fujisan-ni-noboru-hinode:fujisan-ni-noboru-hinode:hjmarseille:Members of the 1st Chutai, 11th Sentai
fujisan-ni-noboru-hinode:fujisan-ni-noboru-hinode:hjmarseille:Members of the 1st Chutai, 11th Sentai, pose for a souvenir snapshot. The aces included in this group could boast almost 150 victory claims between them! Some of the pilots are; Capt Kenji Shimada (sitting front - 40 kills), MSgt Bunji Yoshiyama (displaying his victim’s Tokarev pistol* - 25 kills), 2Lt Tomoari Hasagawa (fourth from right - 19 kills) & WO Hiromichi Shinohara (far right - 58 kills/Ranking JAAF ace). Sadly, none of the Aces survived the Nomonhan incident. *In a wild dogfight on 20 August Yoshiyama damaged a Soviet fighter, which made an emergency landing. In an act of daring, or sheer foolishness, he landed beside his opponent and shot him dead. Yoshiyama then relieved him of his pistol and wristwatch and returned to Manchuria.My favorite shot of JAAF pilots during the Nomonhan Incident. I’ve been looking for a good quality version of it but these are the only two I’ve found. As always id love to see a better version!Bunji was such a badassI just want to reiterate, on July 25th*, 1939, after shooting down a Soviet I-15, Bunji landed next to his opponent ON AN ACTIVE BATTLEFIELD, ran to him, finished off the communist pilot with his sidearm, and took his Tokarev pistol as a souvenir. Then he got back in his fighter and just left. -- source link