Japan 2nd class of Golden Kite for the God of War

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In commemoration of Christmas and New Year

Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year to all frequenters of this section of the forum!!!

This one was issued in 1942.

Posthumously of course.

The box

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Paulownia in gold (as always), but kanji in silver.

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Breast star

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Absolutely flawless!

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Rosette

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The cavalier name is Tateo Kato - one of the most famous japanese aces and one of the most successful japanese biplane aces.

Here he is.

Edited December 28, 2012 by JapanX

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Tateo Katō (September 28, 1903 – May 22, 1942) was born on 28 September 1903 in Hokkaido. His father Sergeant Tetsuzo Kato was killed in the Russo-Japanese War.

He graduated from Asahikawa Middle School and as his father he started a military career. He passed out of the Sendai Junior Army Academy before being graduated in the 37th Class of the Army Military Academy in July 1925 and commissioned in the infantry. He soon transferred from the infantry to the Army Air Force and joined the flight course at Tokorozawa Flying School in June 1926 with the 23rd flying cadet intake.

In May 1927 he was posted to the 6th Hiko Rentai (flight regiment) in Pyongyang, Korea. His flying skill with the Kawasaki Ko-4 biplane fighter (a licence-built Nieuport-Delage NiD 29) was shown to be so outstanding that he was awarded a gift by his superior, and allowed to perform a demonstration at graduation which left the audience enthralled.
Prior to overseas duty Lieutenant Kato worked as a flight instructor at the Tokorozawa and Akeno Flying Schools, and by February 1936, he had been promoted to lead a chutai within the 5th Hiko Rentai.

In July 1937 the Sino-Japanese War began, and Captain Kato led the 1st chutai (including First Lieutenant Mitsugu Sawada, First Lieutenant Kosuke Kawahara and Sergeant Major Hiroshi Sekiguchi) of the 2nd Hiko Daitai (flight battalion), which was transferred to the northern China. The unit was equipped with Kawasaki Ki-10 Type 95 'Perry' biplane fighters The Ki-10 quickly demonstrated their superiority over the Chines Polikarpov I-152s, and the aggressive Japanese pilots dominated the skies.

The 1st chutai of the 2nd Daitai (Ki-10s) took part in the first combat over Luoyang on 30 January 1938 when eight of the unit’s fighters escorted 6th Daitai bombers over Luoyang. The fighters were engaged in combat with I-15bis and returned claiming 13 shot down for the loss of Sergeant Toshio Kawai (Sho-1), who was shot down and killed. Kato claimed two victories while First Lieutenant Kosuke Kawahara , who led the third element of the 1st chutai fought for 15 minutes against intercepting I-15bis, claiming three shot down. First Lieutenant Mitsugu Sawada claimed an additional three victories.

On 8 March 1938, the 2nd Daitai (Ki-10s) took off from Yuncheng for a bomber escort mission to Sian. Over Sian eight Ki-10s of the 2nd chutai claimed three Gladiators and three Polikarpov I-15s shoot down. The three Gladiators were claimed by Captain Juichi Morimoto, Warrant Officer Umekawa and Sergeant Major Hatanaka. One of the I-15s was claimed by Lieutenant Yonesuke Fukuyama, who pursued an I-15 into a valley near Sian at low altitude and shot it down for his first victory. A second I-15 was claimed by Sergeant Tokuya Sudo while flying as third pilot in First Lieutenant Iori Sakai`s section. The third I-15 was claimed by Segeant Majors Suzuki and Aito Kikuchi, who had turned back when their shotai mate, Tokuya Sudo`s aircraft had developed engine trouble.
While returning from Sian, the 1st chutai encountered four Chinese I-152s. Captain Kato claimed one and First Lieutenant Kosuke Kawahara claimed one while the chutai finished off the rest.
During the day a combined group of I-15bis from the 17th and 25th PS flew from Sian to attack Fenglingdu. After dropping 25-kg bombs they ran into Japanese fighters. The pilots Song Gua-Cheng and Lo Chun-Tun were shot down, Liu Jin-Guang and Liu Yi-Ji were wounded and Zhou Zin-Gyan parachuted. It is possible that these are fighters that run into to the 2nd Daitai.
Kosuke Kawahara claim made him the Japanese Army Air Force’s first ace (in the Western tradition with five victories).

Edited December 28, 2012 by JapanX

[JapanX]

On 25 March 1938 the 1st chutai of the 2nd Daitai (Ki-10s), commanded by Captain Kato fought with Chinese I-152s over Guide. Although outnumbered 5 to 18 the Japanese pilots took a heavy tool of the Chinese aircraft. Captain Kato shot down four I-152s, Flight Sergeant Tanaka shot down two and Sergeant Major Hiroshi Sekiguchi shot down one. First Lieutenant Kosuke Kawahara (leading the second element) was seen to shoot down two and pursue a third to the ground, when his aircraft was hit from behind and burst into flames. He waved to his wingman, Sekiguchi, before diving into the ground. First Lieutenant Mitsugu Sawada shared in the destruction of a large aircraft. Also in this combat was Tanaka forced to make an emergency landing and Sekiguchi was badly wounded in the thigh but managed to land and being transported to hospital.
The 2nd chutai of the 2nd Daitai also took part in this combat claiming 9 more victories, one of these being claimed by Yonesuke Fukuyama. Totally the 2nd Daitai’s 16 fighters claimed 19 victories for the loss of Kawahara.
According to Chinese records it seems that at least the 3rd PG took part in this combat. They lost six I-15bis and got three pilots killed when they where attacked by 19 Kawasaki Type 95 (Ki-10) biplane fighters of the 2nd Daitai near Kwei-teh airfield (Koi-toh in Japanese).
On return Kato could not believe that such a brilliant pilot as First Lieutenant Kawahara had been lost, and waited at the airfield until sunset in the hope of his late return. Next day as a sign of mourning, he shaved off a much beloved moustache.

On 3 April 1938 the unit re-equipped with Nakajima Ki-27 'Nates'.

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That`s how Tateo Katō looked back in these days.

The most famous

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This one was taken in the Spring of 1938 ...

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... and later published in the japanese press.

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Without moustache, but with pilot badge!

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Very cool series of photos!

In front of his plain Ki-10 together with his airfield servicing crew.

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