Please do a video on a Japanese pilot nicknamed "Washing machine Charlie" who would fly at night in a twin engine plane with unsynchronized propellors so that he had a distinct sound and would keep Marines on the island awake.
Tommy Estridge Yeah, I'm trying to recall the name of one man in particular that is mentioned in the book "Sole Survivor" by George Gay. He mentioned that this pilot spoke English and would talk to the Marines on their radio frequency. As much as they were annoyed by his presence Gay claims they were saddened by his eventual demise.
This wasn't a purposeful tactic by the Japanese. They had suffered severe combat losses during their 7 and 8 August air raids against the American fleet off Guadalcanal, and so switched to nocturnal bombing raids for cover. The unsynchronized propellers of the Kasei engines on the Type 1 Rikko bombers, was the result of them having been overworked and not having gotten their scheduled overhaul maintenance. The Rikko of the 4th ku, for example, had been in operations in the South-East Pacific since 17 February when they first arrived at Vunakanau, Rabaul and the other naval air units had been in intense combat operations in the Philippines, Malaya, Netherland East Indies, and Australia prior to Guadalcanal. Thus, "Washing Machine Charlie" was really many different Type 1 Rikko that were badly in need of maintenance, not just one airplane purposefully annoying the Americans. Though i'm sure the Japanese would have taken delight at the time in knowing they were irritating them.
@@matthewhainer189 The synchronization refers to precisely matching the rpm of both propellers to reduce the harmonic "drumbeat" which was done through pilot skill back then as they didn't have synchronizers. It's possible that due to the tired engines they were operating with the props wouldn't hold rpm well and would fall out of harmonic so they just wouldn't bother trying
@@saesungchang6451 what are you talking about? The US Congress authorized $20.9 billion in civilian funds to help reconstruct Iraq in the three and one half years immediately following Operation Iraqi Freedom in April 2003. The US is using these funds to jumpstart the rebuilding and reform processes in Iraq, at a time when Iraq's needs are enormous. The goal of US reconstruction assistance to Iraq is to help the Iraqi government develop a democratic, stable, and prosperous country, at peace with itself and its neighbors, enjoying the benefits of a free society and a market economy. Not to mention all of the private funded charities and such! Why don't you atleast do a quick Google search before you run your diarrhea mouth all over the internet?
@@saesungchang6451 Oh, and let's not forget Afghanistan! Since 2001, the United States has allocated approximately $29 billion in civilian assistance for Afghanistan. Afghanistan signed a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement with the United States in 2004. Meanwhile America has thousands of homeless Veterans, untold amounts of starving and homeless citizens, a out of control opioid epidemic, and a jail/prison system that's overflowing with prisoners that have mental health issues that will go untreated! If anything America needs to learn to take care of our own first. Especially since the billions of dollars in aid that we pump out to these other countries goes largely without thanks or even acknowledgement from the rest of the world. Whenever theres a natural disaster, America is usually one of the first nations to extend aid and support. We take the sick and the poor from all these other countries. Usually offering benefits and aid that it's own citizens arnt even offered including college and loans to start a business! So, you can keep your unsupported opinions to yourself. Worse still, if you are an American citizen, you should be ashamed and go join some other backwater goat sodomizing cesspool of a country.
@@travisgartside409 its funny how you claim we did so much to help iraq and afganistan but then you imply i should go to their "backwater goat sodomizing cesspool of a country." Its almost like our post war intervention didnt help at all! I think most people would agree those two countries are worse off than when we first entered it, regardless of the money we threw at the dumpster fire of a situation we left after the war! Also nice red herring randomly bringing veterans into a conversation where they have nothing to do with what was said just so you could be randomly outraged at something that is obviously an issue I would agree on with you. Also I agree our humaitarian aid to major disasters is admirable. However, again, what does that have to do with wars weve waged? Youre just bringing up other issues to hide behind the fact that no matter how much money weve thrown things just dont seem to be getting better in the middle east. And yes i agree that money could have been better spent doing other things, but guess what? We started wars that we didnt need to be part of so now were paying the cost. Regardless, guess what. Korea and Japan are about the only two most recent countries I would consider are doing better after we intervened in some war. Besides that almost every war/intervention/coup we entered after those two has had a pretty shitty outcome for the country weve tried to help. Why is that? If you have a differing opinion on that then we can talk about that in a civilized manner rather than insult my duty as an American, especially since Im currently active duty military. And I dont know if its because of my user name or something but for you to tell me to get out of the country Im serving to protect is pretty insulting and infuriating. I serve to protect your right to say ignorant ass shit, but Id appreciate it if you werent a bigot just because of a differnce of opinion.
They should include the comfort women and Unit 731 experiments where they performed surgical abominations on conscious victims and raped the women in order to provide babies for experiments.
uegvdczuVF The Japanese did. Or do they forget when it’s Nazis that flew the planes but didn’t participate in extermination camps? No they bring it up as well. And Im not a rape baby because my parents weren’t Russian, Chinese, or POWs. If they were they probably would have been tortured and exterminated also because of the Unit 731 experiments that the Japanese did.
K893 893, recommend you go read Audrey Hepburn's Neck. This here is a different book from a different era of sensibilities about a different experience.
The F6F was vastly superior except in most everything but extreme maneuverability with which the A6M still had a bit of an advantage. He was smart enough to stay out of the Hellcats way and not get shot. Best rollercoaster ever! Amazing flying.
Thanks for this video. Met both Sakai and Pappy Boyington at an airshow in FL back in the 1980s. One of my favorite Boyington quotes was "Show me a hero and I'll show you a bum." He would know.
Thank you Simon for sharing this information about Sakai! We tend to forget that there were amazing people on the other side as well as ours. I still know people here in the states that refuse to buy a Japanese car. While we may not want to call them the hero’s that they were, we can learn about the individuals we used to call enemies. This man as are many others are worthy of every respect.
Simon forgot to mention that during one mission he came across a plane carrying civilians and one of them was an American women that reminded him of a teacher he had when he was young and so couldn’t bring him self to shoot the plane down
I read this way back when an uncle gave me a copy, some time in the early 1980s. I was around 15yo, and the book changed the way I thought of the world wars. I stopped being a parochial cheerleader and looked into all facets and sides, the book humanized the other combatants for me for the first time. Opened my eyes to other cultures and their unique challenges. And yes, I still have the paperback on my bookshelf.
he was legendary here in asia specially in japan.. he fights like a true samurai.. he give enemy pilots a chance eject before finishing off there aircraft.. he even eacorted a transport enemy plane which consist of women and children..surely one of admiral yamamoto's finest ace..
Several important things to remember about Saboru Sakai. First, he never lost a wingman in combat. Second, he never bailed out or lost any aircraft he flew. Third, the only time he lost in air combat was against the rear gunner in a dive bomber. Never a pilot. Fourth, he became the first enlisted pilot to be promoted to officer at age 27 in the Japanese Navy. Fifth, he trained Hiroyoshi Nishizawa as his wing man. Nishizawa later became the highest ranking Japanese Ace, with 87 kills. Finally, when he was sidelined by injury in 1942, he was Japan’s ace of aces, with 62 kills.
*gru meme* Step one: sneak up on a wildcat Step two: ready your aim Step three: get shot in the eye by the rear gunner because it was actually a dauntless
I thought there'd be no way for Saburo Sakai's story to be as cool as his nickname sounds. And...well, okay, it's hard to be as cool as someone soaring through the air, chopping up airplanes with a katana. But Saburo sure comes close!
Thank you for sharing the details of the success of the Axis people. It would be really unhealthy for us to demonize them, and assume that they only did crazy things. Also, many of them were well intentioned, and they tried their best. We might not salute them on Rememberance Day, but we should still honour their respectable achievements.
Eugene Wong sadly it seems appropriate to demonize them in general because of the way how history and its victors determined their titles by the end of the war. They will remain as such until curiosity peaks and soon would spark the need to investigate further from its stereotypical grounds...
This story is long a little. I found out something about Sakai Saburo (or Saburo Sakai) today about him and a allied transport plane so one day Japan found out that there was a plane near the Philippians so the Japanese ordered Sakai to search the plane, engage and destroy it. He did find that plane but it was filled with hurt men, women and children who was being transported to a place. I don’t know where but lets keep on. So Sakai found the plane, sees that there is hurt people, women and children is in it. What did he do, he waved at the people inside and returned back to base. He also lied saying that there was no plane in the area. This story got famous and known a little by a women who was in that transport plane that was waved at by Sakai. She found out that it was Sakai because she remembered the marking that was on Sakai's plane for being a life saver by not shooting down the plane. She did meet Sakai later on to say thanks for not shooting down the plane that she was in and told that the rest of the people thought that it was going to get shot down but didn't because he saw the hurt men, women and children in it. And when he waved and went back to base, everyone hugged and cheered. This is also one of the reasons that i believe that he is "the samurai of the skies". If you don't no (i think that) it is told that one of the samurai's pride is to don't kill women and children or it will mean disgusting your honor.
Wow. Remarkable info. I read that he didn't shoot down the plane because he saw a blonde woman in the plane that reminded him of his preschool teacher, who was very kind to him.
What a great video once again! And what a great man, pilot, warrior, monk and example for everybody! [BTW: Shooting down a B-29 was no easy feat, especially for a lone pilot!]
The One Eyed Baron himself Sakai was one of the most aggressive aces in the Japanese Air Force. We faced him at Guadalcanal thats where he earned his nickname after Anderson shot him in the face. Sakai was out until Iwo Jima where he was ordered to do kamikazes which he refused and was relieved of command by Onishi who did order the kamikaze strikes. When the war ended Sakai met his former foes.
Maybe do a story about Ilmari Juutilainen some time in the future. From Wikipedia: Eino Ilmari "Illu" Juutilainen (21 February 1914 - 21 February 1999) was a fighter pilot of the Ilmavoimat (Finnish Air Force), and the top scoring non-German fighter pilot of all time. Apparently his planes never got hit by enemy fire, not losing a single airplane that he flew...
You sound sick of people who like to complain that you don't have perfect pronunciation. Take this as a compliment, since it simply shows that the content is so great, the only complaints are about pronunciation.
acrefray Actually, after seeing much of his work, I'M PRETTY SICK OF IDIOTS KNOCKING HIS MOST USUALLY CORRECT PRONUNCIATION of various words and names. He does his best always, and is better than many many others.
This guy is like one of those super skilled warlocks, you see in those old school world of warcraft pvp videos, where they just crush multiple opponents into the dirt and make it look easy.
Another Bonus Fact - He considered himself not only a Japanese Ace but also an American Ace! He said that he had eight aircraft that he was flying damaged so badly while fighting the American's that he should be considered an Ace for the US. I heard this from him at a dinner for the Phoneix Club (Anaheim Ca) flying club.
Saburo Sakai, Douglas Bader, Adolf Galland and so many other aviators were part of an exquisite batch of human beings which, sadly, we weren't able to reproduce ever since.
To be given a watch personally by the Emperor of the time would be the greatest honor a young Japanese man could ever hope to receive. A true testament to his ability and duty to country.
Thank you for making the effort to pronounce things better. I realize it's not always easy, especially with people's names, but making an effort makes these videos easier to listen to. If you've ever had a difficult name, you'd understand. I can live with British-isms versus American-isms though, lol!
Please like this guys so it gets seen. Simon, I have a question, where did the idea of saying "fire!" when shooting a gun or some other kind of weapon like a torpedo come from? I know that it probably came from the early days of blackpowder, but what did they say before that when you fired a crossbow or something, and if they just used the term shoot where did that originally come from? A answer to this would be much appreciated, please and thank you.
Fire refers to the trigger mechanism for a lot of primitive guns, in which fuse had to be ignited, or hot sparks were needed to ignite the black powder (early cannons, firelock muskets, and matchlock muskets), thus when they said fire, they meant put your powder/fuse to fire. Prior to that, commonly, they would use loose, as in loose your arrows, to order a massed volley of archers/crossbowmen. Yes I'm a history nerd...
General belief is the term "fire" originated with matchlocks where you literally touched a burning wick to apply fire to the gun. As an archer I believe the proper term for arrows was "loose" or "release"... but many movies have people saying "fire" (even in periods before widespread matchlock use) probably because they don't know better...
I call bullshit. You can't even give a name or list some research your discovered which invalidates your comment. I can make bold statements that sound plausible but untrue, not that difficult.
@@EricHamm Sakai himself even admitted that he wasn't even the best pilot in his squadron. He considered Nishizawa to be more skilled than he was, and he also considered Muto to be better. Sakai was a great pilot, but he was an honorable man who never took pleasure in killing another man, and he tried to aim his bullets where they would disable the aircraft without killing the pilot when he could.
It was the Wingman of Southerland, flying lead in a squadron of Wildcats, who shot Sakai. Southerland could have shot Sakai out of the sky over Guadalcanal, but his guns jammed due to a round that exploded in the chamber after an attack by one of Sakai’s squadron mates. Sakai actually considered letting Southerland go after seeing he was wounded, but ultimately shot him down, aiming his cannon at the Wildcat’s engine to destroy the plane, but to give Southerland a chance at survival. Southerland’s plane was found by locals on Guadalcanal several years later.
I've heard that alot of the top Japanese pilots carried their families samarai swords with them. So how many of these priceless heirlooms found their way to the bottom of the ocean.
I met my wife's grandfather on the day of our wedding. I knew that he was a sailor in the Japanese Navy during the war, and had been blown over the side when his ship was hit by the Americans. His right eye is intact, but noticeably greyed out and blind. I asked if the injury was sustained during the attack, but no. His eye was injured by one of his apple trees on his farm in Nagano. I was secretly hoping that it was a battle injury. That would have made him a badass in my book. Instead, he is a deeply respectable man. I was in the U.S Navy at the time of our meeting.
A neat detail about the air display he did was that they were inspired to do so after hearing the song Danse Macabre on radio and decided to choreograph their movements based on the song
It is also worth mentioning that Saburo Sakai, evidently a formidable pilot, wasn't a bloodthirsty one. He defied specific orders and let a DC-3 full of nurses and children go unmolested. This act of mercy is even more remarkable considering the militaristic society and culture in which Saburo Sakai lived
John Beauvais what country are you from? To my knowledge (coming from my friends at the US Air Force academy) you need perfect vision, but that's largely because basically everyone there wants to be a pilot, and they need a way to reduce the numbers.
He was apparently legendary in his ability to wrangle invitations to the golf courses and officers clubs where he liked to hang out with US Navy aviators, especially Atsugi NAS.
Sakai did, in fact end up shooting down Johnson's plane, but Johnson wasn't on it that day, having had his seat stolen by another man who wanted to see some action. That man's son met Sakai, and wrote a great story about it. I read Sakai's book, and I also read "Pug" Southerland's account of their famous dogfight over Guadalcanal. They agreed in all the major details. Sakai said Southerland beat him fair and square, and only lost in the end because his guns were jammed.
I'm surprised you didn't mention him sparing a Dutch civilian plane despite that he was told to shoot down any allied planes military or not. Initially Saburo waved hand signals to follow him but the DC-3 did not comply. Saburo saw a blonde woman which reminded him an American English teacher that was kind to him when he was a student, therefore he gave hand signals again to keep on flying. He did not report about the incident to his superiors when he went back to base.
The Zero was built as a dog fighter, so it would seem to be logical that it had fuel injection. It also had no armor or self-sealing fuel tanks to reduce weight and increase maneuverability.
John Beauvais, "The legendary survival flight is memorialized in a painting in Sakai's hometown of Kyushu showing his bullet-riddled Zero carrying him away from Guadalcanal--upside down." articles.latimes.com/2000/oct/02/local/me-30217 And yeah the A6M2 series and such had floater carburetors, however it may just be it's either remembered that way in memorial as flying the way upside down, or that he did it in such a way that didn't cause his aircraft to stall (as while suffering from negative Gs was an issue for the engine starvation, it took notably longer than that of the UKs earlier Hurricane and Spitfires) by doing the maneuvers one after the other.
@@ronaldfinkelstein6335 They were utterly stunned. McCormick in particular chose not to get involved when he saw the pursuit unfolding - chose not to make it sixteen on one. The decision probably saved both his life and Sakai's.
Sakai piloted a Mitsubishi A6M - otherwise known as a "Zero". The only thing that made it inferior was the lack of armor compared to it's American counterparts. Otherwise, it was one of the best dogfighting planes ever designed from a flying stand point.
The other inferior aspect of the Zero was its radio. With the Zero's radio, air to ground communications were optimal only when you were flying directly overhead, and air to air communications were pretty much a pipe dream.
Japanese pronunciation is actually really simple. With a few exceptions (such as vowels a i u e o, stand-alone N's, and the triple lettered sounds like Shi Chi Tsu) you pronounce letter pairings. So for todays video... Saburo Sakai = SA-BU-RO (sah-boo-row) SA-KA-I (sa-ka-E like saying the letter E). Each letter pairing is generally said individually from other sounds, even when speaking Japanese quickly (though for non-natives its difficult to understand and follow fast Japanese speak). As long as you know the English spelling, and the few rules in Japanese, its super easy to be able to form out, then say, even the most complicated of Japanese words. The other exception would be trying to pronounce foreign words adopted by the Japanese that arent borrowed from your language. However, even these are Japanese-ized so most of the rules hold up regardless. You may not have the perfect accent down, but with those few tricks you can pronounce anything Japanese.
There are a lot of sounds that would run together but the correct pronunciation is Sa-ka-i. In every day life, in a relaxed environment that would be acceptable, but if that was your senior or a respected person, the more honorable proper pronunciation would be used. The hard E sound for the 'i' wouldnt be as harsh and long as saying the letter E in English, but it should is separated from the 'ka' sound. Yes, you would call your friends or those younger 'Sa-kai' but it would be frowned upon if used in less casual conversation. Take a listen to this: forvo.com/word/masato_sakai/ Here is Saburo Sakai's name: forvo.com/word/sakai_saburo/ This one isnt as pronounced as the above Masato "Sakai", but you can still hear the separation of the ka from the i. Both are spoken from clearly native Japanese speakers.
Nothing to do with the video itself, just an odd question. Why skip the a? Saying "he died later in hospital" rather than "he died later in a hospital". I mean it doesn't make any difference. Just curious as to why the British seem to skip the a, and us over here in the US don't. Especially considering the quote had the a in it. Either way great video, keep up the stellar work.
He never shot down any B-29. He attacked 2 4-engined B-32 Dominators he mistook for B-29s, on August 18th 1945. The 2 planes were on a reconnaissance mission to observe the Japanese compliance with the August 15th cease-fire. That was the IJN's last war operation & nobody was harmed, & everybody went home. There was one Japanese fighter pilot, Kuwahara Yasuo who at least inflicted serious damage to a B-29 with his slightly armed, but phenomenally maneuverable fighter Ki-43 Oscar (Hayabusa). This Army plane was a serious rival to the Navy Zero. Yasuo Kuwahara, with Gordon T. Allred ''Kamikaze''.
You said that he had flown back to base mostly upside down. But if he was flying his ZERO, that couldn't have been the case, because Zeros engine would flood because of its carburetor.
“He suffered a heart attack while leaning across the table to shake hands with an American.” Little known fact but that American was non other than Chuck Norris.
in his book he states how he would poke his finger into his head wound to keep from passing out. wow.
bro can you share where did you get a copy of his book
and flew upside down for over 1000 km
Please do a video on a Japanese pilot nicknamed "Washing machine Charlie" who would fly at night in a twin engine plane with unsynchronized propellors so that he had a distinct sound and would keep Marines on the island awake.
John Beauvais this sounds amazing
"Washing Machine Charlie" was a nickname given to any of many pilots flying those night time nuisance raids.
Tommy Estridge Yeah, I'm trying to recall the name of one man in particular that is mentioned in the book "Sole Survivor" by George Gay. He mentioned that this pilot spoke English and would talk to the Marines on their radio frequency. As much as they were annoyed by his presence Gay claims they were saddened by his eventual demise.
This wasn't a purposeful tactic by the Japanese. They had suffered severe combat losses during their 7 and 8 August air raids against the American fleet off Guadalcanal, and so switched to nocturnal bombing raids for cover. The unsynchronized propellers of the Kasei engines on the Type 1 Rikko bombers, was the result of them having been overworked and not having gotten their scheduled overhaul maintenance. The Rikko of the 4th ku, for example, had been in operations in the South-East Pacific since 17 February when they first arrived at Vunakanau, Rabaul and the other naval air units had been in intense combat operations in the Philippines, Malaya, Netherland East Indies, and Australia prior to Guadalcanal. Thus, "Washing Machine Charlie" was really many different Type 1 Rikko that were badly in need of maintenance, not just one airplane purposefully annoying the Americans. Though i'm sure the Japanese would have taken delight at the time in knowing they were irritating them.
@@matthewhainer189 The synchronization refers to precisely matching the rpm of both propellers to reduce the harmonic "drumbeat" which was done through pilot skill back then as they didn't have synchronizers. It's possible that due to the tired engines they were operating with the props wouldn't hold rpm well and would fall out of harmonic so they just wouldn't bother trying
Wtf he was a legend in japan. The greatest pilot they had and the only medal he ever got was from the enemy when he beat them in a game of golf. 😦
Yep, we're nicer than they were.
That's America, we'll kick your ass from here to Timbuktu, then pick you up, bring you back and fix you.
@@BX138 that might have been true during the good old days but let's be realistic and look at our most recent wars...
@@saesungchang6451 what are you talking about? The US Congress authorized $20.9 billion in civilian funds to help reconstruct Iraq in the three and one half years immediately following Operation Iraqi Freedom in April 2003. The US is using these funds to jumpstart the rebuilding and reform processes in Iraq, at a time when Iraq's needs are enormous.
The goal of US reconstruction assistance to Iraq is to help the Iraqi government develop a democratic, stable, and prosperous country, at peace with itself and its neighbors, enjoying the benefits of a free society and a market economy.
Not to mention all of the private funded charities and such! Why don't you atleast do a quick Google search before you run your diarrhea mouth all over the internet?
@@saesungchang6451 Oh, and let's not forget Afghanistan! Since 2001, the United States has allocated approximately $29 billion in civilian assistance for Afghanistan. Afghanistan signed a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement with the United States in 2004.
Meanwhile America has thousands of homeless Veterans, untold amounts of starving and homeless citizens, a out of control opioid epidemic, and a jail/prison system that's overflowing with prisoners that have mental health issues that will go untreated! If anything America needs to learn to take care of our own first. Especially since the billions of dollars in aid that we pump out to these other countries goes largely without thanks or even acknowledgement from the rest of the world. Whenever theres a natural disaster, America is usually one of the first nations to extend aid and support. We take the sick and the poor from all these other countries. Usually offering benefits and aid that it's own citizens arnt even offered including college and loans to start a business! So, you can keep your unsupported opinions to yourself. Worse still, if you are an American citizen, you should be ashamed and go join some other backwater goat sodomizing cesspool of a country.
@@travisgartside409 its funny how you claim we did so much to help iraq and afganistan but then you imply i should go to their "backwater goat sodomizing cesspool of a country." Its almost like our post war intervention didnt help at all! I think most people would agree those two countries are worse off than when we first entered it, regardless of the money we threw at the dumpster fire of a situation we left after the war! Also nice red herring randomly bringing veterans into a conversation where they have nothing to do with what was said just so you could be randomly outraged at something that is obviously an issue I would agree on with you. Also I agree our humaitarian aid to major disasters is admirable. However, again, what does that have to do with wars weve waged? Youre just bringing up other issues to hide behind the fact that no matter how much money weve thrown things just dont seem to be getting better in the middle east. And yes i agree that money could have been better spent doing other things, but guess what? We started wars that we didnt need to be part of so now were paying the cost.
Regardless, guess what. Korea and Japan are about the only two most recent countries I would consider are doing better after we intervened in some war. Besides that almost every war/intervention/coup we entered after those two has had a pretty shitty outcome for the country weve tried to help. Why is that? If you have a differing opinion on that then we can talk about that in a civilized manner rather than insult my duty as an American, especially since Im currently active duty military. And I dont know if its because of my user name or something but for you to tell me to get out of the country Im serving to protect is pretty insulting and infuriating. I serve to protect your right to say ignorant ass shit, but Id appreciate it if you werent a bigot just because of a differnce of opinion.
The sort of story that can be made into a film. Samurai of the sky has a nice ring to it.
Emoji Flower ikr
Ôzora no samurai is the movie you're looking for. They made it in '76.
They should include the comfort women and Unit 731 experiments where they performed surgical abominations on conscious victims and raped the women in order to provide babies for experiments.
uegvdczuVF The Japanese did. Or do they forget when it’s Nazis that flew the planes but didn’t participate in extermination camps? No they bring it up as well. And Im not a rape baby because my parents weren’t Russian, Chinese, or POWs. If they were they probably would have been tortured and exterminated also because of the Unit 731 experiments that the Japanese did.
K893 893, recommend you go read Audrey Hepburn's Neck. This here is a different book from a different era of sensibilities about a different experience.
The F6F was vastly superior except in most everything but extreme maneuverability with which the A6M still had a bit of an advantage. He was smart enough to stay out of the Hellcats way and not get shot. Best rollercoaster ever! Amazing flying.
Thanks for this video. Met both Sakai and Pappy Boyington at an airshow in FL back in the 1980s. One of my favorite Boyington quotes was "Show me a hero and I'll show you a bum." He would know.
Thank you Simon for sharing this information about Sakai! We tend to forget that there were amazing people on the other side as well as ours. I still know people here in the states that refuse to buy a Japanese car. While we may not want to call them the hero’s that they were, we can learn about the individuals we used to call enemies. This man as are many others are worthy of every respect.
Sakai's book "Samurai" is one of the best I've read on aviation!
There are several videos posted to youtube of interviews of him discussing wartime aviation and his deeds if you are interested!
I remember reading it as a teenager in the early 60's. Excellent.
Apollo Mutt really? I love books on aviation ill have to check it out.
I agree, an excellent book. It gives a look at Japan's pre-war training. Mr. Sakai was an authentic badass.
My maiden name is sakai
Simon forgot to mention that during one mission he came across a plane carrying civilians and one of them was an American women that reminded him of a teacher he had when he was young and so couldn’t bring him self to shoot the plane down
and yet the allies had no problem bombing that youboat with civilians all over the decks and under the protection of a red cross.
"Samurai" One of my favorite books. Still have it in paperback.
I read this way back when an uncle gave me a copy, some time in the early 1980s. I was around 15yo, and the book changed the way I thought of the world wars. I stopped being a parochial cheerleader and looked into all facets and sides, the book humanized the other combatants for me for the first time. Opened my eyes to other cultures and their unique challenges. And yes, I still have the paperback on my bookshelf.
he was legendary here in asia specially in japan.. he fights like a true samurai.. he give enemy pilots a chance eject before finishing off there aircraft.. he even eacorted a transport enemy plane which consist of women and children..surely one of admiral yamamoto's finest ace..
His title of Samurai of the Skies seems to be well earned.
Several important things to remember about Saboru Sakai.
First, he never lost a wingman in combat.
Second, he never bailed out or lost any aircraft he flew.
Third, the only time he lost in air combat was against the rear gunner in a dive bomber. Never a pilot.
Fourth, he became the first enlisted pilot to be promoted to officer at age 27 in the Japanese Navy.
Fifth, he trained Hiroyoshi Nishizawa as his wing man. Nishizawa later became the highest ranking Japanese Ace, with 87 kills.
Finally, when he was sidelined by injury in 1942, he was Japan’s ace of aces, with 62 kills.
bowed out gracefoully
*gru meme*
Step one: sneak up on a wildcat
Step two: ready your aim
Step three: get shot in the eye by the rear gunner because it was actually a dauntless
Swaggfish1 Quality
... D^:(
WHAT A SHAMEFUR DISPRAY!
Way I heard it, they were TBF Avengers
You are likely to be eaten by a gru
I thought there'd be no way for Saburo Sakai's story to be as cool as his nickname sounds. And...well, okay, it's hard to be as cool as someone soaring through the air, chopping up airplanes with a katana. But Saburo sure comes close!
Cleaving an entire B-52 in half with a single cut, a sword forged from the iron in the motor oil of a hundred aircraft.
Hes even cooler
Saburo Sakai came from a samurai family
Thank you for sharing the details of the success of the Axis people. It would be really unhealthy for us to demonize them, and assume that they only did crazy things. Also, many of them were well intentioned, and they tried their best. We might not salute them on Rememberance Day, but we should still honour their respectable achievements.
Eugene Wong sadly it seems appropriate to demonize them in general because of the way how history and its victors determined their titles by the end of the war. They will remain as such until curiosity peaks and soon would spark the need to investigate further from its stereotypical grounds...
Flying upside down to postpone the effects of blood loss on the brain is brilliant.
This story is long a little.
I found out something about Sakai Saburo (or Saburo Sakai) today about him and a allied transport plane
so one day Japan found out that there was a plane near the Philippians so the Japanese ordered Sakai to search the plane, engage and destroy it.
He did find that plane but it was filled with hurt men, women and children who was being transported to a place. I don’t know where but lets keep on.
So Sakai found the plane, sees that there is hurt people, women and children is in it.
What did he do, he waved at the people inside and returned back to base.
He also lied saying that there was no plane in the area.
This story got famous and known a little by a women who was in that transport plane that was waved at by Sakai. She found out that it was Sakai because she remembered the marking that was on Sakai's plane for being a life saver by not shooting down the plane.
She did meet Sakai later on to say thanks for not shooting down the plane that she was in and told that the rest of the people thought that it was going to get shot down but didn't because he saw the hurt men, women and children in it. And when he waved and went back to base, everyone hugged and cheered.
This is also one of the reasons that i believe that he is "the samurai of the skies".
If you don't no (i think that) it is told that one of the samurai's pride is to don't kill women and children or it will mean disgusting your honor.
Wow. Remarkable info. I read that he didn't shoot down the plane because he saw a blonde woman in the plane that reminded him of his preschool teacher, who was very kind to him.
My maiden name is sakai and my grandfather was very well loved and I'm proud of my last name!
He gave my grandfather a Japanese flag for making the propeller for his airplane. I have it now. ❤
Can you imagine what it took to shoot down a B-29 with a Zero? That alone is one amazing feat.
In his book, he mentions that there was another pilot in a Zero flying with him that shot at the B29 too.
@@blank557 There were ten of them in total, actually.
With the rear gunners and plating hard to believe they must have caught them off guard
...he survived the War and lived until the 2000's?
good for him.
Yeah, if he saw what todays world is he would commit that kamikaze into some U.S university. Sad modern world we live in
What a great video once again!
And what a great man, pilot, warrior, monk and example for everybody!
[BTW: Shooting down a B-29 was no easy feat, especially for a lone pilot!]
The One Eyed Baron himself Sakai was one of the most aggressive aces in the Japanese Air Force. We faced him at Guadalcanal thats where he earned his nickname after Anderson shot him in the face. Sakai was out until Iwo Jima where he was ordered to do kamikazes which he refused and was relieved of command by Onishi who did order the kamikaze strikes. When the war ended Sakai met his former foes.
Maybe do a story about Ilmari Juutilainen some time in the future.
From Wikipedia:
Eino Ilmari "Illu" Juutilainen (21 February 1914 - 21 February 1999) was a fighter pilot of the Ilmavoimat (Finnish Air Force), and the top scoring non-German fighter pilot of all time.
Apparently his planes never got hit by enemy fire, not losing a single airplane that he flew...
Wasted all of a plane’s ammo on 1 plane.
Sounds like me in War Thunder.
these japanese always win my heart
Man! what a country and people
Saburo Sakai👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼🥇🏆
You sound sick of people who like to complain that you don't have perfect pronunciation. Take this as a compliment, since it simply shows that the content is so great, the only complaints are about pronunciation.
acrefray Most of the people who complain about his pronunciation are probably weaboos.
or people who actually know the language. I personally don't find corrections insulting, just some more friendly information.
I'm sure he doesn't mind being corrected, however, I guess it's the way some people go about mentioning it.
Nikki Royal Exactly. There's a difference between constructive criticism and just plain complaining.
acrefray Actually, after seeing much of his work, I'M PRETTY SICK OF IDIOTS KNOCKING HIS MOST USUALLY CORRECT PRONUNCIATION of various words and names. He does his best always, and is better than many many others.
Great stuff as always. And a big thank you
This guy is like one of those super skilled warlocks, you see in those old school world of warcraft pvp videos, where they just crush multiple opponents into the dirt and make it look easy.
Another Bonus Fact - He considered himself not only a Japanese Ace but also an American Ace! He said that he had eight aircraft that he was flying damaged so badly while fighting the American's that he should be considered an Ace for the US.
I heard this from him at a dinner for the Phoneix Club (Anaheim Ca) flying club.
He had a great sense of humor! Nice to see since the Japanese are often stereotyped as excessively stoic.
That was truly incredible. Amazing video.
Saburo Sakai, Douglas Bader, Adolf Galland and so many other aviators were part of an exquisite batch of human beings which, sadly, we weren't able to reproduce ever since.
Im a descendent from him and proud of it
@@tonyasakai1181 vou should be rightfully proud of it !
There are some badass IAF pilots like Gioria Epstein who took on 11 mig21s by himself. Some good Korean pilots with 16 and 15 kills too.
To be given a watch personally by the Emperor of the time would be the greatest honor a young Japanese man could ever hope to receive. A true testament to his ability and duty to country.
I hope our alliance with Japan is a long lasting friendship. We need each other to fend off the red menace.
Thank you for making the effort to pronounce things better. I realize it's not always easy, especially with people's names, but making an effort makes these videos easier to listen to. If you've ever had a difficult name, you'd understand. I can live with British-isms versus American-isms though, lol!
What an amazing story and person. Truly mind blowing
Loved the disclaimer. No walking on eggshells. :D
Love it.... it's gone from "if I screw it up please forgive me" to "if I do it fuck it I don't care" lol so good.
Please like this guys so it gets seen.
Simon, I have a question, where did the idea of saying "fire!" when shooting a gun or some other kind of weapon like a torpedo come from? I know that it probably came from the early days of blackpowder, but what did they say before that when you fired a crossbow or something, and if they just used the term shoot where did that originally come from? A answer to this would be much appreciated, please and thank you.
When you shoot a gun, fire comes out of the barrel. Same thing with any sort of canon or large gun. It's a pretty sizable amount, too
Fire refers to the trigger mechanism for a lot of primitive guns, in which fuse had to be ignited, or hot sparks were needed to ignite the black powder (early cannons, firelock muskets, and matchlock muskets), thus when they said fire, they meant put your powder/fuse to fire. Prior to that, commonly, they would use loose, as in loose your arrows, to order a massed volley of archers/crossbowmen. Yes I'm a history nerd...
General belief is the term "fire" originated with matchlocks where you literally touched a burning wick to apply fire to the gun. As an archer I believe the proper term for arrows was "loose" or "release"... but many movies have people saying "fire" (even in periods before widespread matchlock use) probably because they don't know better...
Sakai wasn't the best Japanese pilot, but it's the drama he had gone through which makes him special.
Bonfire Sgt ... He is certainly a prime example of the Japanese concept of "Ganbari".
Persevering through hard effort. >):^]
I think he would at least earn the title of Badass of the week.
I call bullshit. You can't even give a name or list some research your discovered which invalidates your comment. I can make bold statements that sound plausible but untrue, not that difficult.
@@EricHamm Sakai himself even admitted that he wasn't even the best pilot in his squadron. He considered Nishizawa to be more skilled than he was, and he also considered Muto to be better. Sakai was a great pilot, but he was an honorable man who never took pleasure in killing another man, and he tried to aim his bullets where they would disable the aircraft without killing the pilot when he could.
He may not have been the top scorer, but I doubt any of the top scorers could boast that they never lost a wingman.
The beard is immaculate as always
A worthy adversary mass respect
It was the Wingman of Southerland, flying lead in a squadron of Wildcats, who shot Sakai. Southerland could have shot Sakai out of the sky over Guadalcanal, but his guns jammed due to a round that exploded in the chamber after an attack by one of Sakai’s squadron mates. Sakai actually considered letting Southerland go after seeing he was wounded, but ultimately shot him down, aiming his cannon at the Wildcat’s engine to destroy the plane, but to give Southerland a chance at survival. Southerland’s plane was found by locals on Guadalcanal several years later.
I've heard that alot of the top Japanese pilots carried their families samarai swords with them. So how many of these priceless heirlooms found their way to the bottom of the ocean.
Same with infantry officers
I just subbed, You make very interesting and informative vids. Thank you.
I met my wife's grandfather on the day of our wedding. I knew that he was a sailor in the Japanese Navy during the war, and had been blown over the side when his ship was hit by the Americans. His right eye is intact, but noticeably greyed out and blind. I asked if the injury was sustained during the attack, but no.
His eye was injured by one of his apple trees on his farm in Nagano. I was secretly hoping that it was a battle injury. That would have made him a badass in my book. Instead, he is a deeply respectable man.
I was in the U.S Navy at the time of our meeting.
... I want to hear more about him shooting at the feet of an officer!
A neat detail about the air display he did was that they were inspired to do so after hearing the song Danse Macabre on radio and decided to choreograph their movements based on the song
Nishizawa was the one who came up with the idea after he heard the song on the radio. He was quite the wild man aloft.
Tenno Haika Banzai! Japan will always remain a superpower. Awaiting their return .
The title is perfect
Suggested reading: Samurai by Saburo Sakai.
Some men, they earn their accolades without question. Saburō-san is definitely one of those men.
What an incredible person!
It is also worth mentioning that Saburo Sakai, evidently a formidable pilot, wasn't a bloodthirsty one. He defied specific orders and let a DC-3 full of nurses and children go unmolested. This act of mercy is even more remarkable considering the militaristic society and culture in which Saburo Sakai lived
And now they wont let you be a pilot with anything less that perfect vision...
Oscar MV That's not true mate, my friend and I are both pilots and he can't see past the front sight of a 91/30 without glasses
John Beauvais what country are you from? To my knowledge (coming from my friends at the US Air Force academy) you need perfect vision, but that's largely because basically everyone there wants to be a pilot, and they need a way to reduce the numbers.
The Brennan Sorry I didn't know we were specifying military, I meant civilian aviation.
John Beauvais Oh, yeah, no problem. Easy mistake to make.
I grew up as a military brat, so it's kinda the default setting for me.
The Brennan Yeah I did FAA part 61 training so my thought is FAR/AIM first.
This dude's a legend
He was apparently legendary in his ability to wrangle invitations to the golf courses and officers clubs where he liked to hang out with US Navy aviators, especially Atsugi NAS.
Sakai did, in fact end up shooting down Johnson's plane, but Johnson wasn't on it that day, having had his seat stolen by another man who wanted to see some action. That man's son met Sakai, and wrote a great story about it.
I read Sakai's book, and I also read "Pug" Southerland's account of their famous dogfight over Guadalcanal. They agreed in all the major details. Sakai said Southerland beat him fair and square, and only lost in the end because his guns were jammed.
I saw an anime that has characters who are based on different aces, Saburo included.
Strike Witches
A hero to his people
Samurai! Was a great novel
This guy is amazing
I'd love more pilot histories, from Eric Hartman, to stienhoff, to stigle and more. It's always great hearing you talk.
Ruby O'Neil Bud Anderson
On an Emirates flight from nz to Prague right now and what do I see in the entertainment ...just a lil channel called today a found out! So cool!! ✈️
Thank you for honoring my grandfather with this video 🙂
Was your grandfather Saburo-san?
Good to see some vids on stand out soldiers from the axis side!
His friend, Hiroyoshi Nishizawa was even better. Known as The Devil of Rabaul, he had more kills but didn't survive the war.
Basically said "come at me bro" in british lmaooo
*SAMURSKY*
k
Beautiful
ok
Im gonna have to ask you to leave
*SAMAIRAI*
Truly remarkable story.
Amazing man amazing story!
But did he get that handshake tho?
It ain’t the car it’s the driver badass pilot
Again, brilliant
He is the Michael Wittmann in the sky. ACE of all aces.
Great story. Thanks
Claims are usually not so easily inflated, with witnesses to a kill usually required.
I'm surprised you didn't mention him sparing a Dutch civilian plane despite that he was told to shoot down any allied planes military or not. Initially Saburo waved hand signals to follow him but the DC-3 did not comply. Saburo saw a blonde woman which reminded him an American English teacher that was kind to him when he was a student, therefore he gave hand signals again to keep on flying. He did not report about the incident to his superiors when he went back to base.
4:50, Was the Zeke carburated? Because if so I'm not sure how he could have flown inverted longer than 12-15 seconds at a time
It's not your damn lawn mower, IT IS A FUCKING PLANE
The Zero was built as a dog fighter, so it would seem to be logical that it had fuel injection. It also had no armor or self-sealing fuel tanks to reduce weight and increase maneuverability.
rndthomet The Spitfire was built as a fighter and had a carburetor. As did the F4F-3 Wildcat and F2A Buffalo
Jack Hudler I'm saying sustained inverted flight
John Beauvais, "The legendary survival flight is memorialized in a painting in Sakai's hometown of Kyushu showing his bullet-riddled Zero carrying him away from Guadalcanal--upside down." articles.latimes.com/2000/oct/02/local/me-30217
And yeah the A6M2 series and such had floater carburetors, however it may just be it's either remembered that way in memorial as flying the way upside down, or that he did it in such a way that didn't cause his aircraft to stall (as while suffering from negative Gs was an issue for the engine starvation, it took notably longer than that of the UKs earlier Hurricane and Spitfires) by doing the maneuvers one after the other.
What a legend. Warbyasyah
I love finding out about new historical figures. Love this channel! Keep up the great work.
Was there ever any confirmation from the US side regarding the 15 Hellcats vs one Zero dogfight ?
Yes. The Hellcats were from VF-2 and the entire episode was witnessed by US Navy ace William McCormick.
@@Nachtsider What did VF-2 think of that unhittable Japanese pilot?
@@ronaldfinkelstein6335 They were utterly stunned. McCormick in particular chose not to get involved when he saw the pursuit unfolding - chose not to make it sixteen on one. The decision probably saved both his life and Sakai's.
Sakai piloted a Mitsubishi A6M - otherwise known as a "Zero". The only thing that made it inferior was the lack of armor compared to it's American counterparts. Otherwise, it was one of the best dogfighting planes ever designed from a flying stand point.
The other inferior aspect of the Zero was its radio. With the Zero's radio, air to ground communications were optimal only when you were flying directly overhead, and air to air communications were pretty much a pipe dream.
"Sakai" is my Mom's surname. Rumor has it that I'm descended from Samurai.
That, and four dollars will get you a cup to coffee today... :D
You should play Ghost of Tsushima
3:41 that's an amazing story... made me laugh.
Japanese pronunciation is actually really simple. With a few exceptions (such as vowels a i u e o, stand-alone N's, and the triple lettered sounds like Shi Chi Tsu) you pronounce letter pairings. So for todays video... Saburo Sakai = SA-BU-RO (sah-boo-row) SA-KA-I (sa-ka-E like saying the letter E). Each letter pairing is generally said individually from other sounds, even when speaking Japanese quickly (though for non-natives its difficult to understand and follow fast Japanese speak).
As long as you know the English spelling, and the few rules in Japanese, its super easy to be able to form out, then say, even the most complicated of Japanese words.
The other exception would be trying to pronounce foreign words adopted by the Japanese that arent borrowed from your language. However, even these are Japanese-ized so most of the rules hold up regardless. You may not have the perfect accent down, but with those few tricks you can pronounce anything Japanese.
You're right but Sakai is pronounced Sa-kai, not Sa-ka-e.
There are a lot of sounds that would run together but the correct pronunciation is Sa-ka-i. In every day life, in a relaxed environment that would be acceptable, but if that was your senior or a respected person, the more honorable proper pronunciation would be used. The hard E sound for the 'i' wouldnt be as harsh and long as saying the letter E in English, but it should is separated from the 'ka' sound.
Yes, you would call your friends or those younger 'Sa-kai' but it would be frowned upon if used in less casual conversation.
Take a listen to this: forvo.com/word/masato_sakai/
Here is Saburo Sakai's name: forvo.com/word/sakai_saburo/
This one isnt as pronounced as the above Masato "Sakai", but you can still hear the separation of the ka from the i. Both are spoken from clearly native Japanese speakers.
Also because of the varying accents and dialects in Japanese, you'll be more tolerated for not speaking it perfectly.
thanks,, quite informative
Nothing to do with the video itself, just an odd question. Why skip the a? Saying "he died later in hospital" rather than "he died later in a hospital". I mean it doesn't make any difference. Just curious as to why the British seem to skip the a, and us over here in the US don't. Especially considering the quote had the a in it. Either way great video, keep up the stellar work.
He does say a
That video was not interesting. That video was freaking awesome! Looking forward to more of your videos!
... "Sekigan no Sakai" is a Chuni title for sure, but the man certainly lived up to his own legend. >);^]
The last plane shot down was not a B-29, it was a B-32 Dominator.
I think it was shot down by one or two Zeros.
Evan Friend you beat me to it. Glad you did.
Even if it was, it doesn't change the fact that he shot down a plane very superior than his
Wow,he shot down a b 29, Wow it's awesome,because shot down a b 29 superfortress is not easy,very great pilot
He never shot down any B-29.
He attacked 2 4-engined B-32 Dominators he mistook for B-29s, on August 18th 1945.
The 2 planes were on a reconnaissance mission to observe the Japanese compliance with
the August 15th cease-fire.
That was the IJN's last war operation & nobody was harmed, & everybody went home.
There was one Japanese fighter pilot, Kuwahara Yasuo who at least inflicted serious
damage to a B-29 with his slightly armed, but phenomenally maneuverable fighter Ki-43 Oscar (Hayabusa).
This Army plane was a serious rival to the Navy Zero.
Yasuo Kuwahara, with Gordon T. Allred ''Kamikaze''.
@@Charlesputnam-bn9zy oh really,thank you for sharing this information,i really appreciate it
haha this guy is legendary
You said that he had flown back to base mostly upside down. But if he was flying his ZERO, that couldn't have been the case, because Zeros engine would flood because of its carburetor.
I know saburo sakai from a comic called the eternal zero
“He suffered a heart attack while leaning across the table to shake hands with an American.”
Little known fact but that American was non other than Chuck Norris.
Reding the title ,i imagine him flying over enemy plane jump in ,kill with sword and jump back to his plane.
He was really Rambo of Japanese airforce
I thought he was going to cut up enemy planes like a knife with his wings