“ripple” camouflage, white combat band and
Sentai markings were applied, as and when time
allowed. Believed to have been the personal
mount of Capt. Shiro Ban-nai, the 2nd Chutai
leader in late December 1943, it duly received a
“leader’s” band of white around the rear fuselage,
bordered with the Chutai colors. Some histori-
ans believe that the aircraft was also the former
mount of the previous Chutai leader, Capt. Shogo
Takeuchi, but his flamboyant markings on previ-
ous aircraft would seem to disprove this theory, as
his usual mount is said to have carried his tally of
58 kill markings in the form of red eagles painted
along the side of the cockpit, 16 of which were
added while he was with the 68th Sentai. What is
known is that whoever flew c/n 263 on a regular
basis did claim at least one kill, which was high-
lighted by the stylized “bird” victory marking be-
units. Inspected on the 30th December, just four
days after the landings, the remains had already
been stripped of all useful information and Japa-
nese identification tags by GIs. The “propeller had
been torn apart by souvenir hunters!” stated one
report. Never truer was the TAIU mantra of “The
Germans fought for Hitler, the Japanese fought
for their Emperor and the Americans fought for
souvenirs!”
On the 2nd of January 1944, Tuluvu was con-
sidered moderately safe and c/n 263 was exam-
ined in detail by the field team, who were ac-
companied on most field expeditions by a team
of protective troops. It was soon determined that
the aircraft, while lacking its radio gear, was in
“excellent” condition and a possible candidate
for rebuild and flight-testing. Aside from a few
stray bullet holes received during the handover
Practically intact! ;is Ki-61-Id
of the 19th Sentai (formerly of
the 55th Sentai) was captured at
Kadena airfield and is believed to
be the aircraft that was flown by
the VMF322 “Fighting Cocks.”
Allied intelligence units still believed that the aircraft could not be of Japanese design and therefore determined that it must be of Italian origin.
low the cockpit.
On the 26th of December 1943, the USMC
landed at Cape Gloucester, New Britain, and by
the 30th, overran Airfield No.1 at Tuluvu. Several
Japanese aircraft had been identified on aerial
reconnaissance photos prior to the landings and
had been targeted by the TAIU field teams for inspection, including two of the elusive Ki-61s.
The first aircraft examined was c/n 467, which,
while being a burnt-out wreck, it did serve as a
good example of a unique Allied problem facing
the Technical Air Intelligence Unit (TAIU) field
of the airfield, the main cause of concern was that
it had been submerged up to the under surface of
the wings in recent fresh water floods, which had
hampered the landing operations in during the
previous week.
Under new management
By February, c/n 263 had arrived at Eagle Farm,
the then base of operations for the Technical Air
Intelligence-Unit South-West Pacific Area (TAIU-
