Warrant Officer Kenji Yanagiya was a 24-year-old fighter pilot in Kōkūtai 204, flying the Mitsubishi A6M3 Zero. On April 18, 1943, he was assigned to a group of six Zeros tasked with escorting two Mitsubishi G4M Bettys carrying Admiral Yamamoto and his entourage on an inspection tour to Bougainville. They took off at 06:00 Japanese Standard Time from Rabaul, taking up position in two V-formations at Yamamoto’s 4 o’clock, some 500 metres above the Bettys. They were led by Lieutenant Morisaki, and Yanagiya flew alongside P.O. 1/C Tsujinoue, F 1/C Sugita, CPO Hidaka and P.O. 2/C Okazaki. Yanagiya had been assigned plane No. 169. The weather was clear and the flight proceeded smoothly.
After a while Bougainville came into view and they continued toward its southern tip. After about ten minutes they could see their destination — the IJN Ballale Island airstrip — and began their approach. Then, without warning, several aircraft appeared from the direction of Shortland Island to the south. Flying low, their green camouflage made them difficult to spot against the jungle below. They were soon identified as American P-38 Lightnings. The escorts dropped their external tanks and climbed to intercept.
Morisaki wagged his wings and dived to protect the transports. Some P-38s went straight for the Bettys while the rest tried to keep the Zeros occupied. Outnumbered by more than two to one, Morisaki’s group could not keep them away. Yanagiya watched helplessly as one Betty crashed into the jungle and the other splashed into the sea. The Americans then turned back southward. Yanagiya dived toward the airfield and fired a short burst to alert the base — which had not been informed of the inspection visit, as only senior officers had been privy to the itinerary.
Seething with anger, Yanagiya calculated that the Americans had come from Guadalcanal and would cruise low to conserve fuel on the return leg. Heading in that direction he soon found a lone P-38 flying at 12,000 feet. Undetected, he climbed another 1,000 metres above it, then dived and fired a precise burst, every shell finding its mark. The P-38 went down toward the sea trailing heavy white smoke. It was the only American aircraft lost in the entire operation. Yanagiya and all five of his fellow pilots survived the attack, and they were not held responsible for the loss of the Yamamoto flight — their six fighters had been vastly outnumbered by sixteen Americans.
On June 7 the same year Yanagiya’s group was sent on a bombing raid against the Allied airfield on Russell Island. During the action he sustained injuries to his right hand and leg. Managing to limp back to base he made a belly landing. He was operated on and his hand had to be removed, ending his active service. All five of his fellow escorts from the Yamamoto mission were subsequently killed in the war, leaving Yanagiya the sole survivor. Haunted by shame, he kept silent about the events of April 18, 1943, until a documentary writer, Akira Yoshimura, approached him for an interview some thirty years later in the mid-1970s. Yanagiya died on February 29, 2008, at the age of 88.
