The Devil Of Rabaul

Hiroyoshi Nishizawa
Japanese Fighter Ace
1920-1944

Japanese Imperial Navy
Known as "The Devil Of Rabaul"

For a detailed account of Hiroyoshi Nishizawas' life see :-

[link]

A summary :-

Top Japanese fighter ace of WWII in all theatres with a total that varies between 87 (his own estimate) to 100 enemy aircraft downed.

The "ace" did not operate within the Japanese Imperial Navy as such, as the Japanese tended to honour fighter groups and not individuals, but with fighter pilots of the bravery and courage of Nishizawa it was impossible to ignore the man.

This drawing captures a very rare occurence, a smiling "Devil Of Rabaul" - he was, by most accounts, a man of very rare, but very genuine emotions.

His theatre of operations was the Pacific where he would have been up against the P38 Lightning, P39 Airacobra, P47 Thunderbolt, Seversky P35 & F4F Wildcats to name but a few.

As with Richard Bongs death in 1945, Nishizawas' death was also tinged with irony.

from Wikipedia
Nishizawa and other pilots of the 201st Kokutai boarded a Nakajima Ki-49 Donryu ("Helen") transport plane and left Mabalacat on Cebu in the morning, to ferry replacement Zeros from Clark Field on Luzon.

Over Calapan on Mindoro Island, the Ki-49 transport was attacked by two F6F Hellcats of VF-14 squadron from the fleet carrier USS Wasp and was shot down in flames. Nishizawa died as a helpless passenger, probably the victim of Lt. j.g. Harold P. Newell, who was credited with a "Helen" northeast of Mindoro that morning.

Warrant Officer Hiroyoshi Nishizawa, Japan’s leading ace, was dead.

He was 24 years old.

This submission is not intended to glorify warfare as such, but it is intended to raise awareness of the incredibly brave and courageous fighter pilots from all countries who flew for their countries under the orders of people who should have known better and should know better now.