NANGO'S LAST STAND

摘要

By the beginning of 1944, the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force was in dir« straits in New Guinea, reduced to defending its battered air bases along the island's northern littoral. At a time when it was being said "No one returns alive from New Guinea" in the Japanese Home Islands, the demoralized airmen sorely needed a role model to boost their morale. That burden fell upon Captain Shigeo Nango, who became known as "the one who maintains our New Guinea air battle." Tall and confident, 27-year-old Nango had been rapidly promoted due to his combat skills and winning personality. It also didn't hurt that his elder brother was Lt. Cmdr. Mochifumi Nango, an Imperial Japanese Navy ace who had scored eight victories before dying in a collision with a Polikarpov 1-15 over China in July 1938. When Shigeo Nango first commenced his career with the 33rd Hiko Sentai (flying regiment) during the Nomohan "incident," the 1939 border war with the Soviet Union, his commanding officer had confined him to training flights until he gained more experience. Since those early days, Nango had risen to become a squadron leader within the 59th Sentai during the 1942 Malaya campaign, and in August 1943 had been made the regiment's executive officer. All the while he gained extensive combat experience, such as when he engaged Royal Australian Air Force Spitfires over Darwin on June 20 and 22, 1943. The following month his highly respected unit moved from Timor to Dagua airfield, in New Guinea. By early October the regiment had repaired to Manila for two months of well-earned leave.