I have long been aware that the Germans operated ships and U-boats in the Pacific campaign. But I have just been surprised to read in a March 1944 NZ newspaper that the Germans also had troops stationed at Singapore to bolster the Japanese-held garrison there.
This lead me to wonder, did the Germans ever bring any aircraft or squadrons out to the Pacific too? Or did the Luftwaffe have troops in the theatre even if non-flying or working with Japanese units?
I know a few Japanese aircraft were based on German designs. Did the Luftwaffe perhaps train the Japanese pilots and crews, etc?
By: Arm Waver - 25th May 2004 at 08:40
A quick search pulled up the following about the submarine…
http://www.fact-index.com/j/ja/japanese_submarine_i_52.html
and
http://www.ahoy.tk-jk.net/macslog/I-52-JapansGoldenSubmarin.html
OAW
By: DazDaMan - 25th May 2004 at 08:26
Funny you should mention submarines. I always thought the plotline from Secret Weapons Over Normandy to be a bit on the fanciful side (the game’s makers had FW190s in Burma, trying to protect a German U-boat that had delivered info and supplies to the Japanese there), but reading all of this it does seem to make more sense! 😉
By: Arm Waver - 25th May 2004 at 07:25
I remember seeing a documentary recently about transfer of information between Japan and Nazi occupied Europe that was done by submarine and the programme covered the discovery of a Japanese submarine wreck in the Atlantic ocean. I believe that it was also a trade route between both powers for materials that one had and not the other.
OAW
By: Flood - 25th May 2004 at 00:48
The Nakajima Kikka, which bears a passing resembalence to the Me262A…
And have a look here –
http://www.ijnafpics.com/jbwkikka1.htm
The NASM/Garber Kikka (a survivor)…
Flood.â„¢
By: Dave Homewood - 25th May 2004 at 00:05
Very interesting indeed. Isn’t it true that the Japanese also attempted a copy or licence build of the ME262? Or was this just something they were testing rather than building?
By: frankvw - 24th May 2004 at 22:15
Yes, there is a Me-163 and a Japanese copy at Chino air museum…
Some other interesting WW2 planes there, by the way…
Advice for those who go, don’t miss the jets section, and especially, go see the ones outside, at the rear of the jets hanger. Some quite rare pieces, like a QF-100 which (nearly) survived unharmed a missile firing 😀
Here both “Komets”:
By: Flood - 24th May 2004 at 22:10
There were 2 Arado Ar196 in the Pacific, probably carried there by raiders with the expectation that they would be used to spot for U-Boats. To avoid being fired on by their allies they apparently wore hinomarus (Japanese markings) over a green upper and light grey lower surface paint scheme. They were based at Singapore. How successful they were I do not know.
Maintenance bases were also set up at Penang, Malaya, and Surabaya, Java, to support the U-Boats and raiders but would almost certainly have been dependant on the Japanese for their aerial defence needs.
I take it you are not referring to aircraft sent out to Japan for them to test…?
Flood.â„¢
By: DazDaMan - 24th May 2004 at 21:15
There’s a replica of one of these at Planes of Fame (I think).
By: robbelc - 24th May 2004 at 21:07
I know the Germans shiped over a Me163 to Japan. They did make some copies, one I think still exists, but I think the problems with the fuels ment the project never got any where. With the 163’s terrible safety record you needed to be a Kamakazie!
By: Arabella-Cox - 24th May 2004 at 17:59
I can’t remember exactly where I saw it, but apparently the Germans looked at instigating an air bridge between German-occupied Ukraine and Japanese-occupied China. Not sure which aircraft they looked at using, or indeed whether they ever managed to do it, but it’s a quite chilling thought to consider that the Nazi’s and the Japs were both motoring in towards the centre of the same continent at that time… 😮
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May 24, 2004 at 12:56 am