Japanese aircrew bailouts, prisoners?

[Johnny .45]

I was just thinking the other day looking at a photo of an Allied airman being "rescued" and taken prisoner by an Italian patrol floatplane. Since the Japanese infantryman was expected to commit suicide and die gloriously in combat if possible, what was the Japanese policy on bailing out of damaged aircraft, or ditching them? I know I've heard accounts of Japanese pilots trying to ram an enemy target if they were shot down, but what if there is no enemy ships nearby, and you just got pounced and shot down by Hellcats? Are you expected to stay in your plane and die? What if you just have engine problems or run out of fuel over the ocean. To bail out and end up in a life raft puts you in grave danger of being captured without a chance to fight, if an enemy vessel comes across you before a friendly one does.
So did Japanese pilots wear parachutes, and how many of them were "rescued" and taken prisoner after being shot down or ditched?

[Larry deZeng]

Policy was to NOT be captured! Capture bring great dishonor on self, unit, Imperial forces and most especially on ancestors. Some had a parachute, some did not. That was usually determined within the unit. If shot down or ditched in sea, try to save self. Maybe picked up by friendly vessel or rescue floatplane. If rescue ship or plane turns out to be enemy, kill self to prevent capture. Many, many, many cases of this can be found in the CINCPAC/CINCPOA Bulletins and other documents and narratives. Very difficult to capture Japanese air crew people alive. Most of those taken prisoner were severely wounded and taken before they could kill themselves. This why JN 25 was so valuable to Allies in Pacific. There were so few prisoners for interrogation.

[mars]

Originally Posted by Larry deZeng

Policy was to NOT be captured! Capture bring great dishonor on self, unit, Imperial forces and most especially on ancestors. Some had a parachute, some did not. That was usually determined within the unit. If shot down or ditched in sea, try to save self. Maybe picked up by friendly vessel or rescue floatplane. If rescue ship or plane turns out to be enemy, kill self to prevent capture. Many, many, many cases of this can be found in the CINCPAC/CINCPOA Bulletins and other documents and narratives. Very difficult to capture Japanese air crew people alive. Most of those taken prisoner were severely wounded and taken before they could kill themselves. This why JN 25 was so valuable to Allies in Pacific. There were so few prisoners for interrogation.

This is correct on theory, but as usual, reality is somehow different, just look into detail combat history, such as "first team" and History of Tainan air group, there are far more Japanese aircrew were captured alive unwounded than we led to believe.

[Larry deZeng]

Then we disagree. When compared on a per capita basis with the armed forces of other participants in World War II, there were very, very few Japanese POWs, and many of those that were captured were not native Japanese but rather Korean or Formosan. There is a great deal of documentation and literature on this subject and I have read a lot of it. But please do not take my word for it. You should be able to spend 2 or 3 days doing an advanced search on Google and come up with a lot of interesting information. In particular, seek out and read the studies and personal memoirs having to do with the gathering and analysis of intelligence by the Navy and Army in the Pacific, ATIS (Allied Translation and Interrogation Service), etc. A good place to start in the literature would be:

PRADOS, John. Combined Fleet Decoded: The Secret History of American Intelligence and the Japanese Navy in World War II. New York: Random House, 1995. ISBN: 0-679-43701-0. Pages 495-98, 532, 579, 697-98.

As the author says on p.495: "In all of 1942 only 49 prisoners had been captured in the Pacific Ocean area, most survivors of the cruiser Mikuma." How many Japanese aircraft were shot down in the Solomons between Aug and Dec 1942? How many were shot down over the Coral Sea and over and around Midway?

The number increased in 1943, but not dramatically. It was not until 1944-45 that the total number taken by Allied forces approached some level of significance. The total for 1944 was 9,379 by our Army and Navy and another 2,038 in the first two months of 1945. These figures include about 25% that were Korean, Formosan and other non-mainland Japanese. These are paltry numbers out of the some 8,000,000 who served in the Japanese armed forces during the war. Oh, and very, very few of them were air crew.

L.

[mars]

We are talking Japanese aircrew only, yes? The vast majority of Japanese aircrews are "real" Japanese, and what I said in my previous post, it was a fact that far more Japanese aircrews were captured without serious wounded than we let to believe, you only need to read some detail Japanese army and navy airforces combat history. Regardless what the society demands, prefering living than death is just part of human natuare. The difference between aircrews and infantry men was after bailed out or crashed land, Japanese aircrews were usually either alone on in small group, they did not need to care much what their mates would think of him if he choose to give up.
P.S it is another myth that it was a samauri tradition that he should prefer death than surrender, that is simply not true, if you read the history of Japanese history, you will see plenty of cases of samauri surrender to enemy and betray their lords. What the people see the way Japanese soldiers behave in the WWII was a relative new phenomenon developed since the 19 century.

[Larry deZeng]

You go with what you believe, Mars, and I will go with the documents and historians. We'll let the guy who initiated the thread, Johnny .45, decide for himself.

[rpeck350]

I don't have any stat's to add but since most Japaneese airplanes were built with none to minor armor that most crew members were killed before they had a chance to bail out.
The air crew I would think knew that and thought parachutes would not help.
Of all the gun camera film I have seen I get the impression most Japaneese planes were on fire to a point of seeing only wing tips fairly quick.
Maybe not much help but just a thought.
Rick

[Laurent Rizzotti]

Not my best knowledge area, but it seems to me that the percentage of Japanese airmen lost over enemy territory that surrendered was far higher than the percentage of infantrymen in the same situation.One book that may be interesting on the subject (I don't have it):http://www.washington.edu/uwpress/se...ks/STRANG.html

[Larry deZeng]

And what percentage exactly would that be, Laurent? I think you would have to divide the total number of Japanese JNAF and JAAF air crew who baled-out and surrendered by the total number of Japanese JNAF and JAAF air crew who flew during the war. Until someone produces that figure with acceptable source citations, I think I will stick with my current opinion based on the primary and secondary material.

L.

[Revi16]

This sums it up,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiZ2ig8QUaI