was Japanese Army aviator known for achieving

flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace is varied, but is usually co ...

status against Boeing B-29 Superfortresses during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. In carrying out his duties, he downed the highest number of B-29s among the pilots in his air group—seven confirmed—and also two

North American P-51 Mustang The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in April 1940 by a team headed by James ...

s. He was awarded the ''

Bukosho The ("Badge for Military Merit"), commonly called the Bukōshō, was a military decoration of the Empire of Japan, established on 7 December 1944 by Imperial edict. It was awarded by the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) to living soldiers who had pe ...

'', the highest award given by 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 ...

to living soldiers who demonstrated exceptionally valorous action in combat.

Career

Ogawa was born in 1917 in Shizuoka Prefecture. He enlisted in the army when he was 18 and was assigned to the 7th Air Regiment based at Hamamatsu Airfield located north of the city of

Hamamatsu is a city located in western Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. the city had an estimated population of 791,707 in 340,591 households, making it the prefecture's largest city, and a population density of . The total area of the site was . Overview Ha ...

in his home prefecture. After a few years, he enrolled in the Kumagaya Army Flying School to learn to fly

fighters Fighter(s) or The Fighter(s) may refer to: Combat and warfare * Combatant, an individual legally entitled to engage in hostilities during an international armed conflict * Fighter aircraft, a warplane designed to destroy or damage enemy warplan ...

. In August 1938 he graduated as a member of the 72nd class of students. Instead of being posted to a combat squadron in China, he was kept at the school as an assistant instructor. Toward the end of 1941, Ogawa was sent to Manchuria to fly with the 70th Sentai, a fighter wing outfitted with the

Nakajima Ki-44 The Nakajima Ki-44 ''Shoki'' (鍾馗, " Devil Queller") was a single-seat fighter- interceptor which was developed by the Nakajima Aircraft Company and operated by the Imperial Japanese Army from 1942 to 1945 during World War II. Its official d ...

''Shōki'', called "Tojo" by the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

. He flew for three years and gained a high level of skill in piloting fighters. By then, American heavy bombers had begun to bomb Japan itself, so to counter the attacks the 70th Sentai was transferred, in November 1944, to

Kashiwa, Chiba is a city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 433,436 in 194,216 households and a population density of 3800 persons per km². The total area of the city is . The name of the city is written with a s ...

, northeast of Tokyo. For this task, the fighter pilots were given newer 20 mm

Ho-5 cannon The Ho-5 (Army Type 2) was a Japanese aircraft autocannon used during World War II. Developed from the Ho-103 machine gun, it was a version of the American Model 1921 Browning aircraft machine gun. It replaced the Ho-1 and Ho-3 (Army Type 9 ...

-equipped

Nakajima Ki-84 The is a single-seat fighter flown by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service in the last two years of World War II. The Allied reporting name was "Frank"; the Japanese Army designation was . The Ki-84 is generally considered the best Japanese ...

machines, called "Frank" by the Allies. Ogawa found that the B-29s were more vulnerable when they were maintaining level flight in their bombing runs and could not employ evasive maneuvers. Exploiting this weakness during night actions, he shot two of the bombers down by frontal attack, firing at the nose. He continued with his aerial successes and by August 1945 when the war ended, he had built up a confirmed score of seven B-29 bombers downed, as well as two P-51 Mustang fighters. This made him the highest scoring pilot against B-29s in the 70th Sentai, his air group. By the order of General

Shizuichi Tanaka was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army and Japanese Military Governor of the Philippines during World War II. Biography Early life and military service Tanaka was born in Issai village, Hyōgo prefecture (now part of the city of Tatsun ...

, on 9 July 1945 Ogawa was awarded the ''

'', the highest military honor given to living IJA personnel during

. At the same time he was commissioned as an officer with the rank of second lieutenant. After the war Ogawa became a businessman and lived in Tokyo.

References

External links

1/32 scale Nakajima Ki44-II Hei Shoki (Tojo) Fighter
with Ogawa's markings {{DEFAULTSORT:Ogawa, Makoto 1917 births Possibly living people Imperial Japanese Army officers Imperial Japanese Army personnel of World War II Japanese World War II flying aces Military personnel from Shizuoka Prefecture