Tainan Air Group
Videos
The Tainan Air Group was a fighter aircraft and airbase garrison unit of the Imperial Japanese Navy during the Pacific campaign of World War II. The flying portion of the unit was heavily involved in
Enlisted fighter pilots of the Tainan Air Group pose at Lae in June 1942. Several of these aviators would be among the top Japanese aces, including Saburō Sakai (middle row, second from left), and Hiroyoshi Nishizawa (standing, first on left).
A Tainan Mitsubishi Zero A6M3 Type 32 fighter photographed at an unknown location.
Saburō Sakai, seriously wounded by a bullet which creased his skull, arrives back at Rabaul on August 7.
Aircraft of the 251 Air Group over the Solomon Islands, 1943
Junichi Sasai
Videos
Lieutenant Commander Junichi Sasai was a Japanese naval aviator and fighter ace of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. Sasai was killed leading his fighter squadron during an attack on Hen
Tainan Air Group
…than any other fighter unit in the IJN. Several of the unit's aces were among the IJN's top scorers, and included Hiroyoshi Nishizawa, Saburō Sakai, Junichi Sasai, Watari Handa, Masaaki Shimakawa, and Toshio Ōta. The unit was formed at Tainan, Taiwan (then part of the Empire of Japan) on October 1, 1941 as part…
Sasai in May 1941
Sasai standing before a crashed Curtiss P-40 in the Dutch East Indies, 1941.
Zero Type 21 at Rabaul with Hanabuki volcano as background. The volcano's continuous activity was a good visual guide for the pilots.