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The history of the 57th<\/sup> Shimbu-tai is inextricably linked to one of the bloodiest and most brutal engagements of the Pacific War, namely, the Battle of Okinawa. For the Allies, the island was the final step \u2013 a sui generis gateway through which they would launch an attack on the Japanese home islands. Its extensive infrastructure, the most prominent elements of which were several conveniently located airfields, was to be used to provide critical aerial (and logistical) support for the anticipated invasion. The Japanese in turn viewed the campaign as the last chance to defeat the enemy forces or at the very least seriously cripple them, and thus gain time to properly prepare the defence of the motherland. As regards air operations, the Battle of Okinawa was characterized by the mass use of suicide units. This was not a new method of conducting warfare, but the operations were astonishing because of their scale and the extraordinary determination displayed by the Japanese pilots.<\/p>\n Although the present article is not specifically concerned with a presentation of the operations of suicide units, it is worth briefly recalling their genesis. The first mission, flown by a specially created squadron of the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Force (IJNAF), took place already during the fighting for the Philippines \u2013 on 25 October 1944, to be precise. The unit in question, known under the name Shikishima<\/em> and commanded by Captain Yukio Seki, was made up of fighter pilots from 201st<\/sup> Kokutai. Captain Seka\u2019s bomb-laden Mitsubishi A6M \u201cZero\u201d struck the stern of the escort carrier USS St. Lo<\/em> (CVE-63), causing numerous fires and secondary explosions which ultimately resulted in the destruction of the ship.<\/p>\n USS St. Lo escort aircraft carrier hit by “kamikaze”<\/p><\/div>\n Captain’s subordinates caused damage to several other escort carriers, including USS Sangamon<\/em>, USS Suwannee<\/em>, USS Santee<\/em>, USS White Plains<\/em> and USS Kalinin Bay<\/em>. In the eyes of the Naval Staff, the operation was an overwhelming success, especially as in their reports the pilots who flew cover mentioned the complete annihilation of 3\u20135 enemy carriers. A strong proponent of the suicide attack concept, Vice Admiral Ohnishi, expressed himself as follows: There are thousands of us pilots. But the enemy does not have thousands of ships. And so we shall destroy them all, just like the kamikaze \u2013 the \u201cdivine wind\u201d \u2013 had shattered the invasion fleet of Kublai Chan centuries before<\/em>. This is how the Naval Special Attack Units, known to us as the kamikaze, were born.<\/p>\n The Imperial Japanese Army Air Force (IJAAF), however, was rather sceptical about the idea of suicide attacks. But the Imperial Japanese Navy General Staff (Gunreibu) had made its decision and issued the relevant orders; there was no way for the Army to avoid involvement as a branch of service. To compound matters, however, the ranks of its own kamikaze squadrons \u2013 known as shinfu \u2013 were initially supplied mainly by volunteer pilots who possessed considerable combat experience, which was considered an extreme wastage of qualified manpower. During the fighting for the Philippines, the IJAAF deployed twelve suicide units. At the time, they were named hakk\u014d-tai and carried ordinal numbers from 1 to 12. At the beginning of 1945, the programme of recruiting pilots for shinfu units was at once significantly expanded and considerably modified.<\/p>\n Squadrons created according to the new principles were named shimbu-tai, while some sources refer to them as shinbu-tai. Both forms are considered correct, as the problem lies in rendering the phonetic sound of the term into English. In any event, orders issued at the turn of April 1945 established the next Army suicide units, namely, 57th<\/sup>, 58th<\/sup>, 59th<\/sup> and 60th<\/sup> Shimbu-tai.<\/p>\n Ki-84 Ko, 57th Shimbu-tai, Miyokonojo airbase, Kyushu, Japan, Okinawa battle period, May 1945<\/p><\/div>\n All of the above-mentioned squadrons were staffed by young pilots, students \u2013 corporals, sergeants and second lieutenants \u2013 of the famous aviation school in Akeno near Tokyo. What do their military ranks tell us? Well, first of all, that after completing a full training cycle, airmen were assigned to combat units in the rank of second lieutenant, while aviators in the rank of corporal or sergeant had gone through an extensive piloting course, but without so-called combat training, which covered the intricacies of aerial combat, such as flying and engaging the enemy in larger formations. These skills, however, were considered as not necessarily needed for suicide missions.<\/p>\n Kwiaty Wi\u015bni w gotowo\u015bci na \u015bmier\u0107<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\nThe Beginnings<\/h2>\n
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57. Shimbu-tai<\/h2>\n
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