Kenji Okabe (岡部 健二, Okabe Kenji; 1915–September 1943) was an ace fighter pilot in the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN)…
Kenji Okabe (岡部 健二, Okabe Kenji; 1915–September 1943) was an ace fighter pilot in the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during World War II. Participating in many of the Pacific War battles and campaigns as a member of several units, Okabe was officially credited with destroying 15 enemy aircraft. Okabe was credited with shooting down eight enemy aircraft on 8 May 1942 during the Battle of the Coral Sea, the IJN's official record for the number of aircraft destroyed in a single encounter. He is famous for his strong opposition to the kamikaze attacks, rare in IJN at the time. Okabe was killed in action in September 1943 over Bougainville, Papua New Guinea.
Famous People from Fukuoka Prefecture
Fukuoka Prefecture: 2 people
Watari Handa (半田 亘理, Handa Watari; 22 August 1911 – 1948) was an officer and ace fighter pilot in the Imperial Japanese…
Watari Handa (半田 亘理, Handa Watari; 22 August 1911 – 1948) was an officer and ace fighter pilot in the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Pacific theater of World War II. In aerial combat over China and the Pacific, he was officially credited with having destroyed 13 enemy aircraft. On 13 May 1942, as a member of the Tainan Air Group based at Lae, New Guinea, Handa asked fellow Tainan ace Saburō Sakai to lend him his wingman, Toshiaki Honda, for a reconnaissance mission over Port Moresby. During the mission, the Japanese pilots were ambushed by enemy P-39 fighters and Honda was shot down and killed. Broken in spirit by Honda's death, Handa soon developed tuberculosis and was evacuated to Japan. After fighting the disease for six years, Handa died in 1948, telling his wife on his deathbed, "I have fought bravely all my life, but I could never forgive myself for having lost Sakai's wingman at Lae."