The fact of World War II was that most pilots gave their lives to the cause. Even in victory, the British pilot death toll was 46%. For Germany and especially Japan that toll was even higher. For a few, including todays subject, their skill was so great it saved them. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage, and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.
A pilot saluting his flag. It must be remembered that this portrait is not a kamikaze. This pilot was expected to win and come back home to tell about it. In general, that was too optimistic. Without misplaced optimism, how many wars would be started.
Todays stamp is issue A150, a 15 Sen stamp issued by Imperial Japan in 1942. It was part of a 16 stamp issue in various denominations. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth $1.50 used.
Today I will tell the story of Japanese Naval Lieutenant Tetsuzo Iwamoto who was one of Japan’s leading fighter aces. According to his diary from the time, he shot down 202 aircraft with his Mitsubishi Zero fighter. Iwamoto was an ace even before Pearl Harbor having been based in Nanking, China and scoring 14 victories against Chinese flown, Russian made Polikarpov I-15 fighters, an out of date biplane fighter. 1942-1944 saw Iwamoto stationed at Rabual in New Guinea where he was in almost constant combat with Australian and American flown fighters. Here his diary credited him with 48 Corsairs, 7 Wildcats, 29 Hellcats, 4 Spitfires, 4 P38s, and 75 various model bombers. The Zero became more out of date as the war went along but never lost it’s unparalleled agility in the hands of an expert pilot. Iwamoto stated that he knew how to beat the American fighters but was impressed how much punishment the heavier fighters could take and keep flying, much more so than his light Zero.
Iwamoto was promoted through the ranks and commissioned as an officer. In 1944 he was transferred back to Japan to train Kamikaze pilots and perform air defense missions including over Okinawa. Unlike Germany where some of the surviving aces were issued jets in the last days of the war hoping for a miracle, Iwamoto flew Zeros till the end.
Iwamoto was not treated well by his homeland after the war. Called in for questioning several times by the occupation forces, he was not charged with war crimes. He was however blacklisted for employment. There was much pacifist propaganda that viewed the veterans as the pawns of warmongers. Though he desired to fly again for the rest of his life it was not to be. He suffered a misdiagnosed pendacites and then died of sepsis in hospital at age 38 in 1954. The Japanese Self Defense Force Air reformed that same year.
Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to toast Lieutenant Iwamoto. I think enough time has passed that we can admire the skill and bravery of veterans of all sides of World War 2. Come again for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting. First published in 2019.