An illustrated history of how Japan devised and launched a new kind of
air campaign in late 1944 - the suicidal assaults of the kamikaze
units against the approaching Allied fleets.
As summer changed to autumn in 1944, Japan was losing the war. Still
unwilling to surrender, Japan's last hope was to try to wear down US
resolve enough to reach a negotiated settlement. Extraordinary measures
seemed necessary, and the most extraordinary was the formation of
Special Attack Units - known to the Allies as the kamikazes.
The concept of organized suicide squadrons was first raised on June 15,
1944. By August, formations were being trained. These formations were
first used in the October 1944 US invasion of the Philippine Islands,
where they offered some tactical success. The program was expanded into
a major campaign over the rest of the Pacific War, seeing a crescendo
during the struggle for Okinawa in April through May 1945.
This highly illustrated history examines not just the horrific missions
themselves, but the decisions behind the kamikaze campaign, how it
developed, and how it became a key part of Japanese strategy. Although
the attacks started on an almost ad hoc basis, the kamikaze soon became
a major Japanese policy. By the end of the war, Japan was manufacturing
aircraft specifically for kamikaze missions, including a rocket-powered
manned missile. A plan for a massive use of kamikazes to defend the
Japanese Home Islands from invasion was developed, but never executed
because of Japan's surrender in August 1945.
Packed with diagrams, maps and 3D reconstructions of the attacks, this
book also assesses the Allied mitigation techniques and strategies and
the reasons and the degree to which they were successful.
