Sadamu Komachi

Sadamu Komachi
Komachi aboard the carrier Shōkaku in early 1942.
Born	(1920-04-18)18 April 1920 Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan
Died	15 July 2012(2012-07-15) (aged 92)
Allegiance	Empire of Japan
Service/branch	Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJN)
Rank	Warrant Officer
Unit	Shōkaku Ōmura Air Group 204th Air Group 253rd Air Group Yokosuka Air Group
Battles/wars	World War II: Attack on Pearl Harbor Indian Ocean raid Battle of the Coral Sea Battle of the Eastern Solomons Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands Solomon Islands Campaign Operation Hailstone Battle of the Philippine Sea

Sadamu Komachi (小町 定, Komachi Sadamu, 18 April 1920 – 15 July 2012) 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, Komachi was officially credited with destroying 18 enemy aircraft. He was badly burned during the Battle of the Philippine Sea, when his fighter was shot down near Guam by American carrier fighters. Nevertheless, Komachi survived the war.

Komachi participated in the last Air engagement of World War II 18 August 1945, when he attacked two B-32 Dominators on a photo-reconnaissance mission over Tokyo. One bomber received damage and suffered one crew fatality, but both aircraft returned to Yontan Airfield, Okinawa.^[1]

In 1992 Komachi attended a symposium at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida about the Battle of the Coral Sea, as a guest panelist.

Komachi died of natural causes on 15 July 2012. He was 92.^[2]

References

Sources

• Hata, Ikuhiko; Yasuho Izawa (1989) [1975]. Japanese Naval Aces and Fighter Units in World War II. Translated by Don Cyril Gorham. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-315-6. 
• Sakaida, Henry (2002). Aces of the Rising Sun, 1937–1945. Great Britain: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-84176-618-6.