr. Ichirō HIMENO (Jan 44 - Jul 44)
Capt. Masahisa SAITŌ (Jul 44 - Nov 44)
Cdr. Katsutoshi YAGI (Nov 44 - Feb 45)
Lt.Cdr. Tadao SAEKI (Feb 45 - Aug 45)


Hikōtai Components
S-313: 10 Jul 44 - 1 Feb 45
S-303: 15 Dec 44 - 1 Jan 45
S-312: 10 Jul - 20 Dec 44
S-315: 15 Dec 44 - 5 Feb 45
S-308: 10 Jul - 15 Nov 44
S-308: 20 Dec 44 - 1 Feb 45
S-407: 10 Jul - 15 Nov 44
S-317: 20 Dec 44 - 5 Feb 45
S-304: 15 Nov 44 - 10 Jan 45


Summary of Stations
15 Jan - 23 Oct 44: Kasanbara/S Kyūshū with elements at:
Kasumigaura/E Honshū (25 Feb - 7 Mar)
Katori/E Honshū (20-24 May)
Kisarazu/E Honshū (15-29 Jun)
Kagoshima/S Kyūshū (Aug - Sep)
Shinchiku/NW Formosa (Aug - Sep)
23 Oct 44 - Aug 45: Mabalacat/Luzon

Re: Air battle 25 December 1944 near Clark field
 

1 Flying Regiment (1 Hikō Sentai)
(Operational Code: 133 and 8301)

//Extract//
Transferred from Kashiwa to Gannosu in N Kyūshū toward the end of Aug to reinforce air defenses over western Honshū and Kyūshū in response to increased B-29 Superfortress activity. From there ordered to Clark Field on Luzon in the Philippines on 15-17 Oct with 41 FRANKs on strength as part of the SHO-Go 1 and 2 contingency plan build-up, staging through Shanghai and Taichu on Formosa.

Oct 44 – Feb 45: during the last week of Oct and the month of Nov, flew air defense of the Manila area and fighter escort for special attack (Kamikaze) missions directed against Allied landings on Leyte, with many of the latter being staged from Manapla airfield on Negros in the Central Philippines. By 28 Nov 44 all assigned aircraft had been destroyed in the air or on the ground by U.S. carrier planes. Surviving pilots were transported to Shimodate near Tokyo, re-equipped with new Ki-84 FRANKs, and immediately returned to the Philippines. Based at Porac near Clark Field, flew escort and fighter-bomber attacks on Allied invasion shipping around Mindoro Is. On 5 Jan 45, for example, 5 Ki-84s struck a large convoy bound for Lingayen Gulf in C Luzon, hitting at least one transport in the stern with a 550-lb. bomb; 3 of the 5 FRANKs were lost to fighters and AA fire. Again out of planes, surviving pilots were withdrawn to Chaochou/Formosa in mid-Jan 45 and from there departed without aircraft in early Mar for Shimodate to rebuild.
//End Extract//

Commander:
Maj. Shunsuke MATSUMURA (Mar 43 - Oct 44) KIA
Capt. Shigeharu HASHIMOTO (Nov 44 - Dec 44) KIA

Sources:
JM#151; JM#157; SRH-258; Izawa-Fighters.
Aircam #29; JM#12; SRH-258; Izawa-Fighters.

Note:
Porac, 12 km southwest of Clark, had a single airstrip measuring 1800x250.

Re: Air battle 25 December 1944 near Clark field
 

Good Morning
Thank you all for the information

Santiago