Saburo Sakai

[Nick Hector]

Thanks Focusfocus,

The story was very "controversial" during my time in the RAAF so it is interesting to be able to ask about it here on the forum

Nick

[knusel]

Originally Posted by Flavio

Dear Michael,

I don't speak Japanese too!

Anyway when I bought this book years ago I also bought a Japanese dictionary; thanks to it, leafing page after page (at that time Google translator was a dream...) I was able to understand the meaning of some ideograms (kanji). In detail the first shared victory is the B-17 on Feb 8th, the second the B-25 on May 14th...look at the ideogram at the end and you'll find the other shared. The ideogram on May 17th means "probable" (on that day Sakai claimed 2 P-39s sures + 1 probable) while the second B-26 on May 28th was "damaged".

focusfocus thanks for adding details; you are right I checked my copy of "Winged Samurai" where is quoted that the list has been taken from Sakai's logbook (unfortunately I gained my second-hand copy of this book some times after the Japanese dictionary....). However I think also Sakai's logbook is an "official" document even if there are discordances if compared to Tainan KODOCHOSHO.

Flavio

Hello Flavio,

I counted the claims on the list with the ideogram knowledge:
- 4 Destroyed in the China War
- 54+19 shared Destroyed in WW2
- 1 Probable in WW2
- 1 Damaged in WW2
- 7+1 shared On the ground in WW2

I suppose, the 17Aug1945 claim is a shared ground kill, isn't it ?
Do the ideograms tell us how many pilots took part in the shared kills ?

Cheers,

Michael

[Juha]

Hello Michael
IIRC In Samurai! the 17 Aug 45 case is described as an unofficial aerial kill. Also IIRC in an article on B-32s the aerial combat is describded. IMHO at that stage a ground kill isn't very probable.

Juha

[Flavio]

Originally Posted by knusel

Hello Flavio,

I counted the claims on the list with the ideogram knowledge:
- 4 Destroyed in the China War
- 54+19 shared Destroyed in WW2
- 1 Probable in WW2
- 1 Damaged in WW2
- 7+1 shared On the ground in WW2

I suppose, the 17Aug1945 claim is a shared ground kill, isn't it ?
Do the ideograms tell us how many pilots took part in the shared kills ?

Cheers,

Michael

Dear Michael,

the victory of 17th May 1945, according to the kanji, was "Shared" + "damaged".

The kanji for "on the ground" are the first two ideograms on 3 March a PBY officially "on the ground" + "damaged".

Flavio

[knusel]

...alright, I understand, very intresting, thank you.
Now the only ideogram that is unclear to me is the first one of 8Feb1942:
B-17x1...?...shared.
Can you help ?

Michael

[Flavio]

Originally Posted by knusel

...alright, I understand, very intresting, thank you.
Now the only ideogram that is unclear to me is the first one of 8Feb1942:
B-17x1...?...shared.
Can you help ?

Michael

I am not 100% sure, I think it is a different way to say "Shared"... :-)

Flavio

[knusel]

Hello,

is there any chance to learn how many pilots took part in the shared kills ?


Have a nice weekend,

Michael

[focusfocus]

If it will help you:

14/5/42 = shared with six pilots

20/5/42 = shared with one pilot

11/7/42 = shared with seven pilots

26/7/42 = shared with ten pilots

2/8/42 = shared with nine pilots

8/2/42 = shared with nine pilots

[knusel]

Dear focusfocus,

this helps a lot. Thank you very much.
Only few questions remain:

1. You write about a shared kill on 11/7/42. On that day there isn't a shared kill indicated in Sakai's list. Do you mean the shared kill on 22/7/42 ?
2. How many pilots shared in the six kills on 25/5/42 ?
3. How many pilots shared in the kill on 30/7/42 ?
4. 8/12/42: I suppose the "damaged on the ground" indication is only for the 2xB-17's, whereas the P-40 is an aerial kill ?
5. There are 4 Chinese-Japanese-War kills on the list, whereas his score of that war is known to have been only two. Are two of the kills on that list unconfirmed ?

Cheers,

Michael

[focusfocus]

1)
11/07/42
It' a mistake on my part,it must read 22/07/42

2)
25/05/42
Shared by twelve pilots (including Sakai)

3)
30/07/42
Shared by nine pilots (including Sakai)

4)
08/12/42
Two B-17 destroyed on ground
one P-40 :aerial kill

5)
No idea

According of his log book

michel