The Fourth Air Army (Japanese: 第4航空軍, romanized: Kōkū gun) was a land-based aviation force of the
Imperial Japanese Army
The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...
. Formed in
Rabaul
Rabaul () is a township in the East New Britain province of Papua New Guinea, on the island of New Britain. It lies about 600 kilometres to the east of the island of New Guinea. Rabaul was the provincial capital and most important settlement in ...
in June 1943, consisting of the
6th and
7th Air Division
The 7th Air Division (7 AD) served the United States Air Force with distinction from early 1944 through early 1992, earning an outstanding unit decoration and a service streamer along the way.
History
Hawaii
As the 7th Fighter Wing, the divis ...
s (Hiko Shidan). The air army was responsible for covering the
Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capita ...
,
Dutch New Guinea
Dutch New Guinea or Netherlands New Guinea ( nl, Nederlands-Nieuw-Guinea, id, Nugini Belanda) was the western half of the island of New Guinea that was a part of the Dutch East Indies until 1949, later an overseas territory of the Kingdo ...
and the Territories of
Papua and
New Guinea
New Guinea (; Hiri Motu
Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea).
It is a simplified version of ...
areas of operations. The headquarters was at Rabaul. Disestablished in January 1945.
Origins
![RabaulJapaneseAircraft1942](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/56/RabaulJapaneseAircraft1942.jpg)
In August 1942, as a result of the loss in the
Battle of the Tenaru
The Battle of the Tenaru, sometimes called the Battle of the Ilu River or the Battle of Alligator Creek, was a land battle between the Imperial Japanese Army and Allied ground forces that took place on 21 August 1942, on the island of Guadal ...
at
Guadalcanal
Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the south-western Pacific, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomon Islands by area, and the seco ...
and significant losses of aircraft based at Rabaul, the Imperial Japanese Navy requested the Army to send reinforcements for the air effort in the Solomon's and New Guinea. This request was initially declined as the army considered its forces were spread too thinly throughout occupied territories. The defeat of the
Kawaguchi Detachment The Kawaguchi Detachment was an Imperial Japanese Army formation that existed during World War II. Under the command of Major General Kiyotake Kawaguchi, the detachment consisted of the 35th Infantry Brigade and the 124th Infantry Regiment. The deta ...
in the
Battle of Edson's Ridge
The Battle of Edson's Ridge, also known as the Battle of the Bloody Ridge, Battle of Raiders Ridge, and Battle of the Ridge, was a land battle of the Pacific campaign of World War II between Imperial Japanese Army and Allied (mainly United St ...
at the beginning of September brought about a change in the army's stance with a proposal being put forward to provide two fighter and two bomber air groups until
Port Moresby
(; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New Z ...
was captured. With further assessment of the situation and the
Kokoda Track campaign
The Kokoda Track campaign or Kokoda Trail campaign was part of the Pacific War of World War II. The campaign consisted of a series of battles fought between July and November 1942 in what was then the Australian Territory of Papua. It was prima ...
being unsuccessful, on 18 November the Army and Navy reached an agreement whereby the
6th Air Division
The 6th Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the Thirteenth Air Force, based at Clark Air Base, Philippines. It was inactivated on 15 December 1969.
Heraldry
On a shield per chevron argent and ...
was committed to the New Guinea front. The intention being that this would be a temporary arrangement until the front was secured and Port Moresby captured.
[Shindo, Hiroyuki. 2001]
Japanese air operations over New Guinea during the Second World War
Journal of the Australian War Memorial.
The first unit to arrive at Rabaul were 60 Nakajima Type 1 "Oscar" fighters of the
11th Sentai on 18 December which were later sent to New Guinea. They were followed by heavy bomber units from Burma which were deployed to New Guinea. By 4 January 1943 there were 164 army aircraft stationed in the area. They operated primarily out of Wewak and other smaller bases in New Guinea. The loss of the
Battle of the Bismarck Sea
The Battle of the Bismarck Sea (2–4 March 1943) took place in the South West Pacific Area (SWPA) during World War II when aircraft of the U.S. Fifth Air Force and the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) attacked a Japanese convoy carrying troops ...
showed this force to be inadequate in the face of the growing strength of the Allied air forces. To meet this gap the 68th and 78th Sentais of the 14th Air Brigade were sent to the 6th Air Division arriving in late April, followed by the 13th and 24th Sentai which arrived in late May. The 11th Sentai was relocated to Taisho, Japan.
[
Intelligence reports indicated that the Allies were building airfields in the New Guinea highlands at Mount Hagen and Bena Bena. These created a threat to the air bases at Wewak and Madang. To meet this change the ]7th Air Division
The 7th Air Division (7 AD) served the United States Air Force with distinction from early 1944 through early 1992, earning an outstanding unit decoration and a service streamer along the way.
History
Hawaii
As the 7th Fighter Wing, the divis ...
was transferred to Wewak from the Dutch East Indies on 19 June. The 7th Air Division was a relatively new unit having been created in January and the units transferred were the 59th Sentai (fighters), 5th Sentai, 7th Sentai (heavy bombers) and 61st Sentai (heavy bombers). As a result of this move a new Air Army, the 4th, was created with its headquarters based at Rabaul to command the 6th and 7th Air Divisions.[
]
Commanding Officers
Kumaichi Teramoto
Kumaichi Teramoto
was a Japanese Lieutenant General during World War II.
Career
Kumaichi Teramoto joined the Imperial Japanese Army in 1910, being commissioned into the infantry. In 1921, he graduated the Japanese War College and became a colonel in the IJA. Even ...
joined the Imperial Japanese Army infantry in 1910. He attended the Japanese War College, graduating in 1921. His first command of the Army Air Service was the 8th Air Regiment in 1933. Eventually he was promoted to Major General in command of the 2nd Air Division based in Manchukuo. For a brief time he command the 1st Air Army
__NOTOC__
The 1st Air Army (russian: 1-я воздушная армия) was an Air Army in the Soviet Air Force which served during World War II. It was formed on May 10, 1942, within the Soviet Western Front, and renamed the 26th Air Army on ...
before being assigned to command the newly formed 4th Air Army in July 1943.
Kyoji Tominaga
Kyoji Tominaga graduated from the army academy in May 1913. Tominaga held mainly non-combat positions through his military career, reaching the rank of Major General by 1939 and Lieutenant General by 1941. Tominaga continued in mainly administrative roles under the Tojo cabinet until its fall in July 1944. On 30 August Tominaga became commander of the Fourth Air Force. The appointment was noted with surprise by the Emperor
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...
who asked war minister Hajime Sugiyama
was a Japanese field marshal and one of the leaders of Japan's military throughout most of World War II. As Army Minister in 1937, Sugiyama was a driving force behind the launch of hostilities against China in retaliation for the Marco Polo B ...
whether Tominaga knew anything about the air force.
Headquarters
Initial Units in 1943
4th Kokugun Headquarters (Lieutenant General Kunachi Teramoto)
Formed at Rabaul in June 1943 and under the 8th Area Army till March 1944.[
]
6th Hiko Shidan 第6飛行師団 (Lieutenant General Giichi Itahana)
Headquartered at Wewak with additional bases Madang and other minor airfields from mid-July 1943:
* 13th Sentai - 飛行第13戦隊 (Major Nagano Tsunao) - transferred from the First Air Army
__NOTOC__
The 1st Air Army (russian: 1-я воздушная армия) was an Air Army in the Soviet Air Force which served during World War II. It was formed on May 10, 1942, within the Soviet Western Front, and renamed the 26th Air Army on ...
to the 6th Hikodan in New Guinea in May 1943
** complement of 20 Ki-45's of which 11 were available by 31 May 1943Ki-45 Toryu by Srecko Bradic
retrieved 1 April 2022
* 24th Sentai - 飛行第24戦隊
** Ki-43's operating from Dagua Airfield
* 68th Sentai - 飛行第68戦隊
** Ki-61's operating from Boram Airfield near Wewak
* 78th Sentai - 飛行第78戦隊
** Ki-61's operating from Boram Airfield near Wewak
7th Hiko Shidan 第7飛行師団 (Lieutenant General Einosuke Sudo)
Headquarters at Wewak from 7 July to 30 October 1943:
* 5th Sentai - 飛行第5戦隊
** Ki-45 and Ki-46's based at Wewak
* 7th Sentai - 飛行第7戦隊
** Ki-21
The ( Allied reporting name: "Sally" /"Gwen") was a Japanese heavy bomber during World War II. It began operations during the Second Sino-Japanese War participating in the Nomonhan Incident, and in the first stages of the Pacific War, includin ...
or Ki-49 heavy bombers
* 59th Sentai - 飛行第59戦隊
** Ki-43's based at Dagua
* 61st Sentai - 飛行第61戦隊
** Ki-21 or Ki-49 heavy bombers
New Guinea
By the beginning of August the operational strength of the 4th Air Army was 130 of its 200 aircraft. This was under a third of its complement on paper. Illness among aircrew and lack of replacement aircraft were contributing factors in addition to the combat attrition. On 12 August the Air Army began attacking enemy air bases at Wau, Salamaua, Hagen, Bena Bena, and elsewhere in New Guinea. This prompted a retaliatory raid on Wewak and other bases between 17 and 21 August which destroyed 100 of the 4th Air Army aircraft. The operational strength was now only 30 aircraft and insufficient to hinder enemy air operations.[
By September the operational strength had built up to 60-70 aircraft and the airbase at Hollandia was strengthened to provide more depth to the 4th Air Army's dispersion. In October the 7th Air Division was transferred to the 2nd Area Army which had been relocated to the East Indies and New Guinea. The 7th Air Division headquarters was transferred to ]Ambon Island
Ambon Island is part of the Maluku Islands of Indonesia. The island has an area of and is mountainous, well watered, and fertile. Ambon Island consists of two territories: the city of Ambon, Maluku, Ambon to the south and various districts ('' ...
. The 6th Air Division continued its operations out of Wewak at this time.[
By the time of the enemy landings at ]Saidor
Saidor is a village located in Saidor ward of Rai Coast Rural LLG, Madang Province, on the north coast of Papua New Guinea.
It is also the administrative centre of the Rai Coast District of Madang Province in Papua New Guinea. The village was the ...
in January 1944 the 4th Air Army had about 100 operational aircraft. These attempted to counter-attack the invasion force but were unsuccessful and by the beginning of February there were only 50 operational aircraft. To overcome this deficiency the 33rd, 45th, 60th, 75th, and 77th Sentai of the 2nd Area Army were lent to the 4th Air Army.[
]
Units in March 1944
6th Hiko Shidan
Remnants Headquartered at Wewak with additional bases Madang and other minor airfields
* 13th Sentai - 飛行第13戦隊
* 24th Sentai - 飛行第24戦隊
* 68th Sentai - 飛行第68戦隊
* 78th Sentai - 飛行第78戦隊
Loan from 2nd Kokugun
* 33rd Sentai - 飛行第33戦隊
** Ki-43
* 45th Sentai - 飛行第45戦隊
** Ki-48 light bomber
* 60th Sentai - 飛行第60戦隊
** Ki-21 heavy bomber
* 75th Sentai - 飛行第75戦隊
** Ki-48
* 77th Sentai - 飛行第77戦隊
** Ki-43
Hollandia
A total of 300 aircraft had been assembled at Hollandia by 25 March of which only 150 were operational. The Fourth Army headquarters also moved there at this time. In a repeat of the enemy attack Wewak enemy aircraft attacked Hollandia in strength achieving complete surprise and destroying 150 planes on the ground. The Fourth Air Army was transferred from the 8th Area Army to the Southern Army command on 15 April. The Forth's headquarters was transferred to Manado
Manado () is the capital City status in Indonesia, city of the Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province of North Sulawesi. It is the second largest city in Sulawesi after Makassar, with the 2020 Census giving a population of 451,916 distribu ...
on Sulawesi
Sulawesi (), also known as Celebes (), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the world's eleventh-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sulu Ar ...
. Major Genenral Masazumi Inadana arrived at Hollandia on 11 April to take over the 6th Air Division. On 22 April the enemy captured the base and remaining aircraft effectively wiping out the 6th Air Division.[Reports of General MacArthur: Japanese operation in the southwest Pacific area, compiled from Japanese Demobilization Bureaux records; Chapter X: Western New Guinea Operations (army.mil)]
Philippines
The Fourth Air Army's move to Manado also included a change to its operational area. This was expanded to include the Philippines and eastern Dutch East Indies (including Western New Guinea). Alongside it the Third Air Army was responsible for operations to the west of and including Borneo. The plan was to combine both Air Army's in the Pacific sector should a decisive battle come about. A large scale reinforcement of the 4th Air Army also to happen.[ The Second Air Army's 4th Division was transferred in late May to the Fourth Air Army and relocated from Manchuria to the Philippines as did the Fourth's Headquarters, which located to Manila. The Fourth's 7th Air Division continued to operate in the New Guinea theatre after the destruction of most of the 6th Air Division (disestablished at that time) and participated in the final battles of the campaign. Over 100 of the Divisions aircraft were destroyed at Halmahera on 27 July 1944.][ Lieutenant General Kyoji Tominaga was placed in charge of the Fourth Air Army.
The bulk of the 4th Division was deployed in central and southern Philippines in anticipation of an enemy invasion. Its task was to initially attack carriers and convoys in conjunction with the IJN's 5th Base Air Force. Once the enemy landed its focus would be to attack troop transports and concentrations. The 2nd and 4th Divisions participated in the ]Battle of Leyte
A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...
but by the 28 October these divisions had been decimated by enemy fighters and bombing of its airfields.
With these losses and following the example of the Imperial Japanese Navy's 1st Air Fleet which was also based at Manila the Fourth Air Army began forming tokubetsu kōgekitai (特別攻撃隊), which literally means "special attack units". The term tokubetsu kōgekitai is usually abbreviated to tokkōtai (特攻隊). These units were tasked with kamikaze attacks on enemy shipping, particularly carriers. On 16 January 1945 Tominaga transferred his headquarters from Manilla to Taiwan on his own initiative. This move should have resulted in him being court-martiled but because of the intervention from Tojo, it only resulted in him being demobilised. The remaining units of the Fourth Air Army were transferred to the Third Air Army and 14th Area Army. The Fourth Air Army ceased to exist on 24 February 1945 during the Battle of Luzon
The Battle of Luzon ( tl, Labanan sa Luzon; ja, ルソン島の戦い; es, Batalla de Luzón) was a land battle of the Pacific Theater of Operations of World War II by the Allied forces of the U.S., its colony the Philippines, and allies agai ...
.
Combat Units in July 1944
* 2nd Hiko Shidan 第2飛行師団 - based in Philippines (transferred to Third Air Army 1 January 1945)
** Combat units
** 6th Hikodan: Colonel Ono Monnosuke
*** 32nd Sentai (飛行第32戦隊) (Light Bomb): Major Masayoshi Okamura
*** 66th Sentai (飛行第65戦隊) (Light Bomb): Major Tatsuo Sato
*** 70th Sentai (飛行第70戦隊) (Battle): Major Katsumi Naganawa
** 13th Hikodan: Lieutenant Colonel Rokuo Eyama
*** 65th Sentai (飛行第65戦隊) (Raid): Lieutenant Colonel Masao Ishihara
*** 28th Independent Squadron (Chief) (Wonharu): Lieutenant Colonel Shingo Kunieda
* 4th Hiko Shidan 第4飛行師団 - based in Philippines (transferred to the 14th Area Army in February 1945)
** Independent Flight 52nd Company: Major Takeo Teshima
* 7th Hiko Shidan 第7飛行師団 - based in Dutch East Indies and New Guinea (transferred to the Third Air Army in February 1945)
** Combat units
*** Independent Flight 73rd Company (Military Detective): Major Harunari Kanemasa
*** 13th Sentai (飛行第13戦隊) (Battle): Major Hisao Machida
*** 24th Sentai (飛行第24戦隊) (Battle): Major Koichi Shoji
*** 208th Sentai (飛行第208戦隊) (Light Bomb): Lieutenant Colonel Seiki Kashima
** 9th Hikodan:
*** 61st Sentai (飛行第61戦隊) (Heavy Bomber): Major Shozaburo Horikawa
** 3rd Wing Command: Colonel Tomomi Miyake
*** Independent Flight 70th Squadron (Chief): Major Kurayasu Ichikawa
*** 75th Sentai (飛行第75戦隊) (Light Bomb): Lieutenant Colonel Doi
Special Attack Units
Shipping attack
* - drawn from the Fourth Air Army 30th Fighter Corps, 1st Sentai (飛行第1戦隊), 11th Sentai (飛行第11戦隊), 31st Sentai (飛行第31戦隊), 71st Sentai (飛行第71戦隊), 72nd Sentai (飛行第72戦隊), 73rd Sentai (飛行第73戦隊), and 200th Sentai (飛行第200戦隊).[Desperate Sunset: Japan’s kamikazes against Allied ships - 1944–45, Mike Yeo, Bloomsbury Publishing, 26/12/2019]
Airborne and ground attack
*
In addition to special attacks on ships, the Fourth Air Army used its Nakajima L2D
The Shōwa L2D and Nakajima L2D, given the designations Shōwa Navy Type 0 Transport and Nakajima Navy Type 0 Transport(零式輸送機), were license-built versions of the Douglas DC-3. The L2D series, numerically, was the most important Japan ...
transport aircraft of 208th Sentai to drop Taiwanese Takasago Volunteers, the so-called Takasago Volunteers, and the Takachiho Paratroopers ( Raiding Regiments 3 and 4) onto enemy airfields.
Because of the negligible impact of bombers and fighters attacking the enemy in the Battle of Ormoc Bay
The Battle of Ormoc Bay was a series of air-sea battles between Imperial Japan and the United States in the Camotes Sea in the Philippines from 9 November-21 December 1944, at Ormoc, part of the Battle of Leyte in the Pacific campaign of World ...
caused by enemy aircraft from Leyte Island
Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census.
Since the accessibility of land has be ...
Tominaga, after consulting with Takushiro Hattori, the chief of the Operations Division of the General Staff, sought to use an airborne special attack operation to neutralise the enemy air bases. Tominaga put his proposal to General Tomoyuki Yamashita, commander of the 14th Area Army. Yamashita approved Tominaga's operation on the basis that it would assist the defence of the Philippines.
The target of the first attack with four transports was the airfield in at Brauen on 26 November but was unsuccessful with one transport making a forced landing at an enemy airfield at Valencia Airfield. The whereabouts of the remaining three aircraft were unknown.
The second operation on 6 December named ''Operation TE'' was larger with a total of 450 airborne crew members; 204 from Bayug Airfield, 72 from Bayug Airfield, 36 from Sampablo Airfield, 104 from Drag Airfield, and 44 from Tacroban Airfield. The plan was for the paratroopers to occupy the airfield along with following ground troops of the 14th Area Army. The corresponding ground operation was named ''Operation Japanese''. Tominaga decided to put his remaining forces into "Operation Te". 30 Mitsubishi Ki-21 fighter planes, 17 Mitsubishi Ki-21 heavy bombers accompanied the transport planes.
On December 6, "Operation Te" was carried out, and paratroopers and forced landings were carried out at each airfield. Of the 14 transports that went to Tacloban, 12 were shot down and two crash landed.
A total of 26 transport planes went to Bayug and San Pablo Airfields. Twenty of the transport planes survived, but all were hit by heavy anti-aircraft fire. The Japanese overwhelmed enemy resistance and occupied both airfields, destroying airfield equipment and one C-45 Expedator, five L-5 Sentinels, and 14 other aircraft on the ground. Although the operation was successful, Tominaga was disappointed that so few enemy aircraft had been destroyed.
References
{{Reflist
Military units and formations established in 1943
Military units and formations disestablished in 1945
1943 establishments in Japan
1945 disestablishments in Japan
Units and formations of the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service