How are you all doing?
Today, I would like to introduce the "Hinomaru" to identify friend and foe.
On February 17, 1945, members of the Yokosuka Fighter Squadron were scrambled for an incoming Allied air raid. One Japanese Navy Pilot, parachuted from his badly damaged plane. He was mistaken for an enemy pilot by the excited villagers and beaten to death. In order to prevent such a tragedy from happening again, the order was given to wear a clear Japanese flag.
A 10-cm square flag was sewn on the right upper arm of the uniform, an 8-cm square on the apex of the flight helmet, and a 12-cm square on the back of the parachute belt. On the back of the parachute belt, a 12cm square Nissho flag is sewn on. On the life jacket, a 7cm wide and 4cm long warship flag is painted with dye or attached to the cloth. The dimensions may be slightly stretched.
The Army Air Corps also followed this measure.
(From "Regulations for Attaching and Attaching Aircraft Clothing Identification Markings" notified on April 30, 1945)
(Left) The Japanese flag
Japanese flag, Hinomaru
The flag was used as the flag on the bow of naval vessels.
(Right) Warship flag
Symbol of the Imperial Japanese Navy.
The images on the aviation goggles were not always so accurate, because they were handpainted.
When worn, the elastic band stretches, causing the "Hinomaru" to crack and become an oval.
Second Lieutenant Matsuo Hagiri (right) and Flight Sergeant Yuzaburo Toguchi of the Yokosuka Air Screening Department wait to go into action at a waiting area at Yokosuka Air Base in March 1945. Shiden Type 21 (Shiden Kai) is at upper left.
Winter flight helmet of an earlier model.（reproduced Ensign Hagiri)
Flying Sgt. Ohara (far left) holds a meeting at Yokosuka Air Base in the spring of 1945. He served as the last senior non-commissioned officer of the prestigious Yokosuka Air Fighter Squadron. The Hinomaru (Japanese flag) sewn on the upper arms of flying suits, the bands of Aviation goggles, and the tops of flight helmet were popularized rapidly after the Japanese were mistakenly identified as enemy soldiers and beaten to death in the war. The Shiden Kai Yo-105 can be seen at the far left.
Officially adopted in 1940, winter flight helmet (reproduction of chief petty officer. Ohara)
Late model winter flight helmet (reproduce the photo above)
In this photo, we see a group of Japanese Navy pilots and crew, just before takeoff, on a mission to Okinawa, April 12th, 1945. The man commanding the attack, Hideo Nishimori, can be seen in the middle with rank displayed on his left sleeve. Their's would be a 12 plane raid. The aluminum cups, in the hands of the airmen, were used extensively by the Imperial Japanese Navy, sometimes for tea and sometimes for other beverages.
"Hinomaru" made of cloth
"Hinomaru" hand-painted
Well, we will see you again.
※About ordering※
We manufacture the flight helmets, oxygen masks, receivers, etc. shown in the blog. Please contact us for production orders, film-related orders, etc.
ry.oide@nifty.com