This particular monograph covers Japanese air operations in Burma during the Second World War. It was written by two different staff officers of the 5th Air Division, which was the primary operating control for aviation assets during this period. The record was taken from the memory of these officers as most official unit documentation was destroyed by those units just prior to the end of the war. It is a true loss to all historians that the Japanese in general did a widespread purge of much of the materials related to their operations during the Pacific War. As such, very little escaped this mass destruction so we shall never full know the details of operations by the Japanese during this time

There are two sections to this monograph. The first covers the period of January 1942 to August 1943 and was written by Masa Tanaka. The second covers April 1943 to the end of the war in August 1945, and Susumu Ogata is the author of this section. One thing I found rather interesting was the continual use of the phrases, 'heavily damaged', 'annihilated', 'completely destroyed', and so on that permeated the accounts of both of these officers. It seems as if an operation was either a total success or a dismal failure!

The entire 92 page monograph is written in outline form. To think that this is an easy read, would not be valid, however, as a student of military history in general and the Burma theater of operations in particular, I found it to be most interesting and enlightening. In many cases, the monograph shows the problems the Japanese had at being spread out so thinly. Having such a large area of responsibility and having so little in terms of numbers was not easy for them. It was not helped by constantly having units taken from them for use in other theaters of operation such as New Guinea and China. One thing that the Burma front did offer was a rather long period of time when military operations of any size were nigh impossible thanks to the monsoon season. During these months, the Japanese pulled back the majority of their air assets to safe areas in Malaya where they would undergo refit, resupply and training. As the war progressed, even these safe areas were in jeopardy from Allied attack.  Major Ogata was quite cognizant of the increasing capabilities of Allied air power and the dwindling effect of his own forces during the later years. It is quite evident in his assessments.

In all, I enjoyed the ability to get a view-point of what it was like from the other side. Historical books on the 'other side' are common when it comes to German perspectives, but sorely lacking in terms of what is available to us from the Japanese side. This monograph helps to add to that knowledge base and see the rise and fall of Japanese air power in this particular area.

It is a publication that no serious Japanese aviation enthusiast should be without.

Review book courtesy of  Historica, where you can order your copy of this and many other superb aviation and modeling books.

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