1 August 1913 – 27 August 1939) was the highest-scoring

fighter ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviation, military aviator credited with shooting down a certain minimum number of enemy aircraft during aerial combat; the exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ...

of the

Imperial Japanese Army Air Service The Imperial Japanese Army Air Service (IJAAS) or Imperial Japanese Army Air Force (IJAAF; ) was the Military aviation, aviation force of the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). Its primary mission was to provide tactical close air support for ground ...

(IJAAF). On 27 June 1939 he set a Japanese record by downing 11 planes on a single day. He was shot down and killed on 27 August 1939, having claimed 58 victories in only three months of combat. He scored all his aerial victories while flying a

Nakajima Ki-27 The was the main fighter aircraft used by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service up until 1940. Its Allies of World War II, Allied World War II Allied names for Japanese aircraft, nickname was "Nate", although it was called "Abdul" in the China ...

Early life

Hiromichi Shinohara was born in August 1913 on a farm in Suzumenomiya, near

Utsunomiya is the capital and largest city of Tochigi Prefecture in the northern Kantō region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 513,584, and a population density of . The total area of the city is . Utsunomiya is famous for its ''gyoza'' ...

in the

Tochigi Prefecture is a landlocked Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Tochigi Prefecture has a population of 1,897,649 (1 June 2023) and has a geographic area of 6,408 Square kilometre, km2 (2,474 Square mile, sq mi ...

. After finishing his formal education he went into military service, joining the 27th Cavalry Regiment in 1931. In that capacity he took part in the

Japanese invasion of Manchuria The Empire of Japan's Kwantung Army invaded the Manchuria region of the Republic of China on 18 September 1931, immediately following the Mukden incident, a false flag event staged by Japanese military personnel as a pretext to invade. At the ...

and was involved in the Jiangqiao Campaign in April 1932.

Imperial Japanese Army Air Force career

In June 1933 Shinohara went to the Tokorozawa Flying School (''Tokorozawa Rikugun Koku Seibi Gakkō''), graduating in January 1934. He was enlisted as a corporal in the 1st Chutai of the 11th Hiko Datai, and was posted to

Harbin Harbin, ; zh, , s=哈尔滨, t=哈爾濱, p=Hā'ěrbīn; IPA: . is the capital of Heilongjiang, China. It is the largest city of Heilongjiang, as well as being the city with the second-largest urban area, urban population (after Shenyang, Lia ...

Manchukuo Manchukuo, officially known as the State of Manchuria prior to 1934 and the Empire of Great Manchuria thereafter, was a puppet state of the Empire of Japan in Northeast China that existed from 1932 until its dissolution in 1945. It was ostens ...

(

Manchuria Manchuria is a historical region in northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day northeast China and parts of the modern-day Russian Far East south of the Uda (Khabarovsk Krai), Uda River and the Tukuringra-Dzhagdy Ranges. The exact ...

). By the end of 1938 he had climbed through the ranks, becoming a

warrant officer Warrant officer (WO) is a Military rank, rank or category of ranks in the armed forces of many countries. Depending on the country, service, or historical context, warrant officers are sometimes classified as the most junior of the commissioned ...

. He was 25 years old and had six years of flying experience by the time the

Nomonhan Incident The Battles of Khalkhin Gol (; ) were the decisive engagements of the undeclared Soviet–Japanese border conflicts involving the Soviet Union, Mongolian People's Republic, Mongolia, Empire of Japan, Japan and Manchukuo in 1939. The conflict wa ...

(

Battles of Khalkhin Gol The Battles of Khalkhin Gol (; ) were the decisive engagements of the undeclared Soviet–Japanese border conflicts involving the Soviet Union, Mongolian People's Republic, Mongolia, Empire of Japan, Japan and Manchukuo in 1939. The conflict wa ...

) began in May 1939. Khalkhin Gol Japanese Ki 27 1939

During his first combat sortie, on 27 May 1939, Shinohara, flying a

, downed four USSR

Polikarpov I-16 The Polikarpov I-16 () is a Soviet single-engine single-seat fighter aircraft of revolutionary design; it is a low-wing cantilever monoplane fighter with retractable landing gear, and the first such aircraft to attain operational status. It "in ...

fighters. He became an ace within 24 hours, after he claimed six more victories, downing a

Polikarpov R-Z The Polikarpov R-Z was a Soviet reconnaissance bomber aircraft of the 1930s. It was a revised version of the Polikarpov R-5 which was built in large numbers between 1935 and 1937. It was used in combat during the Spanish Civil War as well as th ...

reconnaissance plane and five

Polikarpov I-15 The Polikarpov I-15 () was a Soviet biplane fighter aircraft of the 1930s. Nicknamed ''Chaika'' (', "gull") because of its gulled upper wings,Gunston 1995, p. 299.Green and Swanborough 1979, p. 10. it was operated in large numbers by the Soviet ...

biplane fighters. No other pilot in history scored 10 victories during his first day of combat. From then on his victories continued, culminating on 27 June 1939 in an Imperial Japanese Army Air Force record of eleven victories in a single day during an air battle over Tamsak-Bulak. Only top ace of all time

Erich Hartmann Erich Alfred Hartmann (19 April 1922 – 20 September 1993) was a German fighter pilot during World War II and the most successful fighter ace in the history of aerial warfare. He flew 1,404 combat missions and participated in aerial comb ...

(11),

Emil Lang Emil Lang (14 January 1909 – 3 September 1944), nicknamed "Bully", was a Luftwaffe flying ace during World War II. A flying ace or fighter ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial com ...

(18),

Hans-Joachim Marseille Hans-Joachim Marseille (; 13 December 1919 – 30 September 1942) was a German Luftwaffe fighter pilot and flying ace during World War II. He is noted for his aerial battles during the North African Campaign and his Bohemian lifestyle. One of ...

(17),

Erich Rudorffer Erich Rudorffer (1 November 1917 – 8 April 2016) was a German Luftwaffe fighter ace who was one of a handful who served with the Luftwaffe through the whole of World War II. He was one of the most successful fighter pilots in the history of a ...

(13 in 17 minutes), August Lambert (17), Hubert Strassl (15),

Wilhelm Batz Wilhelm Batz (21 May 1916 – 11 September 1988) was a German Luftwaffe fighter ace during World War II. A flying ace or fighter ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more aircraft during aerial combat. Batz flew 445 co ...

(15), Johannes Wiese (12), Franz Schall (11 and 13) have surpassed him. Shinohara's luck however ran out on him two months later when on 27 August 1939 he himself was shot down by USSR Polikarpov I-16 fighters after claiming three victories during a bombing escort mission. His aircraft fell in flames into Mohorehi Lake, ten kilometres south of Abdara Lake. Warrant Officer Hiromichi Shinohara was posthumously promoted to the rank of second lieutenant, having claimed 58 victories in only three months of combat—the last three in the battle that would take him down—earning him the nickname of the '' Richthofen of the Orient''.

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * * *

External links

Imperial Japanese Army Air Force Aces

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shinohara, Hiromichi 1913 births 1939 deaths Military personnel from Tochigi Prefecture People from Utsunomiya, Tochigi Japanese World War II flying aces Imperial Japanese Army personnel killed in World War II Aviators killed by being shot down

Early life

Imperial Japanese Army Air Force career

See also

References

External links