Waking a Giant - 75th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack

[Skyraider3D]

"Waking a Giant"



On 7 December 1941, 75 years ago today, the skies over Oahu, Hawaii, filled with the noise of Japanese radial engines. Before too long Pearl Harbor and surrounding facilities were burning and the American fleet had suffered a major blow. But the carriers had cheated death and would come back to take their revenge on the Imperial Japanese Navy, while in America the war machine went in overdrive. Admiral Yamamoto, the designer of the Pearl Harbor attack, most likely saw this coming.

Earlier this year I was commissioned to design the cover for a bookazine written by Jack Harrison for Mortons Media, commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack. It was only logical to me that I try and combine the two most iconic war machines of this battle: the USS Arizona and the Mitsubishi Zero.

[Jim Oxley]

Like it.

[Skyraider3D]

Thanks Jim!


On a similar note, 75 years ago today, on 8 December 1941, Nakajima Ki-27 "Nate" fighters of the 1st Sentai of the Japanese Army Air Force claimed the first victims of the Pacific War when they shot down a Catalina W8417 FV-Y of 205 Sqn, flown by Australian Flying Officer P.E. Bedell and his seven-man crew, who all perished. Note that despite the date, this happened several hours *before* the attack on Pearl Harbor!

Below is an illustration of a 1st Sentai Ki-27 as it looked in 1939. No photos seem to exist of 1st Sentai Ki-27s at the time of the start of the Pacific War.

Colour research: Nicholas Millman