The captured Japanese pilot is showing the sleeve rank insignia for a Lieutenant, which would make him a fairly senior pilot in the Kido Butei aircraft squadrons. Ninety percent of the pilots in the Imperial Japanese Navy were enlisted personnel, not officers. Shigekazu Shimazaki, who commanded Zuikaku's Air Wing as well as the second Japanese attack wave at Pearl Harbor was a Lieutenant Commander, only one rank higher. Zenji Abe, who commanded a squadron of Val dive bombers during the attack, was a lieutenant.
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05-03-2025 alle ore 08:57